The Bakery

I Woke Up In A City That Never Sleeps

If you didn’t read my previous post about my holiday in Quebec, then you might want to go read it first. If you’re an avid reader, then you’ll know that we left the tale having just arrived in New York on the train…

…but rather than carry on giving you a blow by blow account of what we did, I thought it would probably be easier to adopt a more free-form style of blogging since we didn’t really have a fixed itinerary in New York.

And I’m going to start my free-form blogging by breaking a stereotype; that of your typical New Yorker. Your stereotypical New Yorker is always in a hurry, rude and pushy. At least that was the impression I had of them, but I’m pleased to report that it isn’t the case. Pretty much all the New Yorkers we met (both working in shops and restaurants, and out on the street) were friendly and helpful (though admittedly there was a lot of rushing around).

For example, on the penultimate day we were trying to catch the subway and my Dad managed to mess up the swipe card system. He swiped but didn’t make it through the gate in time, leaving him stuck on the wrong side of the gate (you can’t swipe the card again for a certain amount of time). A passing New Yorker saw this and gave us one of his cards which had a spare credit on it so that Dad could get through the gate.

Enough about stereotypes though, you probably all want to know about New York itself. If I had to pick 3 words to describe New York, I’d probably pick busy, loud and tall.

Busy
Most cities are busy, but New York takes it to a whole new level as it never seems to stop. If you were to wander around London late at night, chances are you’d come across a handful of people also wandering the streets. In New York though, it’s just as busy at night as it is during the day (which turns out to be pretty damn busy).

Loud
New York is undoubtedly one of the noisiest cities I’ve been to. The constant drone of air conditioners in the background, the incessant honking of Taxi’s cutting each other up, and the general hubbub that you find in every city. After a while you learn to tune out of it all, but don’t expect much sleep for the first night or two.

Tall
When I was warned by a friend to expect a sore neck, I though he was joking. But you genuinely do spend a lot of time looking up as there’s almost as much above the street level as there is on it. It probably didn’t help that our apartment was just two blocks from the Empire State Building mind…

New York is a city full of sights, and we managed to see most of them in the six days we were there.

Brooklyn Bridge is a bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and to be honest there’s not a huge amount more to say about it. It looks pretty cool, and it appears in a fair few movies but at the end of the day it is just a bridge.

Central Park is massive – over twice as large as Hyde Park in London. You could fit Monaco inside Central Park and still have room round the edges for a football tournament or two. It’s not just open space either, there are play areas, ice rinks, ponds, museums, and even a zoo. Walking round the edge won’t achieve much but wearing your boots out, but having a stroll through it is definitely worthwhile.

The Empire State Building is another one of those places that everyone who goes to New York visits, as evidenced by the queues. We managed to avoid them, but sometimes they were right out of the door (which, if you’ve been inside you’ll know, means you’re in for a long wait). The views from the top are worth the wait though, and paying the extra $15 to go to the observatory on the 102nd floor (rather than the 86th) is worth it, even if it’s just to enjoy the views without the crowds. On the advice of a friend, we went just before sunset so we got to see the city by both day and night – worth doing if you can get the timings right.

Ground Zero is currently a building sight where they’re building the new World Trade Centre. There is however a Memorial Preview just a block away where you can see what the new one will look like, as well as see some of the tributes to the victims.

The Statue of Liberty is one of those things that you can’t really go to New York without seeing, and I’d definitely recommend seeing it. It’s a lot bigger than it seems in the movies. We didn’t get to go up in the crown as you have to book in advance, but I can imagine the view from up there would be pretty spectacular. Be prepared for a long queue to get off the island though (it’s almost like they want you to stay there and spend more money in the shop and restaurant!)

Times Square is synonymous with New York, and to some extent is a hub for tourists. There’s lots of restaurants around there, and it’s not too far from the shops on Fifth Avenue. Night time is when Time Square really comes alive though as all the vast advertising (among the most expensive in the world) lights the place up.

The other thing we did that I’d recommend is go to a Baseball game. We went to see the New York Mets, but there’s also the New York Yankees (if you can afford the tickets). Baseball games are quite a strange affair. Most sports here in the UK you sit down and watch, getting up only during half time to relieve yourself and grab another drink. Baseball though is much less informal and people are up and down all the time, watching the game in the background but spending more time soaking up the atmosphere.

To be fair, it was very easy to get distracted with so much going on at the stadium. Food courts, merchandise shops, give aways, competitions… there was plenty happening besides the game.

Well, that’s pretty much all I have to say on the subject of New York. It’s a great city with plenty to do, so if you get the chance to visit then don’t pass on it. You won’t regret it!

*This blog post was not sponsored by the NYC Tourism Board – honest*

Remember, you can see all my pictures from the holiday on Flickr.