Thanks to everyone who helped me make this another memorable visit to New York, It was a surprise for my girlfriend and the fact that we'd booked on Air India kept her guessing all the way to check-in line. Air India was nowhere near as bad as the horror stories here led me to believe. Sure the plane smelled like a toilet on the outbound journey, but this was balanced out by some fine curry - the best airline food I've ever had.

We were staying at Hotel 17 which has been substantially refurbished since last time I was there. It's a bargain for such a nice part of town (Gramercy) and this time the only incident of note was the sight of two cops in the hallway pinning down a drunk on the first night.

We wasted no time in going for a drink (Red Rooster at the Heartland Brewery, Union Square) and our exploration of the East Village only took us as far as St Mark's Place and very nice shrimp stir-fry at the funky Cafe Yaffa.

Friday, we walked through Greenwich Village (am I missing something or is there not much there?), Soho and Tribeca to the Ground Zero site. Wasn't intending to visit here really, but I knew it would be inevitable as we were en route to Battery Park. At least there weren't too many US flags and tacky souvenirs, though one bloke was wearing a bg clock and windcreen wiper glasses - slightly inapproropriate. Went on the Staten Island ferry, to watch the Statue Of Liberty go by with a pretzel and a beer in hand, then walked back to the hotel via Chinatown and the Lower East Side. That night we dined at Festival, a cheapo Mexican on Rivington Street (great Margeritas) and headed Lit for possibly the worst ever view of a band (Reigning Sound) in the Lit bar basement. Later went for beers in Niagara on Avenue A. Great club downstairs playing rock'n'soul with go-go dancers so we stayed really late.

On Saturday (the result of many inquiries posted here) we made the trip to Coney Island. The beautiful beach here was a major surprise and Nathan's hotdogs didn't disappoint. We rode the Cyclone (pretty terrifying) and the Wonder Wheel before walking into Brighton Beach. Then we got the subway to Brooklyn Heights (again another tip from this board) where we walked down the promenade and ate at Grimaldi's (absolutely superb pizza). We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset before going on a Lower East Side bar crawl. We popped in at Max Fish, 7B and the Lakeside Lounge. I finally proposed in the black and white photo booth of the Lakeside (OK, so it wasn't lighting up Times Square, but at least we got a permanent record) and we celebrated with more drinks at the 11th Street bar and Lucy's.

Sunday, we had a cool breakfast among the locals who were winding each other up about politics (can't remember the place - great corned beef hash, though). We then walked up fifth avenue to Times Square and then around Central Park (another pretzel spent watching the baseball in the bleachers). After half an hour spent waiting with a crowd outside a hotel to catch a glimpse of the Dalai Lama, we caught the 7 out to Queens to go to the temporary Museum Of Modern Art. It was pretty tiny compared to the real thing, but interesting to see the neigbourhood (and, hey, stand among Picassos, Warhols and Polllocks). We then crossed back into Manhattan to go up the Empire State Building. Superb - but it was dark by the time we got up there. So much queuing, I'd set aside two hours if you're going in the middle of the day. In the evening, we went to the Shout! club at Bar 13. Saw The Warlocks, who were superb, but the misic generally was more metal than the rock and soul we'd been led to expect - and we were a bit tired for that.

We spent Monday having breakfast at Kate's, a cool veggie place with fake steak, fakin' bacon etc and went looking for secondhand bargains (maybe a ring). Unfortunately the entire East Village/Lower East Side seemed to be closed for the morning and we gave up pretty quickly to have some final beers.

In all, a superb mini-break in a way-cool city. Since I was last there, Avenues B and C have become really exciting places with great bars on every corner and i'm really glad I saw some of the outer boroughs, too. Incidentally, baragin hunters, we took the subway out to the airport ($2 instead of a $40 cab ride). There are escalators at Howard Beach where you transfer to a hilariously rerrifying bus ride so it's not too bad if you're travelling fairly light.

Thanks for all your help, people.

Thanks for sharing that report! I'm assuming she said yes?

Congratulations on your engagement! I think that the way you ended up proposing is a great story to tell your kids someday! Also, a great trip report, I'm planning a trip for our fifth anniversary and your visit sounds right up our alley! I'm going to print this out and keep!! Thanks!

Thanks for reporting back, laticsmon. Glad to hear everything went off w/o a hitch, so now you can GET hitched!

Congrats!

laticsmon! What a busy and fun time you two had!! Congratulations !
We were in the Park with the Dalai Lama, too bad we missed you LOL!
Will you be back for the Honeymoon

Oh to be young again. Your trip is totally different that what I'd normally do, but it sounds like you had a ball! Also, congratulations.

Speaking of the Dalai Lama, yesterday we were walking down the sidewalk, when a couple of guys in suits literally jumped at us and shoved us down the sidewalk and held us back. We had just noticed that a police car had blocked the end of the street. Suddenly another police car and a couple of limos came through a garage from the next street over, and out popped the Dalai Lama and his entourage. Who would have guessed that the Dalai Lama stays at The Millenium?

Oh, so we were waiting outside the right hotel then. Did you notice that his entourage had huge picnic hampers full of curries. Now that's a rider.

PS/ Cassidy2002, if you like I can do you a full list of the bars we visited

Great trip report. Reading reports like yours helps me get to know New York better, from afar. Only one complaint: You cannot post the words "great corned beef hash" and "can't remember the place" in the same paragraph! Unacceptable!

Excellent report! I had fun just reading the report and congrats on the engagement!