Manhattan - what can you say?

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Amazing, they let us back into the US from Canada with a minimum of fuss - you never can tell, based on all the stories you hear! The most exciting part of the entry was navigating a rental car through the streets of old Quebec (which not even the GPS in the car could assist with), and dealing with the driving style of Bostonites. They clearly don’t understand the concept of turning left from the left lane, right from the right, and not reversing down busy streets. All part of the adventure right??

Boston was a great city - once we returned the car! Harvard was great to wander around, and the walking tour through the city was fascinating. We read about the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, and couldn’t believe the pride the locals still felt about the Red Sox winning the championship the year before!

From Boston it was off to the Big Apple. What an experience! We caught the train from Boston, and the trip was great. We followed the coastline, and saw loads of places I never thought we’d actually visit - Providence, New Hampshire…

We arrived safely, and went straight to our booked hostel. What a mistake. We got there, and the place seemed lovely. Until… the hostel was overbooked, and we were told we were being relocated to their sister hostel which apparently was also in a great location, and the room we would be in was much better. Slightly apprehensively we got in the cab they booked us, and were driven north. So far north, that we ended up still in Manhattan, but smack bang in the middle of Harlem. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand Harlem is full of culture and ‘adventure’ and is undergoing an enormous amount of urban redevelopment, however, the spot we were in hadn’t quite realised that. I have never felt like a member of a minority group before, and to be perfectly honest, the sensation was dreadful. It gave me a new appreciation of what so many people in the world from different cultures must have to deal with on a daily basis, and not just for a week like us.

In the interests of feeling safe walking around after dark I tried to find other accommodation for us, but of course, we arrived at the start of the fourth of July weekend, and accommodation was not readily available. So, we stayed, and headed out into the chaos, energy and adventure that is New York. It was amazing.

First thing on the first day, we went to Times Square. It was just as overwhelming and gaudy as we imagined! All the signs and banners created such an image of activity and busy-ness that it was impossible to take it all in. Combined with all the traffic and smog, it was like being on another planet! It was also $15 for a fruit salad, but I guess that’s another story altogether..!

Central Park was impossible to avoid (and not just because of it’s immense size). It’s several miles long, and is completely surrounded by apartment buildings - I guess living where you can see green space in New York is worth paying for! I was vaguely surprised it looked so much like the images in all the movies, right down to the number of people running in such an orderly fashion on the running paths, and the number of horse drawn carriages cruising around. It’s got a great atmosphere, and makes you feel like you’re in another world compared with the rest of the city.

We did what all good tourists should and climbed the Empire State building. The queues were enormous, and to try and avoid some of them we ended up walking up and down some of the stories rather than waiting a minimum of 45 minutes for the lifts. The view from the top I imagine is pretty amazing - I can’t really say with any degree of certainty, as it was so smoggy when we were there we couldn’t see quite as much as we would have liked! Still, there was a great audio tour that really oriented us to all the neighbourhoods and buildings.

New York is of course famous for its museums and galleries, and while we couldn’t of course pay homage to all of them, we gave it our best shot! We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Natural History Museum and MoMA - we couldn’t handle any more… The Met was far and away the best, and well worth a return visit. Neither Paul nor I have any capacity to appreciate most modern art, so the Guggenheim in particular was right over our heads!

We really did play the part of the tourist to a tee, and also went on the cruise to the Statue of Liberty. Not a whole lot to do there, so we wandered around the island, and then got the boat back! You can’t climb the statue any more (security) unless you book months in advance, so we were slightly limited in what we could do on the island. The cruise normally also includes a trip to Ellis Island, but we were there too late in the day to be able to stop there. From the water it looked just like any other immigration ‘reception’ centre, but nicer - which is lucky given the other one we visited was Alcatraz (pre-max security prison)!

In ultimate validation of our tourist status we visited Coney Island, and what a mistake that was! Maybe going a day earlier would have been a better option, as then we could have seen the annual hot dog eating competition! The rides were super-tacky, and the beach was not quite up to Australian standards. It’s one of those places you have to visit though. Later that day we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, and that was pretty cool. We shared the walk with about 50000 others, so it wasn’t particularly peaceful, but what part of Manhattan is??

We visited the 9/11 site and saw the monuments, and were surprised by how little progress has been made on the site. We heard there’s still a lot of debate and controversy about what’s going to happen there, but it was a bit of a shame to see the area looking the way it does. We wandered through the Rockafeller Centre and were astounded by the immensity of the complex - we also saw some unattended luggage in the courtyard at the front of one of the buildings, and were surprised by the lack of attention this received! We saw a fascinating photography exhibition at the UN building which featured key current events from all over the world - most of them were related to war, famine, slavery and genocide, except for the pictures featuring Australia…all about surfing! Went to Wall Street and wandered around the outside of the Stock Exchange (no tourists allowed inside anymore), and felt suitably poor.

As an avid SATC fan, I was of course subliminally drawn to the Manolo Blahnik store. It was actually really hard to find, as there are no signs on the outside of the store - I guess you’ll find it if you’re supposed to be there!! I found it. I’m guessing the publicity the brand got as a result of SATC has contributed to the price rise of the shoes. The ones I wanted were $4150…I couldn’t. I’m still trying to recover from the withdrawal symptoms, and would appreciate it if people didn’t remind me of the experience of leaving the store empty-handed. All was not lost however, as I found Saks on Fifth Avenue and engaged in retail therapy of the jeans kind. I felt much better… three pairs later!

We ate the hotdogs (it wasn’t October 7, but Paul has assured me it will count for the year) and the pizza, ordered in the bodegas, and dealt with the subway. We were serenaded by a mariachi band on the train, and were also approached to accept God into our lives on the subway. We saw the extreme poverty and extreme wealth, and heard conversations that showed the best and worst of human nature - I guess you never know until someone opens their mouth how rude or helpful they are going to be!

Can’t wait to go back, and see the other 90% of the city we must have missed - a week definitely wasn’t enough, but certainly cost enough!!

After a week it was time to move on, to Philadelphia. We took the bus, and on arrival in Philly got in the middle of an argument between a group of taxi drivers which ended in us refusing to get in any of cabs, and walking the 2 or so kms to our accommodation. There was another guy in the cab queue whose luggage was pulled and shoved by so many of the drivers that I’m pretty sure it ended up in multiple pieces! We had booked a B&B in Philly in the middle of the Rittenhouse Square district, one of the trendiest areas in town. It was lovely. We didn’t do a whole lot in Philly (we were exhausted after NYC), but did see a lot of the exhibits about the Declaration of Independence, and also the Liberty Bell. More randomly, we decided to go to a baseball game, and saw a Phillies vs St Louis Cardinals game. It really wasn’t very exciting. However, it was a good excuse to sit in the sun, drink and chill out for an afternoon!

Next stop Washington. Stay tuned…

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Photos

Philadelphia
Rittenhouse Square

New York
Times Square

New York
Flatiron building

New York
United Nations building

Philadelphia
Liberty Bell