New York

la gran siete

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Heck meant to write this upon my return on thursday but now is as good a time as any . What can I say about the Big A = mad ,bad ,sad ,crazy interesting, energetic ,full of variety ,expensive not so expensive, friendly( for sure if you've got a British accent), the single most cosmopolitan city in the world so much so so that only one cab driver seemed to be a Yank and he, for some reason, wanted to take us to Cincinnati??????
Anyway we arrived on Friday 14th tired and hungry at about 7pm . First stop after checking in was BB King where they do some great food and show some good bands too. Booker T and the Mgs were on that nigjht but they wanted 50 bucks extra so we foregoed that and watched blues band playing in the smaller bar. They were very good indeed.
Saturday first stop Central Park. My mate is in no mood to walk round it ( its huge) so we opt for a horse buggy ride. Bit of a rip off . 40 bucks for twenty minutes. Still between four of us its not so bad.We then go to the toy shop as Julian likes to rekindle his childhood. MASSIVE CUDDLY TOY ELEPHANT DOMINATES THE MAIN ROOM .At $13000 I'm thinking this is a mecca to bad taste.Also several replica cars for kids selling at $25000 or so.They only do about 13 miles an hour but are almost exact copies in every other aspect except size.
That evening we go to the Empire state building thinking,WRONGLY, the queus would be smaller. The line zig zags indoors several times then we go through security then up the lift then climb six flights of steps to reach the top and a wonderous view.it took about two hours all told at a cost of $13.We took a cab to Grand central for a meal at the oyster bar only to be denied entry by a snotty Maitre'd. “Last orders was 5 minutes ago sir.”
Sunday we go back to BB king for a brunch – as much as one can eat , and the wonderfull sounds of the Harlem Gospel singers.Pm we visit “China town” - largest outside China. Incredible market. We decided on a Chinese meal but have to say I was disappointed. Too bland.
By this time we have acquainted ourselves with a number of bars two of which were Irish.In one of them a footy match involving Spurs was being shown. Scottish matey sitting to my left wearing a Celtic shirt tells me he was watching Celtic the other day when Rod Stewart taps in on the shoulder and asks for the score. Small world.
We got to meet a few cab drivers too – One froim Guinea, two from India, a Polac and one from the Balkans somewhere. All characters.
Monday we did Liberty and Ellis islands– the latter is forgettable as its just an empty shell with a few photos.Groiund Zero left one feeling sad but the rest of that district including Battery park and the view from the harbour was awesome.
We head back up to Houston strreet on the corner with a fifth av.( I think) in search of Katz deli ,famous for the episode in “When Harry met sally” We check with a cop for directions and she says “ YOU'RE HEADING THE WRONG WAY, YOU SHOULD BE GOING BACK TO CANAL STREET” ??????? I show her our map and she says she doesnt live in that area.??? As Houston street is well known I can only think she is pulling a stunt on us.
We arrived at Katz nad tuck into a cheesesteak and a Pastrami sandwich washed down with a few jars of Bass nad followed by a few lumps of New York cheesecake.You get a lot of food in NY but it pays lip service to any concept of healthy eating.
Visit more bars. One in Soho ,very smart it was but a bottle of wine came to $40 . Pint of beer=$9
Tuesday we hit Greenwich village surely the prettiest district. Very Victorian with lots of quaint shops and restaurants.Eggs Benedict getswashed down with Bass followed by a couple of double Jack Daniels. Luvly Jubly!
Wednesday we haead back home to sanity.
My most enduring memory is the helpfulness and general friendlines of the people( apart from the policewoman that is) . I cant think of a single occasion where I wasnt talking to someone.A very sharp contrast to London where if you speak to a stranger he looks at you as if there is something wrong
 
sounded like fun!! saw some great deals on BA yesterday return flight for £199!! may wait for when i can take some time off work and book it next time round!
 
Was in NYC on business in June, very hot and a suffocating atmosphere in Manhattan and my eyes were bloodshot everyday; also a few streets close to the Empire State Building didn't feel too safe

Apart from that, the best Chinese food I've tasted anywhere (admittedly this was in Morristown, NJ where I was staying); Central Park is very nice, lots to see, do and learn...
e.g Houston is pronounced How-ston; Soho has nothing to do with our Soho, and is just an abbreviation for South of Houston; Tribeca, though exotic sounding is another abbreviation, for Triangle below Canal Street; Madison Square Garden isn't square and used to be somewhere else (currently adjacent to NY Penn Station); Macy's isn't all that great for menswear so I stocked up at my favourite clothes store Banana Republic (a pity we don't have any BR stores here); Virgin Megastore in Times Sq is pricey and claims to be the biggest record store in the world but doesn't seem any bigger than the one on the corner of Oxford St and Tottenham Ct Rd (which itself was even bigger about fifteen years ago); Coldplay are far more popular than they deserve to be; chav culture is catching on with loads of kids wearing Burberry! :eek:

Enjoyed it there very much.... especially when compared with Detroit where I was a month later dodging crack whores and taking the tunnel bus to Canada every night to reach civilisation :) .
 
Part of the reason for me going with my wife is becaue our mate Julian asked us to join him and his daughter ( who is our Goddaughter). She is only 16 and has alweays dreamt of going to NY . Her father wasnt going to disappoint her.She likes the glamour but uttelry loves shopping which is something my wife quite likes but which neither my mate or myself can enthuse about at all.Consequently the girls hit the shop trail whilst us guys hit the bars.She dresses quite provocatively and spends what seems like hours in front of the mirror One thing that amused me about her was the number of male heads turning round as she walked by . She noticed it as well and commented "I never get those in Mullion, Cornwall". I said "Its because they are far more reserved down there, Hayley.You might get a few furtive glances but thats all." She enjoyed every minute of it.
I would've liked to have spent a bit more time there visiting museums such as American indian museum. Maybe next time
 
shahedz said:
sounded like fun!! saw some great deals on BA yesterday return flight for £199!! may wait for when i can take some time off work and book it next time round!

that sounds like a very good deal. WE flew Virgin and I have to say we were most impressed with the service :smashin:
 
well it was an all in package through Expedia which came to about £650 each for 5 nights.I garher November gets quite a bit cheaper though
 
I spent a couple of days in NY two weeks after 9/11 and then headed down to Pennsylvania to stay with some friends Funny how most odf the placen names seem to #replicxatew ours Reading, Lanchaster, Bedford etc. Was at one time peopled by Quakers but there seems to be very few lkeft now. Most there are called "Dutch" as in Deutch of German descent.The Amish( anabaptists) live in a community in South Penn and were originally invited to settle there by WilliaM Penn(17th century I believe)to escape persecution from Louis 14th and the Germans before.Some settled in a community called "Intercourse" thus named because its in a crossroad.It was there that a section of the film Witness was filmed( Harrison Ford using a phone box). The amish are a tough ,hard working but very humble people and I found myself admiring for their strong ethics and sense of community. Unfortunately they are not outwardly friendly fearing being "poluted" by the "English"All their implements are unmechanised, everrything is done by hand. In fact the only things they rely on the outside world for is one telephone, the road system and occasional medical service.Menonites ,by contrast and with whom theAmish have much contact, are a halfway house as they do rely on mechanisation and IT They are more likely to be seen round towns dressed in rather more colourful clothing. It all seems such a sharp contrast to the naked greed and egopism prevalent in NY
 

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