New Yoik
My eyes prickled four times in New York. Two of those times were on arriving and leaving the city. I've only fallen in love with a place so hard and fast once before, and I ended up living there for 2 years. In other words what I'm saying is - who's got an American cousin/colleage/dentist I can marry ??
I wouldn't pretend to be the first to have felt love-at-first-sight with NYC. I'm pretty sure she's seduced a number of foreigners and natives alike. But, like many a visitor before me, I felt like we had Something Special. New York got me. I got New York. We had our 'in' jokes. We read the mood straight away and presented all the right things at all the right times. I just heard a story of a couple who got engaged the first night they met. This could have been me and NY !!! But the road is a cruel mistress and she waits for no one (by which I mean - I had a train waiting who literally was waiting for no one).
What did I do in the great city then ? Once again I was adopted by an unbelievably generous family who lived outside the city and provided me with nutritional goods, wise words, and the serenity that I needed after whirring around the baking city all day. Going back to family homes has been invaluable. Don't get me wrong - I love 7 snoring roommates, over-aggressive air con and crusty toilet paper that only the finest of hostels can provide as much as the next shoestring traveller... But having home cooked dinner, 80s Antiques Roadshow re-runs and a golden retriever to lie on were quite heavenly. Also - would I have seen chipmunks, deer and groundhog in the city ?? For those of you unfamiliar with groundhog, do yourself a favour and Google them now. I'll wait.
My time in the city taught me a lesson I've been desperate to conquer for years - how to be OK being a gawky tourist. I am a scoffing snob when it comes to giant flappy maps, selfie sticks and the mortifying "standing on a corner looking at street signs" situation. Well this is a city where you can't afford to be too cool or you'll miss the whole point - looking up ! I was warned that a few days in New York would leave you with a crooked neck. So armed with my neck brace I hit the town running. Like, actually running - having spent many MANY a frustrated day weaving maniacally between leisurely Spanish pedestrians, I was in my element amongst the power-walking New Yorkers. I didn't even have anywhere to be, I just always like to arrive at my destination with a light sweat on my brow..
We digress. The point is - I looked up, I asked the directions, I took the snaps. And it was glorious. The parks, the buildings, the museums, the art, the bridges... Enough of you have been to NY to know what I'm talking about so I need not give you a full itinerary of the things we've all now seen. Safe to say, I barely scratched the surface, and I felt it was a taster menu of a trip to compile an extremely lengthy list of things I still plan to do. In the meantime, here are a few reasons why New York tops other mega cities:
1. Public transport doesn't bankrupt you. I only used the tube (don't make me say subway) twice because I was so stubborn in my walking everywhere in order to capitalise on my time there. But I could have zipped up and down merrily all day long and still been able to afford my....
2. ...yummies ! One again, I refer you to a future post on FOOD that is in constant editing as I scoff down more and more.
3. Midtown Manhatten is every inner-compass-less dummy's dream. If you can count you can't get lost. Did you know 20 blocks equals a mile ? Coooool.
4. Anything goes. Say what you want, wear what you want, do what you want. No one gives a ----. I felt like I could have roly poly-ed down the streets, wearing only flip flops, blowing bubbles, and no one would have looked up from their Economist.
5. Despite their reputation to rival
Londoners and Parisians in a bid to be the most unfriendly of specimens, everyone was beyond warm. I made jokes with cafe workers, swapped numbers in queues, was given free drinks. I didn't feel lonliness or rudeness for a moment.
Finally, and most significantly, it is a city where the very concrete buzzes. I had the great joy of hanging out with an octogenarian who's spent her entire life living in the big apple, and when I asked her which was the best time to be around in the city she told me the 40s (the 40s !!!!) because the energy and vibrancy were so great during that time. I can't imagine how it could be anymore vibrant than it currently is. She also nearly fell off her chair (this is an old lady. I shouldn't have been messing) when I asked if she had ever lived anywhere else. "But WHY would I want to do that ??" Well, quite.
I wouldn't pretend to be the first to have felt love-at-first-sight with NYC. I'm pretty sure she's seduced a number of foreigners and natives alike. But, like many a visitor before me, I felt like we had Something Special. New York got me. I got New York. We had our 'in' jokes. We read the mood straight away and presented all the right things at all the right times. I just heard a story of a couple who got engaged the first night they met. This could have been me and NY !!! But the road is a cruel mistress and she waits for no one (by which I mean - I had a train waiting who literally was waiting for no one).
What did I do in the great city then ? Once again I was adopted by an unbelievably generous family who lived outside the city and provided me with nutritional goods, wise words, and the serenity that I needed after whirring around the baking city all day. Going back to family homes has been invaluable. Don't get me wrong - I love 7 snoring roommates, over-aggressive air con and crusty toilet paper that only the finest of hostels can provide as much as the next shoestring traveller... But having home cooked dinner, 80s Antiques Roadshow re-runs and a golden retriever to lie on were quite heavenly. Also - would I have seen chipmunks, deer and groundhog in the city ?? For those of you unfamiliar with groundhog, do yourself a favour and Google them now. I'll wait.
My time in the city taught me a lesson I've been desperate to conquer for years - how to be OK being a gawky tourist. I am a scoffing snob when it comes to giant flappy maps, selfie sticks and the mortifying "standing on a corner looking at street signs" situation. Well this is a city where you can't afford to be too cool or you'll miss the whole point - looking up ! I was warned that a few days in New York would leave you with a crooked neck. So armed with my neck brace I hit the town running. Like, actually running - having spent many MANY a frustrated day weaving maniacally between leisurely Spanish pedestrians, I was in my element amongst the power-walking New Yorkers. I didn't even have anywhere to be, I just always like to arrive at my destination with a light sweat on my brow..
We digress. The point is - I looked up, I asked the directions, I took the snaps. And it was glorious. The parks, the buildings, the museums, the art, the bridges... Enough of you have been to NY to know what I'm talking about so I need not give you a full itinerary of the things we've all now seen. Safe to say, I barely scratched the surface, and I felt it was a taster menu of a trip to compile an extremely lengthy list of things I still plan to do. In the meantime, here are a few reasons why New York tops other mega cities:
1. Public transport doesn't bankrupt you. I only used the tube (don't make me say subway) twice because I was so stubborn in my walking everywhere in order to capitalise on my time there. But I could have zipped up and down merrily all day long and still been able to afford my....
2. ...yummies ! One again, I refer you to a future post on FOOD that is in constant editing as I scoff down more and more.
3. Midtown Manhatten is every inner-compass-less dummy's dream. If you can count you can't get lost. Did you know 20 blocks equals a mile ? Coooool.
4. Anything goes. Say what you want, wear what you want, do what you want. No one gives a ----. I felt like I could have roly poly-ed down the streets, wearing only flip flops, blowing bubbles, and no one would have looked up from their Economist.
5. Despite their reputation to rival
Londoners and Parisians in a bid to be the most unfriendly of specimens, everyone was beyond warm. I made jokes with cafe workers, swapped numbers in queues, was given free drinks. I didn't feel lonliness or rudeness for a moment.
Finally, and most significantly, it is a city where the very concrete buzzes. I had the great joy of hanging out with an octogenarian who's spent her entire life living in the big apple, and when I asked her which was the best time to be around in the city she told me the 40s (the 40s !!!!) because the energy and vibrancy were so great during that time. I can't imagine how it could be anymore vibrant than it currently is. She also nearly fell off her chair (this is an old lady. I shouldn't have been messing) when I asked if she had ever lived anywhere else. "But WHY would I want to do that ??" Well, quite.
Groundhog aka woodchuck or whistlepig and very cute!
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