Christopher Rath in New York: August 2007

Cheryl

They say the best is saved til last and there is no higher compliment I can give to the final visitor I am to receive in the USA. The fantastic Miss Dunlop popped by on her way back from Grenada and we had a lovely breakfast together followed by a brief stroll in Central Park. If only she could have stayed a little longer....

CER and CED in CP!

Leavers Dinner

From one farewell dinner with Jenna to another with more Mountbattens than enough! Thursday night was the September intake's goodbye dinner. To say it was less about the food and more about the open bar would be an understatement. My night was complimented by the fantastic company I was keeping and managing to get home by midnight before things got too messy!

Laura, Kim, Me and Sam - My GW1103 girls!

Clare, Me, Leonie and Debbie - That lot!

Cat and Me - Smile!

Amar and Jitin - Bad influences!

Joe wins

Billett raps

The Charging Bull

Buddy Lunch

When I started work in the consulate nearly a year ago (scary!) they paired me up with the wonderful Miss Rosebery. She was to be my buddy as was to look after me at work, to take me for a welcome lunch and to make sure I always got up to no good (yes, no good!) when we went out for drinks after work. As it is nearly time to leave she will have to give up her responsibilites but she will always be my buddy!

Me and Jenna at Montparnasse on our farewell buddy lunch.

My Kind Of Town

...there was plenty of things to see and do.

Sunday - Arrival at my very swish hotel and a walk around Millenium Park.

Monday - A chance to sample some local Goose Island beer.

Tuesday - A visit to Wrigleyville for a taste of the Cubs stadium and a bite of Chicago style pizza.

Wednesday - A fancy lunch at the top of the Hancock Tower. What a view!

Thursday - My first rained off baseball game! Room service entertained me in the place of the White Sox versus the Red Sox.

Friday - The BCG Chicago summer party!

Chicago, IL

There are 3 FCO posts in the US that have visa sections; New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. I was sure my year working in the Big Apple couldn't be topped but when I was asked to spend a week working in The Windy City the icing was put on the cake.

Although doing my normal job the opportunity to experience a new city in a different way was something I was more than grateful for. The British Consulate in Chicago has a beautiful setting next to the river on The Magnificent Mile and less than a 10 minutes walk was a nice change from my inter-state commute. But it wasn't all work...

400 North Michigan Avenue

The Wrigley Building

BCG Chicago

New York Red Bulls

In a very untypical of me following of the crowd way I went to Giants Stadium to watch LA Galaxy play the New York Red Bulls in "The David Beckham Show". His presence in the tri-state area drew the biggest attendance to a MLS game in Giants Stadium ever. As a spectacle it was very typically American with the national anthem being played beforehand and all the media coverage. However as a football match, although it did end NY 5 - LA 4, it was not of the highest quality. Not to worry as it's another check mark for things done in New York.

Attendance: 66,237. Average attendence: 16,543.

What's the score now?

Becks take an FK!

Bohemian Hall

A wee selection of 'English' Mountbattens made our way to the borough of Queens and it's fantastic beer garden for some beer and czech culinary delights. Fun!

The two C's

Nice try but just not quite as pretty as the picture above!

Coney Island

The sun returned and what better to get out of the city than to head down to Coney Island. Laura and I enjoyed (or freaked out) on the Wonder Wheel, ate the fine cuisine of the seaside resort, saw minor celebs and caught some rays to aid the t-shirt sun tan.

What fun!

View from the Wonder Wheel

Shoot the freak!

1 Chilli-Cheese dog with onions and 1 (boring) hot dog with ketchup - yumm!

James Blunt

The Cyclone rollercoaster

Au Revoir Simone

With the New York summer in full flow there are countless outdoor concerts, film showings and theatrical productions to suit everyone. For my, and other people's, enjoyment one of Brooklyn's own, Au Revoir Simone, were all set to wow us on a warm August evening when disaster struck - the weather decided to change and it was most probably the coldest day of the summer! Not to worry because the freeness of the event at South Street Seaport warded off the chill for a fun night.

Au Revoir Simone

The gentlemen of GW1103 - me, Donnchadh and Joe

Laura - "it's a keeper!"

Awesome August

My last full month living in the tri-state has been much like the past ten......madness! Yesterday was no exception. The train from NJ into the city was running on a limited service after an overnight storm. So in my infinite wisdom I decided to take the train that would take less time to get to Manhattan. Little did I know that the nearly every subway train in New York City was shut down. How was I going to get to work? I had no choice but to walk for 2 hours. Like I said......madness!

The one major difference has been the sense of near complete contentment. Knowing the end of my year is so near hasn't scared me as it might have done. I've just been enjoying doing all the little bits and pieces that city has to offer. Then just to put a surprising spanner in the works I was asked to spend a week working in Chicago Visa Section from August 20th to 24th. Agh! Way to go and upset the closest to tranquillity I have ever been in the US. But do I care? Not the slightest. The Windy City, here I come!

Craig and Audrey

What an awesome weekend. Thanks guys!

The gruesome twosome themselves

The Tesco Reunion

With the end of the year fast approaching there was just enough time to fit in another little get together from a set of former (or soon to be former) Edinburgh Metro-ites. Craig, who was in town with his mum, joined me as we happened upon, in an ingeniously unplanned way, the lovely Miss Duff who ventured to the greatest city in the world from relative tranquility of upstate NY.

We spent Friday evening, in between searching for air conditioning, in Alphabet City and the Lower East Side as we enjoyed a scrumptious meal and a few chilled out drinks. Having perspired enough for one New York City's humid evening we called it a night.

Saturday brought morning adventures in the Bronx, lunch on the Upper East Side, respite from the heat with the Simpsons Movie, rowing on The Lake in Central Park and a few drinks and games of pool in Greenwich Village at the only bar I know of whose regulars include a dog and a cat, namely Fat Cat.

Me and Duff - yay!