Just 'bladed uptown to 12th/13th and Greenwich Avenue to pick up some take-away dinner - fish and chips, actually. The place is called A Salt and Battery. I'm sure my Dad's smiling internally at such a wonderful pun.
They forgot to put the baked beans in the bag though, so next time we go, we get a free meal on the house, which is nice. Would've liked the baked beans, though! If this was in the UK, it would be a below-par chippie, but alone in New York, it stands out and it was a welcome reminder of home. Benny wouldn't approve, though - no deep-fried ribs on the menu.
When you get to the area bound by the Westside Highway, West 14th Street, Sixth Avenue and West Houston Street, the world goes a little bit mad. This is Greenwich, or the Village. Greenwich Street and Greenwich Avenue being so close to one another I'm sure is just a cynical ploy to confuse you (or me at least). It's also somewhat disconcerting to find a section of West 4th Street north of West 12th Street, and West 11th Street and West 4th Street intersecting at right-angles. I think I'd be OK if everything was named rather than trying to maintain numbers in this mixed-up world. Finding things takes me way longer here than anywhere else in Manhattan.
(BTW, I've just noticed that the ordinal numbers assigned to streets and avenues take on different behaviours. The streets always take the numerical version (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th Street etc.), while the avenues always take the written version (First, Second, Third, Fourth, right up to Eleventh Avenue). Interesting. I remember the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer dates a woman from downtown, equating this to a long distance relationship. When stumbling across First Avenue and 1st Street, he thinks he's at the nexus of the universe. While trying to find a link to a page about this episode (and failing), I googled seinfeld kramer "first avenue" "first street" only to get a single result - that of my own site - that's before I even posted this article. Freaked me out a little. I digress.)
It's been a rather alcohol-infused week thus far, so tonight is a rest day (in Tour de France speak). Tuesday, I went out for a meal with Claire, daughter of my old boss Chris - the word old here refers to the fact that he's no longer my boss as opposed to his age. Feel free to comment. After getting a bit confused on the subway (my fault - too busy chatting), we went to Penang on Spring Street for a nice Malaysian meal (as its name would suggest), kindly paid for by Chris. Thanks, Chris! Washed down with a bottle of wine and then on to Puck Fair for a couple more beers/glasses of wine (delete as applicable). I then ensured Claire got back to the hostel safely (no mean feat, since it was on 103rd street) before heading home myself - how chivalrous! Had a great night, getting home at 1:30am - ho hum!
Both affected slightly more than one would expect by the alcohol intake. I had a dull head the following morning, although it seems Claire was in a way worse state.
Then Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, so felt compelled to go drinking at work's local bar. Another good night with a surprisingly clear head to follow today.
