The plan was simple, go down to Greenwich Village, find one of the many bars showing the football, plant ourselves there and enjoy a nice morning Budweiser. Things, as were to often be the case, didn't quite go according to plan.
We found the bar one of the girls had said would have the footy on. It did, and it was ours to watch for a measly $20 each. We refused,m and quite rightly so I think, to pay what would combine to be $120 between the 6 of us just to plant our arses down. There would be other places showing it we'd just go find one of those.
We found plenty of bars, the ones not showing it couldn't and wouldn't get it (as it was a pay per view event) and every single one we found that was showing it wanted $20 a piece. Bargain! We walked around Greenwich Village, ended up in Times Square, even ESPNs Sports Bar were blissfully unaware of it even going on. Whilst we walked we kept in touch with the scoreline thanks to my mobile phone, witnessing what was one of THE games of the season from something worse than teletext!
With 5 minutes of the game remaining and Liverpool trailing by 3-2 we found an Irish Bar willing to let us in for free to see the remaining few minutes. It was straight to the bar for a round of Buds and sit back and soak it up for all of a few minutes. Except of course where there's a Steven Gerrard there's always hope. And so it came to pass that we got to watch extra time free of charge and never had footy and beer gone down so well together!
I split from the group for the afternoon and set about some sight seeing. I had done a lot of the major sights last time I was here so the pressure was largely off to get and see things as quickly as possible. I wanted to take my time and enjoy just perusing neighbourhoods and seeing some of the things I had missed out on in 2003.
I had planned a little sight seeing tour whilst at home that I set about that afternoon. It was down to Greenwich Village to try and located some of the significant buildings and bars associated wit Bob Dylan and on a different note, the beat poets I had become so fond of over the last few years. The tour largely centered on McDougal Street where many of the bars and such like were located. Some were easier to find than others. The Gaslight Cafe and Kettle of Fish seemed to have been turned into something else or were at least keeping their identities close to their chest. I had trouble locating the Fat Black Pussycat but maybe the same was true about it as well Cafe Wha? Where Bob Dylan first played when he arrived in New York was still there. On E13th ST I found where Allen Ginsburg once lived but didn't get down to the Cedar Street Tavern which once would have played host to Ginsburg and Kerouac.
The buildings may not have looked like much but just strolling around, taking in the the little nooks and crannies around the area and losing myself for a little while you could easily imagine the beat essence thriving in this place.
The remainder of the afternoon brought me back to more conventional sightseeing in the form of the Brooklyn Bridge. It seemed amazing to me over the past 3 years that I didn't do this last time and I sure as hell wasn't going to miss out this time round! New York's Subway system was doing its best too try and keep the two of us apart. From subway station to subway station I walked only finding the "Uptown" entrances! Seriously ,If they're that far apart, just a simple signpost would help! Eventually I did manage to get on the Subway and wound up at the Brooklyn Bridge stop (The first time it had assisted me all day!).
The views as you cross the Bridge are stunning. I don't think any picture I took can do it justice. I made sure to walk all the way over and into Brooklyn, although just stepping foot on the other side was enough for me. I had already done my share of walking for the day!
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