Dude! America is awesome!
But your toilets scare me.
I asked
birdseyeview to write this post because I was worried about making it interesting enough. She refused, so blame her. And yes, I will know if you don't read this properly.
Fourteen of us went to NYC for four days - colleagues, friends and a spouse and son. It was a fab trip. Just long enough to feel that we'd done quite a bit but not long enough to feel that we had to fit everything in. The weather was generally perfect for sightseeing - cool and breezy and dry. It was quite hot on the Saturday but perfectly manageable.
One of our group had volunteered to share a room with Mrs X, a colleague who is known for having extreme social problems - very very needy and nervous and verbose. Guaranteed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I was praying I would be able to cope with her and not lose my temper/will to live. My problem is I'm scared I'm too like her. I was desperate to make sure that I wouldn't end up being with her too much, and yet I didn't want to upset her by being unsubtle about it.
Thursday:
Arrived after a seven hour flight (why was it seven hours there and five back? It makes no sense). The immigration and customs was easy and the passport guy was friendly (and cute.) We grabbed a couple of people carriers at JFK and were driven in. It's weird how things look the same and yet are so different - it's like being in bizarro world, where everything is just slightly different and yet the same. The cars are on the wrong side of the road, the driver's seat is on the wrong side, signs aren't the standard wording and design and yet it's in English and I've seen it so many times before.
We got our first view of the NYC skyline from the freeway/highway (?) - I noticed the Empire State and Chrysler in particular. We stayed in a nice little hotel in midtown (38th and Madison). Since one of our group had their son with them they took a 3-bed and I had a double to myself, with a view of the Empire State (ESB cos I can't be arsed to type it from now on). The traffic noises outside never let up, but that just meant it even sounded like NYC all night long :) Plus, I had earplugs.
After settling in and meeting in the bar (where I gave my first tip, as advised by all my american friends and the guidebooks) we broke up into smaller groups. One group went off to the ESB and the rest of us went for a walk. We ended up walking for miles through midtown, including seeing the ESB and Times Square. After a while we realised it was past midnight for us so we started to try and find somewhere to eat. We wandered up and down and across (this being NYC) but didn't manage to see anywhere we could agree on. I fancied trying a Korean place but noone else was keen. The other places we saw were either strip clubs or looked too seedy or empty (a bad sign at 8pm).
I'm ashamed to say we ended up going to the Hard Rock cafe - yes, I know, it's a chain and a tourist trap, but it was 3am for us! Mrs X made me shout at her for the first time in the trip when she criticised the waitresses grammar. To. Her. Face. Luckily it was the Hard Rock so the waitress didn't hear her and Mrs X didn't hear me when I told her to shut up.
Friday
Woke up to a misty day. I was amazed at how the clouds came right in to the heart of the city. It was quite stunning.
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island trip first thing in the morning. It was cold and grey so I gave up taking photos and just appreciated the view instead. Lots of school kids wearing neon foam Liberty tiaras.
A few of us went to Union Square for a quick drink and then on to The Players - a gentleman's club in Gramercy Park. No, not a strip club as
catch22girl and
shoroko first thought. Had a lovely and interesting tour from the Director, arranged through a friend of a friend, and held a real skull, used as 'Yorick' by Booth. I didn't know that John Wilkes Booth was an actor. His brother was also an actor, and so successful that when he withdrew from performing after Booth assassinated Lincoln his fans demanded his return.
Coming up! Saturday! Stay tuned!
I asked
birdseyeview to write this post because I was worried about making it interesting enough. She refused, so blame her. And yes, I will know if you don't read this properly.
Fourteen of us went to NYC for four days - colleagues, friends and a spouse and son. It was a fab trip. Just long enough to feel that we'd done quite a bit but not long enough to feel that we had to fit everything in. The weather was generally perfect for sightseeing - cool and breezy and dry. It was quite hot on the Saturday but perfectly manageable.
One of our group had volunteered to share a room with Mrs X, a colleague who is known for having extreme social problems - very very needy and nervous and verbose. Guaranteed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I was praying I would be able to cope with her and not lose my temper/will to live. My problem is I'm scared I'm too like her. I was desperate to make sure that I wouldn't end up being with her too much, and yet I didn't want to upset her by being unsubtle about it.
Thursday:
Arrived after a seven hour flight (why was it seven hours there and five back? It makes no sense). The immigration and customs was easy and the passport guy was friendly (and cute.) We grabbed a couple of people carriers at JFK and were driven in. It's weird how things look the same and yet are so different - it's like being in bizarro world, where everything is just slightly different and yet the same. The cars are on the wrong side of the road, the driver's seat is on the wrong side, signs aren't the standard wording and design and yet it's in English and I've seen it so many times before.
We got our first view of the NYC skyline from the freeway/highway (?) - I noticed the Empire State and Chrysler in particular. We stayed in a nice little hotel in midtown (38th and Madison). Since one of our group had their son with them they took a 3-bed and I had a double to myself, with a view of the Empire State (ESB cos I can't be arsed to type it from now on). The traffic noises outside never let up, but that just meant it even sounded like NYC all night long :) Plus, I had earplugs.
After settling in and meeting in the bar (where I gave my first tip, as advised by all my american friends and the guidebooks) we broke up into smaller groups. One group went off to the ESB and the rest of us went for a walk. We ended up walking for miles through midtown, including seeing the ESB and Times Square. After a while we realised it was past midnight for us so we started to try and find somewhere to eat. We wandered up and down and across (this being NYC) but didn't manage to see anywhere we could agree on. I fancied trying a Korean place but noone else was keen. The other places we saw were either strip clubs or looked too seedy or empty (a bad sign at 8pm).
I'm ashamed to say we ended up going to the Hard Rock cafe - yes, I know, it's a chain and a tourist trap, but it was 3am for us! Mrs X made me shout at her for the first time in the trip when she criticised the waitresses grammar. To. Her. Face. Luckily it was the Hard Rock so the waitress didn't hear her and Mrs X didn't hear me when I told her to shut up.
Friday
Woke up to a misty day. I was amazed at how the clouds came right in to the heart of the city. It was quite stunning.
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island trip first thing in the morning. It was cold and grey so I gave up taking photos and just appreciated the view instead. Lots of school kids wearing neon foam Liberty tiaras.
A few of us went to Union Square for a quick drink and then on to The Players - a gentleman's club in Gramercy Park. No, not a strip club as
catch22girl and
shoroko first thought. Had a lovely and interesting tour from the Director, arranged through a friend of a friend, and held a real skull, used as 'Yorick' by Booth. I didn't know that John Wilkes Booth was an actor. His brother was also an actor, and so successful that when he withdrew from performing after Booth assassinated Lincoln his fans demanded his return.
Coming up! Saturday! Stay tuned!