Advertisement
Published: September 16th 2006
At the bottom
The last pic I took before the battry died. ~sob!~According to a diminutive Manhattan local who tried to flog us tickets to a comedy show in Times Square, there are 2 things you have to do when visiting New York City; 1 is catch a show on Broadway (The Wedding Singer - check) and the other is go and visit the Statue of Liberty (check - see previous blog). Presumably, watching a comedy show comes in third, explaining why we fell for his subtle sales techniques and bought the tickets.
He did, however, fail to mention one of New York's most iconic attractions - the Empire State Building. Leading world building for broadcasting duties, climbing post for amorous monkeys, even a rhyming couplet on the now legendary Frosties advert (one of the many things I miss from back home...they're gonna taste grrr-eat!!). Yep, I don't think it's too strong a statement to say that if you return home from New York with no photos from the Empire State Building, you're a sad, pathetic human being.
So me and Veg, having just indulged in our third burger in as many days and a couple of "big daddy" beers (or as we call them back home, pints), rock up to the building and join the queue for tickets to the top. A mere 4 hours (rough guess) later, and we're at the front, faced with the dilemma of whether or not to double the price of our tickets by getting audio-tour devices. These were basically audio tapes that told you what you were looking at from the top. but, in a delightfully novel twist, the narration was in the style of a New York tax driver. Oh hold the phone, did I say novel? I meant shit. Tony the cabby he was called, and how stereotypical he was I can only imagine.. "And, uh, to your left, you have a bunch of dumb buildings. What am I, a fawking architect?!" As cunning a ruse to cheat tourists out of their holiday money this was, we didn't fall for it.
And so having endured the 86 floor elevator ride (resisting the temptation to hit all of the buttons and/or let one off), we were now at the top. I emerged onto the observation deck wide-eyed and infant-like in my excitement. It was evening time, and the city was aglow with the lights from it's buildings, streetlamps and Times Square's neon crossroads. It was as if a thousand firefly pixies were dancing for my amusement. Choking back tears of pure joy, I drew my camera from my pocket to capture the most spectacular moment of my life...only for the bleddy battery to go dead! How gutting is that? On top of the Empire State Building and unable to take any snaps. I had to make do with a couple of blurry images on my phone (not quite the same) but luckily Veg got some good footage on his DV cam.
Anyhoo, despite that minor setback, it fully lived up to expectations. No giant apes at the top (unless you count the camp security guard who offered to cavity search Chris). The memories will last a lifetime. I hope everyone's well back home, thanks for your comments and e-mails. Next stop: Niagara Falls!
Laters
Liam
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0556s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1020.1kb
Spak
non-member comment
i almost feel like im there...'almost' in a quite literal sense of the not at all literal word...