** CHRISTMAS EVE 24.12.2013 **
Today we ventured out early, destined for a "Harlem Spiritual Tour". We met the bus at 42nd street along with every other tourist in Manhattan and made our way up to Harlem via the West side. Alvin was our guide and he was very knowledgeable and even a little comedic at times. Paul was our driver and very good. However by then end of it, I thought Alvin & Paul were going to have words as Alvin wasn't happy with the route Paul was taking.
We drove about Harlem for a bit seeing the sights and then we stopped at a Baptist church to catch "a show" (We weren't allowed to take photos). Don't get me wrong the gospel singing and happy clappy was absolutely fabulous and something we'd never experienced before. However, I was sitting behind where the "service leader" would talk to her helper and was privy to some of her comments which the "audience/congregation" weren't meant to hear, which lead me to think that perhaps the service wasn't as spiritually authentic as it was made out to be. Hmmmm.
There was a whole lot of "praise the Lord" "Hallelujah" and "God Bless" going on. Then came the "Show" portion of the service. The choir strolls out and take their places, it seemed to be completely unorganised chaos. This entire choir are recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, so they all had reason to praise the lord for their new good fortune. Each solo singer just got better and better, finally they were trying to decide who was to sing their finale. What some black woman from upstairs yells out "Where's Sammy at?" So Sammy makes his way to the front, big black dude, long dreads, and a full on hobble due to his recent hip replacement. He sang one song which was just divine and then he sung "Oh Happy Day" as his finale. People got pulled up to the front to sing and once again Nick was called up. So "White Chocolate" lives again.
After this we head back to mid town for a spot of lunch and then navigated our way over to Rockefeller Centre so we can hit the Top of The Rock viewing decks, the views are just spectacular. We stayed up in the freezing cold so the boys could take a Go Pro time lapse movie of the Manhattan skyline, so I'm going to be looking forward to seeing that one once completed.
After that we subway'd it to our area and we grabbed some dinner at a local Irish pub. And now here I am blogging.
It's freezing cold here at the moment, I think snow is looming. Today in NYC it's still Christmas Eve, but I know in OZ it's Christmas day, so a big merry New York Christmas to you and yours and I trust that Santa beings you everything you have wished for.
As you are invested in the blog now, you'll all be glad to know that the toilet in the new apartment is STILL fully functional - Praise the Lord!!!
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