Advertisement
Published: December 6th 2010
Edit Blog Post
New York City is a one of a kind place. So many times you see movies and television shows that take place there and I see the millions of people constantly walking the sidewalks and I always wondered if it's really like that in real life or is it slightly exaggerated for TV. I finally got to see for myself and it was mind blowing. It really does take a while to soak in just how big the buildings are and how many people are around you. First and foremost you have to be aggressive to make it here. Not in the form of being disrespectful but you have to stand your ground if you want to get by. The sidewalks are really packed, its not exaggerated what so ever. Vendors and shop owners can spot tourists from a mile away. All of the tourists, myself included are the ones looking up at the buildings as they're walking. Myself and a friend that was there with me went to a hot dog stand. We each ordered a hot dog and a bottled drink and paid together with a $20. Now I don't think two hot dogs and and two drinks come to $20 but the vendor took our money then waved it at us and put it with the rest of the money (he was a foreigner who acted like he couldn't speak english also). We asked for change but he just slammed his tongs on the counter repeatedly, while yelling next person. As for the entertainment in NYC, I really dont know where to start.
If you plan to shop, you better save a whole lot of money. Each department store, whether its in Times Square or somewhere else in Manhattan has about three or four floors. Anywhere else in any other city, stores close at nine or ten p.m. but we were out around Manhattan around midnight or so and American Eagle and a number of stores were open. I suggest saving for quite a while before going here because you will go broke with all the shopping temptations. Even if you're not a shopper you will definitely be enticed. Shopping is one of thing but the food is a whole different thing.
I think I spent more money on food during a four day span than I've ever spent in my life. The pizzerias are awesome. Pizza is definitely something that you have to try when in New York City. Yes, the food can get expensive but it's well worth it. Being in New York will force you to try different foods right after you've just ate, which is certainly what I did. I had a great smoked sausage then had a huge piece of cheesecake and pastry not even ten minutes later. By now you're probably thinking, how does all this food not make you sick or better yet how did I not gain weight. Theres no time to gain weight because you walk everywhere. All ages old, young, man, woman, everybody walks, so you will definitely loose weight before gaining it. There's so many different flavors of cheesecake but I would have to say that the best desert hands down is the frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity's. At first, I was expecting something like chocolate ice cream and thats it but the taste of this desert was amazing. It's exactly what its called, not just some name disguising some chocolate ice cream. It tastes exactly like its name implies. It's served in a huge glass bowl with a spoon and two straws. You better be willing to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours if you want a seat but when you're a tourist and that may be the only chance you have to try it, why not wait; besides there's plenty of stores and shops all around to pass time, which is what we did. The bad part about it is I want another one but I don't think they're sold anywhere in or around Oklahoma City.
No matter where you're from I guarantee that traffic is nowhere near the magnitude of NYC traffic. My first day there as I was still getting used to everything there, myself and the othe others stepped out to cross the street when all of a sudden a couple of taxis came out of nowhere. We jumped back on the sidewalk and were looking around in shock while everybody else is acting like nothing happened. It was crazy. I'm so used to cars slowing down in a crowd of people but not in New York. This is just how aggressive it is. Then I realized there are no speed limit signs. If there are then I missed them. The lanes in the street simply don't exist. Cars are piled up everywhere, horns blowing all day long. It blew my mind to see taxis speeding by and people not flinching, they just stood there.
I would strongly advise you to please know where you are and be familiar with the area before you hop in a taxi. All together in our group at the time it was about seven of us. Too many people obviously for one taxi. One of the girls in the other taxi knew exactly where we were going and at what block we were going to. All we knew was follow the taxi that the other half of our group was in. That is definitely not a smart thing to tell the taxi driver. They get highly upset if you don't know exactly where you're going because it's hard for them to follow another taxi with all the traffic. Every car speeding and swerving through people doesn't help the cause either.
One of the most gratifying life experiences ever is going to the Ground Zero Museum and the Empire State building. The Empire State building is like nothing you will ever experience. I must admit, I was slightly scared going to the 86th floor of a building, especially in NYC. We've all seen pictures of the Manhattan skyline either on pictures, tv shows or movies but its just so surreal when you're actually looking down on the entire city in person. I should've bundled up a little bit more since it felt about 20 degrees cooler at the top of the building and it was already 40 degrees that night in late October.
The Ground Zero museum is a must see. So many different emotions run through you. One minute you're angry, thinking about why this happened, the next minute, you want to cry because of all the flyers that little kids put up saying their moms and dads are missing. There's even some original soundbites from when people were calling 911 and people's reaction when they found out what was going on. Overall it was a great trip and I would definitely go back. I've heard alot of good and bad things about NYC but what city doesn't have negatives, besides it's the biggest city in the country so what do people really expect. Money can't buy you everything in the world but it sure will allow you to have a good time in New York City, if you have enough.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0389s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb