Chapter 1 - The Sights
‘Taxi!’ I actually successfully managed to hail a cab on a few occasions. Also, there were two separate times people stopped and asked me for directions. I clearly look like a New Yorker, or at least I give the air of ‘I know what I’m doing and where I’m going’. Or maybe it’s my friendly, trusting, I won’t mug you face!
Times Square. This is the reason why the cross at the Lake is lit up!
It’s hard to be impressed by the Statue of Liberty with all the skyscrapers around, but it’s easier when you think about how this would have been the first thing new immigrants would have seen arriving in the New World and there were no skyscrapers back in the olden days.
The skyline and some foreground interest!
Chapter 2 - Things we did
The only photo of us all together. We’re on top of the Empire State Building (the guy who took the photo had nowhere to run with my camera so I decided it was safe).
We went to the Hallowe’en parade, otherwise known as Freaks Walking Down a Road. I will never understand the complete fascination with Hallowe’en here. And they don’t even have fireworks!
After the parade I discovered how people die in stampedes. There was NO room to move ANYWHERE! This is a photo I took with my phone of the crush, that dark bit in the middle is someone lifting a pushchair, just incase you were wondering.
I made David stand in this photo in order to show you how big these giraffes actually were. Life size I tell you! But at that price, I’d like a real life size giraffe for the back garden. The ones that reached my shin were $200. Honestly.
David bought a pretzel. 'Would you like some bread with your salt?' (The old ones are always the best)
We got a bus tour around the city. In a desperate attempt to get our money’s worth we took (almost) every tour available, Downtown, Uptown, Brooklyn. This was the Guide on the Uptown tour. He was wick! He laughed at all his own jokes that no one else found funny at all. This was doubley unfortunate because not only was he not funny, our lack of laughter failed to mask his horrendous laugh. Thankfully towards the end of the tour whatever he was on (I thought maybe too much orangeade, Karen thought Blue M&Ms, David thought maybe something illegal) began to wear off.
I saw this in Harlem. Is this not the point of McDonalds? Are they not all ‘Express’?! Do sit-down-and-place-your-order-with-a-waiter-McDonalds exist?
Chapter 3 - Other photos of interest
I’m naming and shaming, well actually just shaming this woman. She would NOT stop walking around the little waiting room at Newark Airport train station which opened the automatic doors to the cold outside world EVERY SINGLE TIME. Seriously.
I went to Dylan’s Candy Store. It’s owned by Ralph Lauren’s daughter, Dylan. Or so David’s guidebook told me anyway. It was cool but not quite the Charlie’s Chocolate Factory I was imagining. But it was a little piece of heaven all the same. The stairs in it had gummy sweets in them, all lit up. Very cool. And yes, that bunny is made of chocolate and it’s huge!
I walked a little bit through Central Park. Someday I would like to take a carriage ride through the park. That is an appropriate mode of transport for a princess such as myself.
I got the subway all by myself! How brave am I? Yeah not really, as this story will testify. We were walking along the street when David pointed to the road right beside the pavement was a huge rat. I jumped a mile while cleverly moving myself away from the road incase the beast it should attack me. (Nicky please don’t take too much pleasure at this story)
I had pizza in the airport. I once got mocked ruthlessly for asking for sweetcorn on my pizza at camp. But broccoli? Broccoli is fine apparently! Weirdos.
This was the quite small suitcase I took to NY. It came with a super cool (or so I thought) combination lock. ‘Buy cheap, buy twice’ or so the old adage goes. ‘Buy cheap, buy the contents of your suitcase again because the combination changes without your knowledge’ is what it should be. I sat for 15 minutes going through every combination from 000 to lucky number 207 at which point the blessed lock opened. That was not even close to the number I had chosen (555). I will be using the locks that you can open with a hair pin in future. Let’s face neither lock is going to stop a would-be thief stealing your stuff but at least using the crappy key lock I don’t need to play Lucky Numbers to get to my stuff.
Chapter 4 - Other highlights and lowlights
- Getting Mango Chicken served in an actual shelled out mango.
- Taking artsy sepia photos of NY buildings.
- Going to the quietest Old Navy shop ever. Sponsored by the Parade right outside! While they watched the freaks, we shopped in peace and quiet.
- Walking straight up the top of the Empire State Building, all thanks to every other tourist getting their dinner.
- Flying back to NC and seeing the sun set over America. Then seeing every Eastern coast city all lit up because there was no cloud cover.
- Having a spot so big I was actually considering charging people to look at the view from the top of it.
- Seeing ‘Stomp’. My head only hurt a little bit coming out. It is fantastic though, and I’m jealous of their rhythmic abilities. I have NO rhythm whatsoever.
- David bringing much needed items of clothing to me (coat, skirt and AS hoodie). Yay!
- Getting a crepe at street market/fair thing on 7th Avenue. How come this was a tiny fraction of the price of one at Summer Madness? Rip off merchants.
- Seeing the ‘When Harry met Sally’ Arc De Triomphe.
- Getting a hot dog from the street.
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