My earlier post did not manage to contain all my feelings about New York. So, here goes:
1. New York is the most alive, vibrant, pulsating city I have ever been in. I loved every single minute of being there, despite the subzero temperatures (which as you know, I was not prepared for).
2. To be fair, I only visited Manhattan Island, so I may have to temper my review. Actually no, I stand by it - I love New York.
3. It is a city filled with cars, but on Manhattan, I only saw TWO filling stations.
4. The stories of crazy taxi drivers are true (see below).
5. The city is filled with weird and wonderful people - and some downright strange ones too.
6. New York is not cheap.
7. You can find excellent pizza.
8. It has the best bagels. Ever.
9. Central Park is the most amazing lung any city has.
10. It is loud. All the time.
11. In winter, very few streets get any sunshine.
12. The architecture is amazing. You could spend all your time just walking around, looking up.
So, the taxi driver.
Hitesh and I get in a cab. The driver pulls away, VERY SLOWLY. And then just keeps going, very slowly. Hitesh and I keep looking at each other, nonplussed. So finally he says to the driver, can you go faster, you are going very slow. He perks up, and asks, me, slow? YES! Anyway, he drives faster for about half a block, and then starts slowing down again. Hitesh thinks he is trying to screw us on the cab fare, I am convinced he is falling asleep. Finally we decide our lives are more important. We ask him to stop (a few times), he finally does, and we jump out - this is at a busy intersection. We cross the street, look back at the crazy cab, and he is just sitting there, not moving, at all. We keep looking at him for a few minutes - same thing. We look for a police officer, nothing. Well finally we leave, and two blocks later, we look back, and still the cab is just sitting there. Well, either he was asleep, stoned (Hitesh's theory), or was having a medical meltdown (my theory). Unfortunately we will never know. I am just happy we survived it.
Last comment: on Friday morning I went to the Museum of Natural History. It has an amazing collection of artifacts, but the decorations are stuck somewhere in the 1970s. Everything is painted in these really muted 70s colours, and instead of using photographs as backdrops, there are these really corny dioramas. I felt a compulsive need to redecorate the place.
Anyway, to anyone reading this - go to New York. I definitely will go back, probably in Spring or Autumn - which I can imagine would be just beautiful. And in my dreams, I am staying in the most gorgeous hotel in the city - the Plaza.
Peace out everyone.
1. New York is the most alive, vibrant, pulsating city I have ever been in. I loved every single minute of being there, despite the subzero temperatures (which as you know, I was not prepared for).
2. To be fair, I only visited Manhattan Island, so I may have to temper my review. Actually no, I stand by it - I love New York.
3. It is a city filled with cars, but on Manhattan, I only saw TWO filling stations.
4. The stories of crazy taxi drivers are true (see below).
5. The city is filled with weird and wonderful people - and some downright strange ones too.
6. New York is not cheap.
7. You can find excellent pizza.
8. It has the best bagels. Ever.
9. Central Park is the most amazing lung any city has.
10. It is loud. All the time.
11. In winter, very few streets get any sunshine.
12. The architecture is amazing. You could spend all your time just walking around, looking up.
So, the taxi driver.
Hitesh and I get in a cab. The driver pulls away, VERY SLOWLY. And then just keeps going, very slowly. Hitesh and I keep looking at each other, nonplussed. So finally he says to the driver, can you go faster, you are going very slow. He perks up, and asks, me, slow? YES! Anyway, he drives faster for about half a block, and then starts slowing down again. Hitesh thinks he is trying to screw us on the cab fare, I am convinced he is falling asleep. Finally we decide our lives are more important. We ask him to stop (a few times), he finally does, and we jump out - this is at a busy intersection. We cross the street, look back at the crazy cab, and he is just sitting there, not moving, at all. We keep looking at him for a few minutes - same thing. We look for a police officer, nothing. Well finally we leave, and two blocks later, we look back, and still the cab is just sitting there. Well, either he was asleep, stoned (Hitesh's theory), or was having a medical meltdown (my theory). Unfortunately we will never know. I am just happy we survived it.
Last comment: on Friday morning I went to the Museum of Natural History. It has an amazing collection of artifacts, but the decorations are stuck somewhere in the 1970s. Everything is painted in these really muted 70s colours, and instead of using photographs as backdrops, there are these really corny dioramas. I felt a compulsive need to redecorate the place.
Anyway, to anyone reading this - go to New York. I definitely will go back, probably in Spring or Autumn - which I can imagine would be just beautiful. And in my dreams, I am staying in the most gorgeous hotel in the city - the Plaza.
Peace out everyone.
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