NEW YORK - First Leg

Started my travels in NYC. Arrived on the 14th of August at midday. Arrived at JFK airport waited around 35 minutes to be picked up by a very energetic and cheery guy in a Chrysler people carrier called David. David, I later found out was the owner of the hostel and was in charge of it. The trip there was quick and simple. I was more impressed by what I saw around me than I was taking note of the distance. We arrived in Carnarsie in Brooklyn, NY in a slightly run down suburban area which was mostly populated by working class black people. I very rarely encountered any white people. The neighbourhood had the air of being the unwanted outcaste cousin in a family of exciting and hard working communities. It was exceedingly hot, the outside heat and humidity in the air staying mostly outside like it was gelatinous. Within moments of stepping out of the door of the hostel to walk down Farragut St down the 12 blocks to the main way where the Rockaway Parkway 'L' train end station could be found, all pedestrians had a film of perspiration and fatigue on their back and under their shirts. Those who know me well will know how desperately stupid I can be and will have already predicted that I had left my (very nice, quite expensive and now one full year old) sunglasses at home for this trip. Fool am I to book a fairly ill-prepared gallivant across the entirety of USA and to knobble myself further by leaving the few items I already had at home. *sigh* My first half-day in the States was spent tending to necessities such as acquiring a phone and getting in touch with my family and contacts etc. Then, once that rigmarole had been finished, it was dusk and I decided to venture into New York City. I had half hopes of finding my fortune and half a mind just to get some dinner. I pulled into Union Square (that station over others because I'd heard of it) and was delighted by a full and active sight. There was music, a drum circle, dancing, food, noise, activity, sweat, seats across from half vacated chess games if you want a chat and a challenge, poor people, wealthy people, Starbucks, Whole Food Markets and every other element to make a cross section of NYC. I made up the final quotient of tourist. Hunger pangs and curiousity overtook the sense of limb-freezing wonder so off I trod which a bad case of explorers grin, up Broadway following the calls and echoes of glamour and glitz. I saw a couple of guitar players who wouldn’t look out of place in a Glaswegian indie band who were playing frantic flamenco. I found golden statues of celebrities. I found a bar that sold Magners cider. I found myself in a kitsch-y Americana Diner where the waitresses wore A-Line skirts and aprons and blouses that did nothing to cover their eccentric tattoos. Hearts, pin-ups, anchors as well as pizza slices, singing mice and fruit. I had a burger that was a struggle to finish, chili fries and a vanilla and cookie milkshake with vanilla vodka in it. After far surpassing my daily calorific needs and the alcohol and considerable travelling began to take effect, I left and made haste towards bed. Squeaky, squeaky bed (Hostel bunk beds are not made with stealth in mind). I went into New York the following day full of vim, vigour and can-do attitudes. I was prepared with a tourist city guidebook that I don't know if I was allowed to take from the hostel and my bag of tricks. Unfortunately, despite the heat and clear skies in Brooklyn, the City hadn't received the memo and so when I exited the Subway (which must have had Danté as one the architects, it's so hot and dirty) I was promptly shoved guidebook first into a hard downpour. Unshaven men with Post Office storage boxes touting umbrellas at 5 and 10 dollar levels of worthiness must delight at the swarm of Yuppies and Dinkies and senior level IT management consultant and Tourists who ignored the iGoogle homepage's handy-dandy weather forecast. Umbrella in hand I make my way down 5th Avenue, spotting first the Apple Store. At first you're struck by it's modernistic beauty, an American homage to the Louvre. It's truly gorgeous, if you're into that sort of thing. Then you walk down the stairs and see the store and realise it's just like every other Apple Store in the world, just a bit bigger and underground. Still impressive, still rammed full of smug shiny gadgets, toys and paraphernalia and still fabulously covetous, but not travel-4000-miles-for-it good. I wander further after noticing on my map how close I am to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA for short), which I feel, is much more worthy of my short time in the metropolis. If you're playing tourist in New York and are into your arts and museums then I highly recommend it. The Vincent Van Goghs, Jackson Pollocks, Cezannes, Degás, Monets and every other big names displayed are awe inspiring. The pieces by littler known artists, painters, sculptors and visionaries are even more so. I have to say though; it did feel a little like I was going through the motions. I absolutely loved looking at the art there but with the short time I had in NY it felt like I was only there as I was supposed to be there. Like I had some obligation to my education and upbringing. It wasn't the purpose of my trip. I'm looking for adventure, for interest, for mind-widening and life changing experiences. I've got all the time in the world to come back to NY and see the bog standard (if still impressive) bits. Later in the day, I stumbled upon exactly what I was looking for. Wandering through Wall Street, The New York Stock Exchange had it's regular line of money makers and money shakers waiting to get in and just around the corner, the US Treasury had printed $1,500,000,000 (1.5 billion) in (non-useable) $100 bills and stacked them in a large pile for demonstration purposes. Demonstrating how much money had been thrown away that month, day, hour I don't know. But it was pretty spellbinding. I saw The Statue of Liberty, I spent an hour in New York Public Library, I went for drinks with a lovely pair of ladies called Amy and Karen who are friends of a delightful friend in Blightey. I ended up not getting back to the hostel until 3am. It was very fun indeed. The next day, I left the hostel, got into the city and grabbed a Yellow Cab (yes, they are crazy) to get on my bus to Philadelphia. A close call but plenty of fun and a successful end to the first leg of my trip.