Tag Archives: West End

Scotland 2024 – Day 1

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We took a flight from Ibiza to Scotland at 11am, and landed in Glasgow at 3pm. My friend and I ended up renting an Avis car, and driving for him took some time to get used to.

We ended up staying near the heart of Glasgow at The Radisson Blue near central station (note we parked at a nearby garage, but next time would pay for parking at the hotel parking).

Near the area was a Pizza Hut, Tim Hortons, KFC and McDonalds. Next time I do want to try the Tim Hortons.

We basically spent the day at the West End of Glasgow near the University of Glasgow. We ate at this place (where there was a good presence of University students) which had haggis (the national Scottish dish):

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/07/ubiquitous-chip/

After we did walk around the area for a bit, and even ended up getting ice cream.

We did go back to the room around 9pm to get ready for a night out of drinks and a club called Sub Club that is a 5 minute walk from our hotel (where Ame played the next day). However, got a bit of food poisoning that made the night a chill night. Next time will definitely try and hit up that club.

New York City 2021 – Part 7

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7th day in. New York City!

First thing this day was to switch hotels to the Grand Hyatt, which is beside Grand Central station. The hotel definitely reminded me of a Vegas hotel (big lobby, room was big, beds super comfortable). However, it did not have any amenities (like a hot tub, pool, or even a bar!). But it’s location is great (near the subway system). So a bit of mixed feelings about the hotel.

After switching hotels, we grabbed brunch near the hotel at a place called Pershing Square, which was across Grand Central’s entrance:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/11/26/pershing-square/

We then made our way to the World Trade Center in the Financial district. We checked out the pool / waterfall memorial. Unfortunately tickets to the memorial museum were sold out. Did check out the Westfield mall under the World Trade Center (which I didn’t do before). Also ate at Eately in 4 World Trade Center:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/11/26/eataly/

In terms of living in the financial district, I would consider it, but need to walk around more (I do like how it’s clean, and pretty new. Not sure if there is new construction or not).

After, we took the subway to the Flat Iron district and checked out the museum of sex. Interesting experience (haha, only posting PG pics below). There are two parts to it. The first part was like a regular museum (and is further divided into 3 parts. Only the first out of 3 I found interesting, which was about different devices. The second part was about Sex Violence, and the last was about sex in media). The second part was called super fun land, and was very interactive with games (ie a version of whack a mole, the claw game, and ended of with a bar). There was also a slide (that lead to the bar). I would not recommend going down the slide (too tight). I would say that museum is good for a date (maybe 4th date?).

In terms of living in the Flat Iron district, I thought the streets were not well lit, and it’s pretty dirty (and saw a sketchy group there). Will not consider that area.

To end the night, checked out the West End for a pregame, then went to Brooklyn Ship yard to catch Eric Prydz (round 1). The West End is pretty nice (clean, new construction, and is close to Amsterdam street). Definitely would consider property there. In terms of Upper West Side, it’s mainly town houses I heard (but I think some people include West end as part of the upper west side).