When we arranged (/invited ourselves) to stay with Grace and Mark in New York, we kind of forgot about Max's allergy to cats that is so strong that he sneezes if he wears a jumper he last wore in a house of cats. So you can only imagine how much he's been sneezing since being woken up by Mark and Grace's gorgeous cats Winston and Clementine gently padding their way over our bed this morning.
Miraculously unaffected by our lack of sleep, we headed out to the Bronx to watch Grace play football. I've never been that far north in New York, so it was an exciting adventure. Although I was feeling pretty good on my 5 hours sleep, I was relieved not to be in Grace's shoes/football boots - having to dash around - but was excited to see that her team was winning by the time we arrived.
Only one member of the other team seemed to be actually doing anything, while kind of stretched the definition of female soccer player. Her admirable ball skills (and distinctly masculine looks) were coupled with a fierce aggression which - with Grace's team 5-1 up - culminated in Manchild (as Mark dubbed her) swearing at the ref after he pulled her up for a dirty tackle. It turns out that the ref had been a bit touchy throughout the game and sent Manchild off. Recognising that they were a one-woman show and that that woman was no longer on the pitch, the other team promptly forfeited the rest of the match and skulked off. Grace's team were a little deflated, as they usually lose to that team, but it allowed us to go in search of breakfast sooner, so I wasn't so sad.
An enormous New York breakfast saw off the tailend of our hangovers, but we all felt a little weary and not up for the day of culture at the Brooklyn Museum of Art that we'd planned, so we sloped back to Grace and Mark's, where we were introduced to 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' (very funny) and watched 'Dodgeball' (also very funny, obv). Max and I were sitting in the most comfy chair ever and slept through most of these delights but I can think of no better way to spend the afternoon after the night before.
It was a real effort to get ready for Geoff and Sarah's wedding dinner, after 24 hours with genuine friends with whom we could relax and have fun. The prospect of an evening with all of Max's workmates felt like a real gear shift and we kind of didn't want to go, but it was fun enough once we got there, just not a patch on the night before.
It had taken Sarah and Geoff 37 seconds to get married at City Hall the previous day, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, and the supper was like a delayed reception. The guests were mostly correspondents and producers from the New York and Washington bureaus, so I knew a few people and found it quite funny to sit opposite Matthew Price, who I've only ever seen reporting from the Middle East before.
With Maxy chatting away to the head of the New York bureau, and everyone else being a bit intense and news-y, I headed outside to get some air. Standing on the street corner, I got an overwhelming surge of happiness at being in New York - it's just amazing. I feel about the city a way I don't feel about anywhere else in the world and can't quite put my finger on. I just love it and feel utterly at home there. As lovely as DC is, it doesn't have that visceral effect on me, so I'm excited that New York is just up the road and hope we visit lots over the course of our year in the States.
After an extremely tasty meal, the festivities adjourned to an Irish bar across the road, where it was clear that an all-nighter of merriment was on the cards. Max and I weren't really able to enter into the spirit of things and found ourselves fading around 1am, so headed back to the apartment. But not before reminding ourselves how ace Geoff is and making a plan with him to meet for dinner next week. We also met Geoff's strange friend Mike who mistook Max's knowledge of techno and Aphex Twin for liking such music and is now very keen that we come visit him in Baltimore.
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