Accommodation costs in NYC are shocking - compared to anywhere else we've been. Specials on three star hotels were $300 per night. Hostels didn't look like much of an option either. In frustration, we searched for other alternatives. We came up with Craig's List and AirBnB.

Craig's List and AirBnB facilitate the renting of apartments and spare rooms from local residents. You get to rent a whole apartment, or a room in someone's house or apartment. These sites have listings all over the world and provide a good cheaper alternative, and one where you get to stay with locals and have a real in-country experience.

Caution: NYC has many "walk-ups". This means high rise, no elevator. For us, this meant we had to find accommodation on the bottom, or first floor, as Celia finds stairs a challenge. A warning for all - NYC has a million stairs to walk up anyway. There are few elevators and escalators. If you use the subway you won't need to do time on your stepper at the gym. We often walked 7 to 10 kilometers in a day and it was hard enough for both of us to make the one set of steps to our apartment, let alone if we'd taken rooms in a fourth or fifth floor walk-up.

We also looked for a place which had single room locking, as we were carrying our laptop. We also wanted no smoking, and preferably no pets. We love animals, but are not so keen on how some pet owners live with their pets.

AirBnB: We went with AirBnB as the site provides extensive descriptions and pics of the rooms/apartments available, pics of the host, maps of the location and extensive reviews of the host and accommodation experience. We also had the opportunity to converse, via email, with our selected host to assure we were happy with him, and he was happy renting to us.

We rented a room in a first floor walk-up in the East Village. East Village has hundreds of great little eateries and is easily accessible to the city-centre and subway. The blocks in NYC are short and we walked almost everywhere. The island is flat, no hills to climb. We regularly walked 15 blocks to the Rodeo Bar and back and 12 blocks to Katz Delicatessen and back - 24 blocks for a good brekkie when there was a place across the street - maybe we're nuts.

Statue of Liberty

Most people we know didn't bother to go to the Statue of Liberty and were happy to see her from the free Staten Island Ferry. Having read about the size of the statue, and remembering our Egypt experience, we decided to see her up-close-and-personal. It was great. We saw her from a distance on the harbor cruise and it was nothing like being there. She is magnificent! She is a great artwork as well as being an enormous monument.

Going inside the Statue: you have to apply online. We heard reports you need to apply a year in advance. They only let in 100 people a day. We spoke to one guy who had just done it, and he said it wasn't worth it. You walk up a very narrow staircase single file for an hour. Then are only allowed a very brief stop at the top and have to come down again.

Top of the Rock

This was an awesome experience. Unlike the huge building we went up in Thailand, this building doesn't sway, so Celia had no vertigo. The views are amazing and you get to see The Empire Estate Building from the top. Also there are great architectural features (railings and small "windows") for taking some interestingly framed pics.

Harbor Cruise

This was a 75 minute cruise included with our bus trip. It was very enjoyable and well worth it.

Apollo Theatre (Harlem)

The day we went it was closed to the public. Very disappointing on the outside, but really enjoyed shopping and walking round Harlem. Totally different stuff in the shops and really interesting.

Katz Delicatessen (SOHO)

Made famous by When Harry met Sally (the movie) "I'll have what she's having". This deli is famous in NYC from the movie, but also for its awesome food. It's particularly well-known for its pastrami on rye and its vast range of pickles. When you enter you are given a ticket (don't lose it or you'll have to pay $50 to get out). Your food is all put on this ticket.

The left side of the restaurant is waiter service, the rest you order yourself at the counter - a tough experience on your first try. You are given a taste of your pastrami to make sure it meets your standards, and then your sandwich is prepared. The place is a real experience. It is always packed by locals and tourists. The decor and service is very ordinary, so you realize its popularity must be due to its food.

At the Statue of Liberty

From the Top of the Rock

Famous Harlem Apollo Theatre

Getting Around

Having done the Red Bus in London, which provided a great intro to the city, we decided to try the same thing in NYC. There are two main hop-on-hop-off services here: City Sights NY (blue buses) and Gray line (red buses). We went with the City Sights NY as they approached us first. In retrospect, we'd probably have been better off with the Gray line as they seemed to have more buses on the road and be running more frequently.

Things to remember: you can negotiate with these guys. Don't seem too eager. We got a great deal by being reluctant customers. For the cost of three days we got - five days and tickets to the Circle-Line harbor cruise, the night tour, Statue of Liberty and the Ellis Island ferry and tickets to The Empire State Building or Top of the Rock (Rockerfeller Centre).

Advantages: The cost of the bus for the five days was less than the ticket to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty + the ticket to The Empire State Building or Top of the Rock + the harbor cruise. Also having advanced tickets to those sites means you don't wait in long lines. Some people reported the line for Liberty was 2 hours long ... just to get your ticket. Guide books say you can spend a whole day going to Liberty if you don't get advance tickets.

Also the buses are double-decker and open to the air so you can take great pics while traveling.

Disadvantages: As the buses are open you are exposed to wind and rain. It can be really cold. Our night tour was freezing (and boring) - we jumped ship half way.

The commentary on the City Sights NY was disappointing. There was limited sociological, cultural and historical content. It was all about this is the biggest in the world and the price. By the end, we had heard more than enough of "NYC has the biggest ... anywhere in the known universe".

Personal note: It was well worth the cost. The intro to the city was useful and it was handy not to have to figure out regular buses and the subway right away.

You can buy anything, and at any price in NYC - dresses from $5 to so many zeros your head will spin.

Great Shopping Spots

Century 21 is a must. Start at the top, where you'll find greatly discounted designer brands - some still not affordable despite being a fraction of the original price - but plenty affordable and worth the look. Be prepared to spend a lot of time here. It's huge! Lots of great deals to be had on lower floors too with men's business shirts and perfumes (often far cheaper than duty free).

Bloomingdales worth a look in - even if there's little you can afford here.

SOHO is a great funky shopping district with lots of edgy little boutiques - many quite affordable.

Harlem was great for a look. Huge price range in the shops - some great bargains to be had and some very interesting items not stocked elsewhere.

Eating Out

We had many great eating-out experiences in NYC:

Planet Hollywood on Times Square was not too pricey and has great food, and lots of atmosphere.

Katz Delicatessen (see above in "The Sites") has great pastrami on rye, Reuben sandwiches and awesome pecan pie. Very ordinary decor, not a cheap meal as sandwiches are around $15 (we shared one as they are huge) - but a real NYC experience, great food, and worth at least one visit.

Think Coffee (Mercer St, SOHO) is worth a visit. Another real NYC experience. Couldn't get a table as everyone seems to spend the day there as there's free wifi and comfortable seating. There are many similar places round NYC and worth a look-in as they reflect a whole way of life - not people sitting over a cup of coffee having a chat - but chatting to others on Facebook and posting Twitter tweets. The place was eerily silent.

Jules Jazz Bar in East Village had awesome food and mediocre Jazz. Would return to eat, not for the music. No dance floor.

Also see the music venues below as many of them serve food as well.

The Rodeo Bar

Address: Corner 27th and 3rd Ave NYC

Description: Pub, much like the Mustang Bar in Perth, WA. Lots of atmosphere. Wooden floor so you can move tables to create room to dance. Staff very friendly. Good food and good live music every night. No cover charge, but encouraged to purchase two drinks a set.

Music: Country, Roots, Rockabilly, Rock'n'Roll

Personal notes: We had a great night every night we went. The crowd was super friendly and the place really rocked. A good very inexpensive night out.

Miss Babs and the Kickin' Boogie Band @ the Rodeo Bar

Chris Berardo & The DesBerardos @ the Rodeo Bar NYC

Wicked Mesengers @ the Rodeo Bar NYC

Swing 46 Jazz and Supper Club

Address: 349 W 46th Street Restaurant Row NYC

Description: Great club with real 1930s feel. Good food and friendly staff. Also good set menu before 7.30pm ($25 when we were there). $12 additional charge for live band, so not a cheap night out once you also pay for drinks, but good value. Live band every night. Good dance floor.

Music: Jazz, Jump Blues

Personal notes: Really enjoyed the night. Not something we'd do more than once in a while as the music is more suited to Swing and it was quite a pricey night out, but good for a special occasion and great for Swing dancers.

Sarah Hayes and The Prohibition Playboys @ Swing 46

BB King's Blues Club and Grill

Address: 237 W 42nd St NYC

Description: Nice club with a variety of experiences offered. We took in:

Harlem Gospel Choir Brunch - every Sunday 12.30pm. All you can eat buffet. Food average, but the music more than makes up for it. The choir is totally awesome. No dance floor.

Strawberry Fields Beatles Brunch - Saturdays 11am. All you can eat buffet. Food average, good entertainment. The guys are from the Broadway production "Beatlemania". They put on a good show. No dance floor. We have a small sample of this performance on our Facebook Perth Rocks Group page.

Lucille's (open daily for lunch, dinner, cocktails): Had the early set menu $20 before 7.30pm. Food average. Music good, but very disorganized. Great dance floor. Music: Blues.

Personal notes: Harlem Gospel Choir and Strawberry Fields Brunches were good value and really entertaining. Would highly recommend them as things to do when in NYC. We may have caught Lucille's on a bad night as one band member was over an hour late and that seemed to get the band off track.

Address: 76 Mercer St NYC

Entry charge: $20 (we were lucky we went on John Lennon's birthday and entry was free - but as a result there were long queues everywhere).

Description: Great museum for anyone interested in Rock'n'Roll. Gives you a good feel of the history of the music beginning with its roots in "Race Music". It's a full on visual and audio experience. Well worth taking in, however we both felt "The Rock and Soul Museum" in Memphis is better value for money. It's only $10 entry and is far more comprehensive. We realize this is an Annex, not the complete collection, but it lacked cohesion and the feel of a connected history.

The John Lennon special exhibition, which was on when we visited, focuses on his New York years. It contained some great moments and memorabilia courtesy of Yoko Ono.

Personal notes: A great experience, but as we heard there were four floors of exhibits, and we had recently seen the museum in Memphis which is huge (didn't come close to absorbing everything and we spent three hours in there and tried to focus only on our areas of main interest), we were disappointed in the one floor show in NYC.

Memphis - the musical @ Shubert Theatre - Theatre District

Great storyline. Supposedly true. Tells the story of a white DJ in the Deep South who had the courage to play "Race Music" on radio. It gives a good introduction to the history of "Race" and "White" music and the significant role Rock'n'Roll, R&B and Gospel music played in the breakdown of racial barriers and the move to a more egalitarian society.

Popa Chubby and Galea: a meld of Full-on Blues, Red-hot Rockabilly, Roots Rock'n'roll and an inspiring love story 

By Dr Cecilia Netolicky

Before heading to New York City, I Googled bands featuring Rock'n'roll, Roots, Swing, Rockabilly and Blues. I then chased these bands down through websites, youtube and myspace. Vicous Country was a stand-out band. They were playing The Rodeo Bar (on the corner of 27^th Street and 3^rd Avenue) on our last Tuesday in NYC, so we pencilled this in as a "must do". Vicious Country is the brain-child of Popa Chubby and Galea, a couple with a fascinating personal story, producing a magical mix of Blues and Roots music.

 Popa Chubby & Galea

Extract from "Two-Part Harmony", Kay Corditz, in Elmore: saving music (Sept/Oct 2009 Issue 24)

At the opposite end of the presentation spectrum are Popa Chubby and his wife Galea. On stage and in their promotional material, they are relentlessly steamed up. The wild man guitarist and his bass-playing wife also perform with their own bands, but sharing the stage is an erotic experience. 

"In the Popa Chubby band, when I look at the bass player I don't get aroused," Chubby said. "With Galea in the band, I got this hot and terrible housewife, but she's a great mom, a great bass player and she gets me hot." He laughed. "We get out there and we try and tear it up." 

When they first met, Popa Chubby had been playing every Wednesday in Brooklyn. Galea, not yet a musician, lived across the street. When she walked in, Chubby recalls, "I was like 'Wow, who is this?" 

"She started talking to me, then she started coming to gigs and stalking me." He laughed. "She chased away all the other chicks. Then I broke down and fell in love with her and that was it. I had to marry her."

Popa Chubby had been on the scene for 17 years, while Galea sat frustrated on the arm of the couch playing a tambourine during jam sessions at the house, When their twin daughters, Tipitina and Theodora, were about six months old, Chubby got his wife a base guitar, and she started playing songs that she liked, turning her husband on to roots country music. "It became our thing, and we started playing together," he said. 

The cover of their first album, Flashed Back, shows the couple naked in bed with their instruments, although other photos on the CD - of their pajama-clad toddlers - add a wholesome element. 

"I was a little intimidated," Galea said. "I guess I was bold enough to call myself a singer, which I really wasn't, but once I started playing bass, I felt I could sing without any hang-ups. I had to concentrate on playing." 

When the couple first met, Popa Chubby was playing with a band called Black Coffee. Today Galea is the bass played for Black Coffee, and Chubby sits in when he's free. Her husband played and sang on her first solo record, Diary of a Bad Housewife in 2005, Chubby called their collaborations "mostly pretty cool, but sometimes she doesn't want to do what I tell her." 

"Sometimes I get the hairy eyeball" she agreed. 

"The beautiful thing about music is that it is a chaotic, imperfect art form," he said, "but when I get in the wrong head, I start thinking things should be perfect, then things get a little wacky. After we released Vicious Country, a cable TV station in France picked it up for Record of the Week so we went there and filmed ten songs, one every day. It was a pressured situation and I got a bit uptight. Galea plays the best two notes in the business, but it's more about how I feel, my love for her. When we work together I make sure that everything is right for her. I'm happy to take a lot of responsibility because I love her more than anything in the world and playing music with her is a real joy."

"I'm very grateful," Galea said. "I kind of stumbled into it through the back door and had the luxury of just being in it for the joy".

... music is a thread that runs through their lives and holds them together. "Music brought us together and it's the thing we've been able to use to channel everything that's happened in our lives and our relationship," Popa Chubby said. "It's made us more together and stronger. There's got to be some power that's greater than the both of you. For some people it's God. For others, it's money. For us, it's music."

If this article has whet your appetite for more articles on "saving music" go to www.elmoremagazine.com or for more about Popa Chubby and Galea and their music, or to purchase a CD, go to http://www.popachubby.com/home.html or http://www.myspace.com/popachubbyband or http://www.myspace.com/galeadiaryofabadhousewife, http://www.myspace.com/thisisviciouscountry .