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Published: April 11th 2008
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Its been goodbye to New York and on to the quiter pastures of Stockholm. This is what we have been up to for the past few days;
April 8
Today was a more 'cultural' day in New York, starting in Central Park. Central Park really is a beautiful place, quite divorced from the rush and stress of New York city. I can see why New Yorkers hold it in such affection; it seems to stand for everything that the city is not. That is, it is beautiful, undeveloped, uncommericalised; a beacon of equality that runs for about 50 city blocks. It is a real pity that Auckland does not have a place like this, at least one located so centrally. Perhaps our beaches take away for much of the need for such a park.
From central park, with our enthusiasm for the city lifted (helped by a Starbucks coffee - I normally stay away from such brands, but is almost impossible in the US as there is a Starbucks every few blocks. If ever one wanted to start a revolution in the states, I think Starbucks would be the place to start it from), we moved onto the
Rockefeller center, a huge building in the middle of town, from which one has a vista of the whole metropolis.
We had a fair bit of trouble locating the building (my standard strategy for finding tall buildings is just to keep looking up - this becomes fatally flawed once one gets close), but it was worth it. As you will be able to see from my photos, the view that the center provides is simply spectacular. With this view I could finally appreciate why people call New York the greatest city in the world - the shear size and diversity is amazing. Rockefeller himself seems to be a bit of an American icon, a bit like Donald Trump is today, although in another time, place or in a different construction of reality, both could (rightly) be regarded as tyrants (despite the former's philanthrophy).
The afternoon was spent locating several other New York icons, including Chinatown, little Italy and the Manhatten bridge. All of these were very interesting, without being especially remarkable. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about New York though, is the differences between the communities. Moving from one to the next is like moving into a different
Central Park from the Rockefeller Center
Our hostel was on the upper right side of this picture, on the park side of the river world. It is a very strange feeling, getting on the subway say at Wall Street, where everyone looks (and probably has) a million dollars, and getting out five minutes latter at the grungy streets of Chinatown. The difference in atmosphere is just uncanny, although the density of population never seems to diminish.
At night we had dinner in Time Square, which was a pretty impressible sight at night, particularly after a couple of beers. I think one can only truly appreciate the artifical (and entirely excessive) beauty of the place at night.
April 9
Today, with only a few hours to spare before heading for the airport, we went back to central park for a horse and carriage ride, which we had seen the previous day. This was very nice, although it covered much of the same ground we had seen before. It did emphasise, though just how special central park is. We then walked the 20-odd blocks to the Metropolitian art museum. It was important for me to stop here as our previous effort at visiting the Musesum of Modern Art was thwarted as it was not open on the Tuesday. We didn't have long here,
so skipped much of the older art, stopping only at the Modern Art area, which was very impressive. Both of us enjoy these more interpretive works, me in particular surrealist artists like Salvador Dali (dripping clocks etc).
Before we left for the airport we had just enough time to visit FAO Schwarz, a big toy store famous for its walk on piano (which featured in the Tom Hanks movie, Big). The store was quite cool, less commericalised then our previous visit to Toys-R-Us. After that we moved onto the airport, saying goodbye to the Big Apple.
I have enjoyed the experience of New York, and would hope to visit here again, although Victoria is less sure. The buzz of this city is something I just haven't experienced anywhere else. For all that though, it is quite a dirty, decaying city where one can often feel the tension and pressure. There is a certain liberal bent that I enjoyed, and fewer homeless than LA (and more noticeable efforts to curb homelessness) but also a brashness that made me feel quite uncertain. New Yorkers definitely have a heart - several offered to help us when we were obviously lost, without
Rockefeller center gardens
I suppose this is supposed to represent man conquering nature. us needing to ask - but as a structural affect, it is quite a heartless city, where one could easily get shallowed up.
To me this would sum up my visit to America; individually the people are very nice, friendly and willing to help. The structural affects of their behaviour as a society though are often very cold and exclusive; it is certainly a winner takes all society. The people themselves (at least through my interpretations of their actions) appear either unable or unwilling to consider the consequences of their actions, both at home and globally. For me, this completely undermines the their personal friendliness.
Nonetheless, I am keen to return to America, both to the places where I have been and other cities, particularly San Fransico, Texas and the East Coast. It is a fascinating country, truly at the head of global trends. For these reasons it is both a pleasure and a horror to experience.
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Luke
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Shave
Have a shave you hairy beast!