I've left where it all started off until last. New York was initially a present from me to me for having to cancel my trip to Canada last September, turns out it was the start of the big adventure.
I'd never really had a burning desire to go to New York, mainly because I'm not really a city person i hate people especially large numbers of people, they seem to get in the way. However i decided i wanted to either go to NYC or Paris for a short break and NY became more and more appealing. Can there be anything worse for someone who hates crowds for those crowds to be made up of the French? Just kidding!
There are so many things in NY that are so well known all over the world i wanted to see them in person.
I know people like to think i complain alot about things, i like to see it a factual commentary but for me the start is a bit of a whinge. I had booked a car to pick us up from the airport and take us to the appartment, which was slightly cheaper than a hotel and personally i think was an excellent choice, we were 77th street eastside of Central Park which from the outside looked like a slum lords paradise but inside was really nice (only complaint was the smoke alarm that went off 3 days running about 3am).
I was expecting the stereotypical have a nice day attitude from people but straight off the bat we got some arsehole of a driver that only spoke to me once in a 90 minute encounter to moan that i had not tipped enough. Theres some rule that you have to tip 20% for taxis which after a 7 hour flight i forgot. I gave him 10% begrudgingly since he didn't attempt any kind of small talk or help with the luggage, but he just kept saying 20% which i eventually gave in under the condition i would later find out where he lived and would sacrafice small animals infront of his house.
So not the best of starts, and then there was ceasar our caretaker if you will who i had to call to let us in and give us the keys, after a few phone calls which he didn't reply to he strolled through the door and initially had the same attitude as the driver i won't go into boring detail and he did help us out with baggage storage so the squirrals were safe around his neighborhood. I kinda think that these people are providing a service they could at least be polite to their customers. Anyway that's pretty much all my moaning, once i got used to that's how the city works you take less notice.
The afternoon was spent wandering around Central Park (collecting small vermin for the evenings ritual). Nah, we just strolled around went to Strawberry Fields for the John Lennon memorial and then headed around the outskirts to the Ice Rink (not sure what part that's in) that is i quite a few films. I had no idea Central Park was so big since our appartment was about half way up we walked the bottom half and then headed back.
The next day was pretty full on, i read that the weather is unpredictable and likely to rain but we got really lucky and had sunshie everyday we were there, it was cold but at least it was dry.
First up was the Empire State building, we walked down to lower Manhattan and got there about 11am and it was busy according to the guy on the door it was an about a 2 hour wait which none of us fancied so we then headed to the alternative that i had read was better than the Em pire anyway, the Rockafella Building. On the way we passed through times Square which is basically full of bill boards and flashing neon lights, it clearing puts Picadilly Circus to shame.
The Top of the Rock was less busy and really well managed (if i only had the choice of doing the Rock or the Empire I'd go for the Rock). A lesser known attraction meant it didn't have the queues, also they although they staggered the admission you were shown a history of the building while you waited so the time passed quickly. Once up there the views are amazing of the city and you get to see the Empire State Building too and Central Park.
After a spot of lunch the next place on the Agenda was Grand Central Station which I only remember from the film the Untouchables. A lot of NYC is obviously committed to celluloid so you get a lot of déjà vu. It's quite a nice train station but didn't do much for see, the clock and the architechture are nice but didn't wow me.
That night i had booked to see a show on broadway, instead of going for some mainstream show that everyone has heard of i went to see Spring Awakenings which is a pretty racy 19th century German play re-vamped with a rock soundtrack composed by duncan Shiek. I liked it, it got a bit depressing near the end but the music was good and it had some funny moments, also some of the audience were on either side of the stage on tiered seats which was different.
After the show we went for something to eat and then thought we'd head back to the Empire State Building since it was open until 2am and it was only midnight, the crowds should have gone down since then. Ofcourse they had and we strolled straight in and up the lift to the ticket office and stringent metal detectors where they insisted you removed belts and watches (it was worse than airport security). No wonder the lines are so long during the day, i read that staff were less than helpfull and a bit rude and i could see why, by the time people actually made it to this point they were probably well fed up and then have to practically strip to get to the next point would push anyone over the edge.
Luckily we zoomed thorugh although not completely without incident. I'm not one for having my photo taken and then superimpossed on some crappy skyline, so while the group infront were having their picture taken I snuck around the back of the photographer to go to the final set of lifts. This bloke got a bit adgitated and insisted we had our photo taken its aparently part of the terms of buying the ticket. I told the woman at the lifts i wasn't going to do it and i think considering it was midnight and i wasn't exactly the next Empire State Building poster boy she let me through.
Not uch to say about the experience, its great to have done it, but its the city scape at night from high up, i saw pretty much everything i saw warlier in the day but in darkness. The building was also going through some renovation so it wasn't as nice an experience as the Rockafella building but its till nice to say that i've done it and since we had the time to do both, why not.
So the first day was pretty full on and we got through quite a few things on the sight seeing list. On Saturday we got up early and got a 48 hour sightseeing bus ticket which does 4 seperate tours around the city, lower manhattan, brooklyn, upper manhatten and a night tour covering lower manhattan and brooklyn.
First up was the lower tour down to Battery Park where the ferries depart for Liberty Island. Lower manhattan has some great architecture and the bus is a great way to see it, it also allows you to get on and off at any time. We however went down to battery park and walked over Brooklyn Bridge. The idea was to pick up the bus on the other side of the bridge but after getting lost then finally finding the right place only to wait half an hour and no bus turning up (they are supposed to circle every 20 minutes). So we headed back over the bridge and picked up the bus going the other side of the grid through china town and little italy, back to the start point.
We had about an hours wait until the night tour left so wandered around Times Square for a bit until dusk. The highlight for me on the night bus was seeing the city from the other side of the Hudson River, its the traditional downtown mnhattan shot but it is a great nightscape.
Sunday morning I booked to go on a helicopter flight. I was disapointed to be honest, it was one of the most expensive scenic flights i've been on but one where you don't get the best vantage point of what your trying to see. I didn't really think about it before i booked but the city is a no fly zone, so all you see is the city from the side whereas i was hoping and expecting to fly directly over the landmakrs that are so well known.
After the chopper ride it was back to Batery Park to get the lunchtime ferry to Liberty Island to see the Staute of Liberty ofcourse. Its good to see it up close the statue itself is quite small but combined with the plinth it makes it look bigger. You can no longer go up the statue although there is a museum in the base and you can see up inside through the glass ceiling.
As part of the ferry stop you then go to Ellis Island to the imigration museum, its a facinating building but a lot of information to take in. It gives the whole history of the immigrants trying to get into the country, whey they left there homeland and what they faced before being granted access or for those who were denied access.
Monday morning we decided to use the bus pass just before it expired and took the final tour we had not done, the upper manhattan tour through hells kitchen and upper west where a lot of the rich and famous have appartments. A lot of the well known buildings are on the lowerside, it was good to see how segregated like most cities manhattan is. Its generally a cramped place anyway but you can clearly see they are spending more effort trying to squeeze in more buildings into the more popular lower side and not putting too much effort into upper manhattan where aparently people arn't willing to travel to work therefore pushing up property prices even further.
Once the tour was over it was to 5th avenue for a bit of shopping. The last evening was spent at Maddison Sqaure Garden watching the NY knicks play the NJ Netts. Its a totally new experience when you get a constant flow of vendors selling food and drink, the game was good although the place lacked a little atmosphere. The Knicks lost and were behind most of the game, the crowed got into it by the third quarter but when they realised the Knicks weren't going to win they started to leave early.
Monday was the last day and to fill in the time we visited the Guggenhiem museum, the museum had one artists work on show which i had seen one piece of work and liked. The rest was a little disapointing and none of us thought much of it. Saying that its a fantastic building and a novel spiral shaped way of displaying art.
After we left the Guggenheim we saw a bit more of central park and i'm sure Howard Stern jogged past me. That was pretty much it, New York in 5 days, i'm glad i did it but wouldn't go back in the near future as i think we covered everything we intended to.
