Little Bears Are Off: June 2014

The wedding was so much fun, that we left with needing a rest, a sleep in and very tired dancing feet!

We left the brunch on Sunday, and were driven to Boston by Dee's brother Roshan. It was about dinner time, so we headed straight to dinner.

We went to Island Creek Oyster Bar, it was delicious- there were about 7 of us as there were some of the cousins from the wedding and Rosh's friend Bobby.

We ordered 6 lobster rolls, and a burger (poor Bobby doesnt eat seafood but got dragged along) I didn't realise but as we were on the coast we were surrounded by an abundance of seafood. We also got a dozen oysters, and some tuna bruschetta. the whole meal was divine, as was the champagne.

We taxi'ed to our Airbnb and went straight to bed, Sunday night is also apparently a really good night to go out in Boston but we couldn't do it! Our room was ok, the bed was crap but was nice enough for us to stay for 2 days.
When we woke up we went to the city, straight to Macy's actually and did a bit of shopping. MAC for me and clothes for Ben, the shopping was so cheap it was great.

We wandered around downtown brought a few more things and then headed home to get ready as Rosh invited us for a drink. We didn't bring ID to the first place so went to the Harpoon brewery for a tour and a few drinks, it was a pretty fun afternoon activity.

Once we were finished there Rosh, Ben and I popped up to Top of the Hub which is a bar at the top of the Prudential Tower, it was on the 52nd floor and the views were amazing!
We had a quick drink took a few photos and went off to meet the others for dinner.

We went to a really nice Italian restaurant with about 20 of the family. We ordered the calamari for a starter, and I had the Lobster and Crab pasta and it was delicious, Ben also got a pasta dish with all sorts of seafood. We were in heaven!
After dinner we headed home as we had a bus for New York at 10am!

We headed to the bus station, got Mcdonalds for breakfast which was surprisingly delicious. The bus was pretty easy, after about 3 hours we were pretty keen to get off but after 4 hours and 20 minutes we had arrived at Penn station.

New York was hot, and muggy and we ended up walking rather far to our apartment which made our lives a little difficult but not before we got hustled for the first time. A guy helped us get weekly metro tickets, showed us what way to go and a few tips on getting around, we thanked him and then he asked us for $11. of course having just arrived we only had 20s so there went our first bill.
When we finally got to the flat we didn't have a key as the lady cleaning our apartment was late dropping them off. The only thing to do was have some lunch. We went to Bob White's a recommended fried chicken restaurant and it was delicious! The both of us had burger with colslaw and chips, and it was the most succulent chicken ever. we even went back a few days later!

At about 5pm we checked into our apartment in the Lower East Side, Air bnb really did well with that one. We had a really cool little studio we got to call home for the week. After a quick shower we were off to the Met's. It was the one part of our trip I had planned. A bit of a mission to get to but it was such a cool experience, Ben and I both brought shirts- cost us $37 for 2 hotdogs and 2 cokes!! and that was us! Ben even caught another t-shirt that the shot into the crowd, just before it was all over we left to beat the rush and headed home.

Day 2 in New York we went to Soho for some shopping, a pair of shoes each, and a whole lot of new make up goodies for me. We went to Little Italy and China town and to Wall street, around the Financial District and down to the river to spy on Brooklyn. New York has a lovely feel to it, the footpaths are wide and nobody is pushing past you. I felt like I was the one getting frustrated with others, no body has time for anyone in London and it seems it's rubbed off on me a bit!
In the evening we met up with Gina, and Bobby and went out to dinner at an amazing restaurant in Soho. It was called Lure Fishbar, it had retro yacht themed decor and it was pretty expensive but absolutely delicious, Ben got a lobster roll (again) i got some crispy calamari and lobster sushi. We all had devilled eggs with caviar and oysters, and a few drinks. Which made it a lovely dinner and rather fun experience.
After dinner we went to a couple of bars, got really drunk, had a bit of a photo shoot in front of the Bowery mural and headed home.

Day 3 saw me wake up with a bit of a hangover, perfect day to head to Times Square! NOT.
It was just as hideous as we had imagined. Some guy tried to hustle Ben into buying a CD but wouldn't take a fiver so I ended up taking the 20 out of Ben's hand and walking off, only to hear the guys tell him I was a gold digger trying to spend his money- not what they were saying before I did that, that's for sure!

We got out of there pretty quickly, and walked down past Hell's Kitchen, the Garment District and into Chelsea. The Chelsea market was really cool, and it was a lovely day to just wander around, down the river.
We headed out to the Meat Packing District for a few drinks in the evening, we tried to go to the Boom Boom Room but it was guest list only- LAME! So we headed to a beer hall and had a few pints before heading to another bar, with a little rooftop the drinks were strong and yum! We had a few and headed home as we were pretty tired and didn't want about expensive evening- least we got there for a bit and saw what all the fuss was about!

Day 4 We headed to 5th ave, to do some shopping, did the obligatory stop at Bloomingdales which makes me just as depressed as Harrods over here. We saw a corner of central park and headed to an Irish bar for a drink what Ben's brother Jack had been to a few years previous. We also went up to an awesome rooftop bars which gave us awesome veiws of the city!
Then before we knew it we were stuck in a monsoon. There was thunder and lightening and torrential rain. We were between subways and there wasn't a taxi in sight. We stood undercover for a while and then thought, he were wet already lets just get home!

Drowned rats would have been the best way to explain it! We had nice hot showers, and chilled out a bit while the rain stopped. Once it had stopped, we were brave enough to head out again. We went for a spot of dinner at Bob Whites the chicken shop again, and then to Mama's bar for a few drinks for our last night in New York.
We had such a good night, the girl behind the bar was pouring our drinks so strong! We got a bit drunk, to say the least, and spent a few hours chatting and laughing and people watching then headed to the Chinese takeaway across the road and headed home for a drunken feed!

Day 5 we had a bit of a sleep in, checked out of our place and dropped our stuff off at Gina's for the day and headed out. The plan was to find a few t-shirts for Ben, and head to Central Park. Though we got a bit caught up trying on shoes and clothes and never actually went to central park. But I had seen the corner of it the other day so I wasn't too upset. We went to Brooklyn, had an explore there, I finally got my Mexican food for lunch, Ben finally got the half a dozen t-shirts he needed and we even got to bask in the sun in a park for a while- not the most central of parks but it was a park none the less.

We headed back to Gina's, collected our stuff and got a taxi to the airport, it was all over- Almost!
Our flight was delayed for 2 hours, while we sat on the runway. There was a fault, and once they had fixed the generator and the air hostess told us the pilot would 'try to get us there safely' I burst into tears (in secret of course) I'm not a scared flier but dont tell me you'll try get us to our destination! Anyway I'm alive and the flight wasn't so bad once I got over it- the jet lag though that's a whole new level of bad!

It was a great trip, one that i will always remember and cherish, and we would definitely go back to New York again- and that i think it a good way to gauge things, if you'd go back, it was all worth it!

Macy's!!

I got a mince and chese pie!!!

Views of Boston

Towers so big you cant even see the top!

My lobster and crab pasta- yum!

Bob White's Burger- best

Go METS!

Bej outside the Stock Exchange

Oh, hey Brooklyn!

9/11 memorial

Katz- Where Harry met Sally

Most ridiculous sandwiches ever!

Timesquare

Even Elmo and CookieMonster need a break

Chelsea Market

Chelsea Fish market! YUM

Street Art,

Rooftop bar

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

Last beers

Our Vessell

God, now thats done, I still have Ascot 2 weeks ago, to write about, Summer is busy! We have something to do every weekend!

My poor poor liver!

xx

I’m gona have to break this down, I think the wedding deserves its own post because it was just such an amazing experience I don’t want to just glaze over it all.

So our US adventure started on Thursday 5^th June 2014, Ben and I got the first tube out to Heathrow and checked in for our 9:40 flight with the Best man Pete, after a few too many AM beers for boys we headed off to board.

We boarded, sat around while we waited our turn to take off, had a bit of e-cigarette drama aka you are not allowed to smoke them in the plane, and if you do (on an American airline anyway) you will almost get kicked off, you will get stern words about behaving and not being suspicious and you will hold the plane on the runway for an extra 20 minutes. So don’t do it ok! and don’t pretend you weren’t doing anything.

After a few movies and a 7.5 hour flight we landed in Boston and were collected by Dee’s uncle and taken to our hotel. Thursday evening was the beginning of the celebrations so we headed to our lux room and got ready for drinks, dinner and Mendhi.

Dee was on stage getting covered in gorgeous floral henna in preparation for the big day. It was a pretty casual dinner where all the guests staying at the hotel got to know each other and relaxed, the aunts were singing songs, and there was a fun and games section, where 3 couples were on stage the maid of honour’s would ask a question and the couple would answer separately in secret and if they had the same answer you got a point.

Dee and Greg were one couple, Dee's parents (happily married for 37 years) and Ben and I! I was told about 30 minutes before, and had a minor freak out.. But all was well as we wrote down the answers rather than having to speak in front of 100 or so people.

After the fun and games, and a few more songs we all headed to bed to get ready for the next day.

Friday was made up of 2 parts, in the morning we drove to Dee’s parents’ house and had Pithi which is basically a prayer ceremony to wish god luck and bless the marriage, Dee then gets all the females one at a time to put a paste on her made from chick peas and turmeric to give her a wedding glow. Once afternoon tea was over and the presents to help with the dowry were brought down we went back to the hotel where I had a wee nap, and an outfit change before the evening’s proceedings. It was such an emotional ceremony, with so many tears as it was saying good bye to Dee before she joins her new family.

Though Greg is English and Dee is American and of Indian descent the whole thing was so traditional, it was basically exactly how someone in India, even someone in India 100s of years ago would do it. That to me made everything so special!

Friday night was Raas Garba which is basically an evening of dancing and celebrating, so after another dinner we headed to the hall to welcome Dee and Greg on their cute little g-ride and the dancing commenced. I was terrible, well at the first one for sure. I couldn’t move my feet, and I couldn’t even clap in time, so lasted about 10 minutes before admitting defeat and heading back to my wine.

The second was a dance with sticks, and once I watched for about 15 minutes I dived in, it was so much fun and I don’t think I did too badly! After about 4-5 hours of dancing I took my sore feet off to bed while Ben had a few beers with the boys.

On Saturday morning we woke up and got ready for the ceremony. Ben was an usher so had to leave early and go get photos and fulfil other usher like duties. I had a sari for the ceremony, but obviously didn’t have much clue how to put it on, I watched a few tutorials but nothing beats an aunts help.

So Daisy and I headed down to find some help, which didn’t prove very difficult. After about 15 minutes we looked like the real deal and headed down to the hotel breakfast bar for a quick bite before boarding the bus to the International golf club where the wedding was held.

The golf club was gorgeous and the day was stunning, couldn’t have asked for better really. Traditionally the groom, and his party arrive and are greeted by the cousins of the bride who offer them drinks after walking for miles to meet his bride.. For a cost of course! The Groom then got on his horse and the party started. We walked about a kilometre with music pumping dancing up the street to let everyone know we had arrived.

Nothing like a 10am rave! It really pumped us up and put us in a good mood for the day, something I wish we could incorporate into western weddings, the groom isn’t celebrated nearly as much as he should be!

The ceremony itself was beautiful, and I may or may not have shed a little tear or two. It was great because each step of the ceremony was explained to us so the western guests could have an idea of what was going on and it was followed with Christian vows which I thought was a cute touch.

After the ceremony we had high tea, with scones and clotted cream, and got to enjoy the amazing scenery and sunshine for a while. I mean the membership fees for the golf course are $80,000 yearly so we sure did soak it all up.

It was back on the bus and back to the hotel for another nap, and another outfit change before the wedding reception started.

Traditionally the ceremony is the last part, and the bride and groom head off together, which is why they have the big party the night before but in true Dee and Greg style we got 2 parties. There was a yummy cocktail hour and nibbles outside in the warmth before moving in to the hall to do speeches, dancing and dinner. The decorations we gorgeous and the bridesmaids and ushers danced their own little dances in to before everyone sat down.

There was a last dance with Dad and Daughter, and a first dance with Husband and Wife, there were the perfect amount of speeches and a delicious dinner served, the best of all the days I think.

Drinks flowed, dance moves went down, photo booths were so much fun and it was just a really good evening.

I didn’t join the after party and went to bed about 2am.

Sunday we had brunch at Dee’s parents, which was chilled. We drank beer, sat with our feet in the pool and just chilled out chatting about the last few days.

It was a great wedding; I met some really cool new people, it was amazing how new friendships can make a holiday, i also became better friends with that id only met once or twice.

It was probably the best part of our whole trip if I’m honest.