Better late than never...

construction zone around what was the world trade center.
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i've lived in america for most of my life, traveled to far ends of the world, and somehow never made it to new york city.

that had to change.

my former roomate from new zealand, sally, and i decided to meet up in new york during the christmas season.  for about 26 years now i've heard of new yorkers only looking out for number one, crowded subways, no one making eye contact with one another, honking taxis, etc.  it could not have been further from the truth.  well, except for the whole honking taxis thing.

the steepness the boat tipped as everyone looked at the statue on the ferry.
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we met up on thursday afternoon - sally flew in from london, i flew in from dallas (sort of a halfway point?).  after lugging our bags up 5 flights of stairs (no easy task for poor sal - apparently 3 pairs of boots, 3 pairs of pants, 3 dresses, and the kitchen sink would be a necessary accompaniement to ny...), we headed straight back out to the nearest pub we could find.  luckily - i had eyed one on my way in and we sat at the bar of the tavern on broadway for a few hours pounded away a much needed pitcher.  or, um, 2.

obligatory times square shot.
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at any rate - we walked from where our hotel was on 101st all the way to times square on 42nd.  to be honest, times square was nice, but sort of touristy and unexciting.  not really sure what i expected (i guess a ball counting down to a new year with a million rabid part-goers comes to mind...and dick clark, of course), but it was just a busy central square with tacky gift shops and over-priced chain restaurants.  but everyone has to go anyways.  there was a shop called "lindy's" that i had to take a picture of too.

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this first night we discovered that new york city is actually a time warp.  before we knew it, it was 11pm and restaurants were closing before we'd even had a chance to get hungry.  not really sure what happened to the 5pm-11pm hours - apparently new york sucked them into a black hole.  for the rest of the weekend we discovered hours and half-days would suddenly go missing.  no shots of tequila required.

we did manage to find a restaurant that was very reasonably priced, and then (naturally) a bar with good beer.  we thought we'd be sophisticated new yorkers and take the subway home.  after standing underground for 45 minutes waiting for a train that stopped running at 10pm, we gave up and cabbed it.

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we'd meant to get a sort-of early start the next morning, so sally foolishly trusted me to set the alarm for 9am.  to my defense, i did set the alarm.  i did not, however, turn it on.  i need specifics, apparently.  so we rolled out of bed around 10am and headed out to the world trade center first.  i actually thought sally may not want to see the wtc (i don't know - is it just an american thing?), but she said it was the top thing to do on her list.  which is good - i didn't want to impose an important american memorial on her if it didn't matter. but, as she said, the entire world was affected by it.  so we arrived at the former site of the wtc - it's nothing but a construction site at the moment.  they are building two "pools of remembrance" where the buildings used to be.  they will be large squares (exactly where the buildings were), with light emanating from them.  another large office will be built on the site, but lots of gardens and greenery will surround everything.  for now, however, it's a mess of construction vehicles and cranes.  we went to the temporary 9/11 visitor's center and bought an audio tour (you can do either a do-it-yourself audio tour or a live tour for $10 - well worth the money).  the audio tour was full of personal stories - survivors, parents, witnesses.  the whole thing starts out with a radio broadcast of september 11th - a bright and sunny day - very ominous.  it gives an intro into what the wtc was.  for all i knew - it was two big buildings with lots of offices.  but they introduce it as much more than that - it was part of the skyline, it was a major landmark and accomplishment in new york, etc.  and then the tales begin.  now - i'm not one to get teary eyed (i've only every cried at one movie - if you don't count me making myself cry at "old yeller" when i was 7 cuz my dad told me it was sad and i felt heartless when the beloved dog got shot and it didn't affect me at all), but when i heard the tough, old, former ny fire department worker get choked up when he talked about the last time he talked to his son - i broke down.  the entire tour was very interesting, very moving, and made me view the entire city in a whole new way.

the zoo around rockefeller center.
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after that sombering experience, we ate at an irish pub, got lost for a few hours, tried to sneak on to the statue of liberty ferry (they'd already stopped running, so it was a waste of time), and headed to the department stores.  since sally's only been to america once in her life (spent an unfortunate week in l.a. a few years back), her list of things to-do was ride in a yellow cab, see the real tiffany's, and go to the department stores that you see in all the movies.  i think she also wanted to see carrie, samantha, and those other sex in the city girls, but she would take what she could get.  we walked along fifth avenue for awhile and hit any store that looked remotely chaotic and uninviting.  bloomingdales, macy's, h & m, etc.  i had the honor of standing in line for the ladies room at macy's for no less than half an hour.  at several points, i considered getting out of line and finding something else, but by then i'd already invested so much time i couldn't do it.  i found a toilet seat (and a cleaning lady ordering people into and out of stalls, strangely enough) just in time and all was well.  we also went to tiffany's so sal could buy her friend a gift (apparently when the u.s. dollar is $400 to 1 pound, you can get things pretty cheap).  what i didn't know was that you can't take pictures in there.  so after taking a few shots, my camera was confiscated and given back later.  sorry thieves, i'm of no help to you.

sal and i in front of one of many christmas setups around town.
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on our third day we finally managed to sneak on to the statue of liberty ferry (it's a looooong story).  on the way over, everyone crowds to one side of the ferry to take shots of lady liberty, and i seriously thought i would be able to touch the water because we were leaning over so far.  the island itself was nice, but not too much to see and do.  a little museum gives you the background story to the statue of liberty, and you can walk up a little ways for a nice view of manhattan or new jersey.  normally the ferry is $12 or so - and you have to reserve tickets to get inside the statue two days in advance.  i know several people who just take the free staten island ferry and get a nice view.  you don't get to actually stop at the island, but it's a nice way to go around paying for an expensive ferry ride.

we stopped by rockefeller center on the way back.  i thought we'd get a nice picture of the huge tree, the skating rink, etc.  wrong.  it was so crowded.  it was horrible.  i was basically spooninng the people in front of me - and being spooned from behind.  when we tried to get out of there and actually cross the street - it was like a fish going upstream.  no one could move because so many people were crossing in your direction, and so many people trying to cross the opposite way.  no one moved.  we just met in the middle of the road and tried to squeeze by.  when we finally got out of that mess, we were back on fifth ave., so we did a bit more sight seeing and then went back to our hotel to change.  we may or may not have stopped for a beer on the way back.

we changed into nice attire for the evening and went to a nice restaurant along broadway.  we ended up at a little tavern called henry's on broadway and 103 and ended up closing it down.  again, i honestly thought it was 1am or so, but when the bartender announced "last call" at 3:45am, i realized i had been victimized once again by the new york time warp.

for our final day i took sally up to harlem for a gospel brunch.  we went to sylvia's for some good old fashioned soul food and gospel singers.  we only got to hear a bit of the gospel singing since it started late at 12:30pm instead of noon, but sally got to officially try grits and biscuits.  i tried explaining what they were (go on - you try), so was glad she actually got to sample them.  apparently explaining grits as "mashed potatoes... but not" wasn't sufficient.  next we spent some time in central park walking around and even hit the met for an hour or so (the metropolitan museum of art).  then we headed back to our hotel to gather our bags and catch a cab.

and for future reference for any travelers going to/from jfk - here's a bit of advice: plan on allowing extra time to get to and from the airport and a full two hours there.  and then double it.  i thought one hour to get to the airport and two hours to check in would be sufficient.  wrong.  it took at least an hour and a half to get to jfk from uptown, and then a looooong time to wait in line to drop off bags and go through security.  by the end of it, my flight was due to leave in 45 minutes and i still hadn't dropped off my bags, much less stood in security lines.  when i finally got to the counter, the lady at delta had rocks for brains, so i knew i was kissing my bag goodbye and then i started decking grandmas and pushing small children to get through security.  well, not exactly.  but i did cut in front of about 200 people.  it was very non-chalant.  just sort of stood at the front for about a minute reading a map, then gradually stepped in.  no one said anything.  i made it on the plane just in time, only to be delayed on the tarmac for 3 hours.  oh well.  i made it.  my bag, however, was less fortunate - just as i'd predicted.  it got it in to central oregon (my destination) on christmas morning.

overall - it was an awesome trip to new york.  i could not begin to tell you how nice every single person i met was.  if sally or i pulled out a map - i had about 3 people offer to help or offer alternate routes.  i had a construction worker at the wtc offer to give us a tour of the construction zone - out of his own time for no payback.  security guards at the hotel offering to help us with our bags up and down the stairs.  i was very impressed.

the best advice i received when i was headed to ny was "don't limit yourself to manhattan".  there's soooo much to new york that i didn't get to - i didn't even see all of manhattan!  but definitely check out other parts at least - get out of times square and battery park.  hit the east village, chinatown, head north to harlem and the bronx.  each little neighborhood is so unique and has so much packed into a little space.  i got to see quite a few little nooks (on accident while hopelessly lost, sure...), but know i missed a ton.  good excuse to get back sooner than later though.