Day 13 Hop on hop off you are really here


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North America » United States » New York
December 29th 2015
Published: June 25th 2017
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Geo: 40.7488, -73.9911

New York, New York. We had arrived. An early start was a good thing - although we are a little weary after the night flight.

Organisation at the airport was absolutely superb. We were lined up and "processed" and popped out the other side of border control without any trouble. Not the smiles and cheery disposition of our Canadian friends, but none the less - efficient.

We found a cab easily and for some reason we all found ourselves very very squashed in the back seat fighting for elbow room, leg room and even fresh air. Not sure how that happened but we swerved and honked and barged our way from the airport to the Affina in downtown New York. The rain and the traffic didn't worry us (we had a fixed rate fare!) and the fog was lifting just enough so that we could see the skyscraper skyline as we headed towards the corner of 7th Avenue and 32 nd Street.

There was no way that we had any expectation that our rooms would be ready at 8 am but we did check in, stored the luggage and make ourselves known before heading off to find food. There was just one minor hiccup. I went to put on my jacket, hat and gloves only to discover that I no longer had them. On my hasty exit from the sardine squash, I had left my gear on the backseat of the cab.

Margaret, the Concierge was AMAZING. Apparently, this forgetfulness is not new to New York. They have an entire transport department dedicated to tracking down stuff left behind. It took ten switches of department and nearly 30 minutes of perseverance, but Margaret tracked down my gear and organized for its return on the cabby's next job past the hotel. Now that's service! And wow, that's honesty.

7th Avenue was ALIVE and the yellow cabs, police cars, skyscrapers, subways and the busy intent of the New Yorkers all combined to be the perfect contrast to the mountain life we had just left.

Where do you look first? It was one of the "surreal" moments. We had never been here before but there was an amazing buzz of familiarity about it. We recognised buildings and streets from years of sitcom TV and movies.

And although it was the countdown to New Year's Eve the evidence of Christmas was everywhere. Found Macy's windows just two blocks from our new home and couldn't get enough of the Christmas trees that adorned every window and door stoop. There were lights and music and decorations dripping from every shop. And how can you possibly choose somewhere to eat? There was food, food and more food!

After much stopping and starting we finally settled on Andrew's Diner. It had a "reasonable" queue and had a great shop window front so we could get a glimpse of what was on offer. And Andrew's did not disappoint. We had the big breakfast with grills and pancakes and washed it down with juices and coffee. We were fueled for the day.

Michael took off on his own adventure because he had connections in New York. We went straight for the bright lights and stood in the middle of Times Square just spinning around on the spot soaking in all the views and posing for the loved up Revlon camera. And of course, it goes without saying, we puckered up to be stars on the billboard!

A diner, Times Square and a kiss captured on the big screen on the corner of Broadway and 7th Avenue, What a cliché. But we loved it.

Our first order of real business was to make sense of our City Pass and our hop on hop off bus. Mac the navigator, was truly in his element as he unraveled the street naming conventions and patterns of New York (he mastered that in 3 minutes) and armed and charged up with our tickets and maps, our adventures began despite the constant and persistent little drizzle of rain and the bone chilling COLD.

Mac was intent on getting the kms up and we have already completed two laps of 7th avenue, a dash down 6th because we can, a little detour along Broadway and ticked off 30th to 58th. We went back to the Affina to check on the progress of our room and found Michael tethered to the internet and still waiting. Finally made our way to the room at 4 pm and was pleasantly surprised. Plenty of room! The main bedroom, a lounge room (Michael's bedroom for two nights), a dining room and table and a fully equipped kitchen. The bathroom and toilet - well.....small to say the least...but functional.

And because we had a dining room table - we wanted to try it out. The "corner" stores sell hot food from every culture. We found one (there were so many to choose from - and they didn't even need to be on a corner) and filled up the takeaway containers and enjoyed a leisurely takeaway dinner In the warmth and comfort of our 14th floor apartment overlooking Madison Square Garden and Penn Station.

We took in the first night time loop of the bus and appropriately oohed and ahhed at all the landmarks. There were five different loops on our ticket and with the traffic congestion the bus moved at snail's pace - at this rate there is a chance that we might not get to "finish" them all. But, despite the pace of the bus, the world on the footpath whirled by - there were people everywhere. And it seemed as if they all had a purpose - head bowed against the wind, shoulders shrugged against the rain - they shuffled along with intent, disappearing into shop fronts or down underground holes in the ground into the subway. And yes, it was supposed to be night time but it was a city centre ablaze with lights. Times Square at night gave the impression that it was bolder and brighter than it was in full daylight!

People and cabs and horns and lights and more people. New York, New York....the city that never sleeps. But I can guarantee that after the emotion and travel of the last 24 hours..perched above 42nd street.... we did!



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