I just got back late morning on Tuesday (25th September) after a whirlwind three day holiday in New York City. I've been to New York once before about five years ago with my sister and a group of her friends and mine. I did all the touristy things then. Statue of Liberty, Empire State, Rockafeller Centre, Central Park. You name it and I most likely did that week.
This time was different for many reasons. One; I was going with my special someone and he had never been to New York (as a tourist), two; the trip to New York was my birthday present, three; I was going as the, if possible, 'experienced New Yorker' and fourthly, and most importantly, we had tickets to the final night of Bruce Springsteen's 3rd and final night of this three night residency at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. But more about that experience later.
New York is a beast. A fast moving, non-stop, 24 hour assault on the eyes, ears, feet...and wallet. Landing at JFK at about 14:00 and, thanks to traffic. As Elaine Benes said 'No ones ever beaten the Van Wyck...' I understand what she's talking about. The traffic is nightmare. Nothing compared to other countries such as New Dehli but still, I wouldn't want to be driving around in New yOrk at any time...any place. We got to our hotel in Times Square about 17:00. A little later than planned.
We didn't have much time to take in the hotel as as soon as we had checked in and gone to our room, we were on our way out again. Times Square is quite amazing. A constant buzz, constant smells of street vendors, constant sights of the Naked Cowboy....and Indian. Times Square sums America up in one word. Excess. The billboards that light up the Square, the absurdity of a store devoted to M & M's (!?) But despite that, you can't help but be awed by it all.
We decided to take in a last minute show on Broadway. Our choice of show was based on what we most likely would never get to see on the West End. A show specific to Broadway. A show that originated on broadway and would die on Broadway. That show turned out to be Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.
Spider-Man the musical is regarded as one of, if not the biggest, flops in Broadway history. It's cost a reported $65 million + and has been ripped apart because of its songs (written by U2) that aren't catchy, Broadway tunes, it's storyline and the accidents that have happened due to the high-flying aspect of the show. Despite this, it does...somehow....work. It really shouldn't...and in parts really doesn't, but it most definitely is not the car crash I was expecting it to be.
After Spiderman, we decided we needed food and headed on to the Olive Garden. The food was quite delicious and there was plenty of it. Seriously, they just throw such huge amounts at you it's no wonder there's this obesity problem!
That was Friday done with. Saturday we accidentally overslept and only left the hotel at about midday. We made haste (?) to our first 'sight to see', the Empire State Building. It's a massive building that you can go the top of to see a nice view of New York. And it's the building King Kong climbed up.
Faced with having to walk everywhere and walking taking up much time, we decided to buy one of those 'hop on/hop off' buss passes. Best. Decision. Ever. We hopped on the bus at the Empire State, and rode the bus until we got to Ground Zero.
Last time I was at Ground Zero it was literally a massive mess of a construction site. now, you have to pre book a free ticket to go walk around the tribute fountain. It has turned into a very strange experience. we didn't book a ticket so just pretty much wandered around until we made our way back to the bus stop. We then 'hopped on' again and stayed on the bus until it dropped us off at our stop at Times Square. We were debating getting off at Battery Park to have a wander and see the Statue Of Liberty from afar. My nerves put a stop this, however, as it was getting on a bit and we had a concert to get to in New Jersey. Although, we did get off at Rockafella Center to have look around. We stumbled across the LEGO store. I accidentally bought a R2D2 for the boyfriend and myself a mini Rockefella Replica. I'm a sucker for buildings and skyscrapers.
Saturday night was booked up with a concert. The main reason for our trip. My REAL birthday present. A Bruce Springsteen concert. In his home state of New Jersey. Don't think it gets better than that. But Saturday night was so special that it deserves it's own blog entry...that'll be coming later.
We got back to our hotel Sunday morning about 03:00/04:00 in the morning after the concert. We somehow, magically, were able to wake up at about 09:00 and make the most of our one full day of sight seeing. We started Sunday off as most New Yorkers do (I assume), getting out morning fix of Starbucks. I was slightly disappointed with my Pumpkin Spiced Latte and found my pumpkin and cream cheese muffin to be particularly sweet. Sickly sweet.And the boyfriend just plain hated his Chai tea Latte. Regardless, we got to our bus stop and boarded our bus. This time, we were headed straight to Battery Park to make use of our voucher for a ferry ride to Liberty Island or a cruise around the Hudson. We opted for the cruise, seeing as how you can't get inside Lady Liberty (giggedy!)
We got back to Times Square early evening and saw there was some sort of flea market thing going on. Turns out this is a flea market for rare (or mass produced, not sure which) items form various Broadway musicals. Not being a massive musical fan, I didn't care too much about it. The other half sure did though. After the flea market madness, we decided to eat at Guy's American (that blonde dude who does the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives show? His restaurant). It was Ok. Nothing spectacular.
We thought about maybe taking in another show but then decided...not sure how or why, to go to Ripley's Believe It Or Not instead. What a waste of time. So incredibly boring. Although I felt weirdly bad for them. How can an attraction like that remain relevant in this day and age? There are all sorts of weird oddities out there that we can view on youtube or something less age restricted out there, that is far more entertaining than paying $90 dollars for the both of us to wander around and look at pictures of the oddities. I suppose that's the power of the tourist. We'll do anything and pay anything while on holiday. We spend like kings with an unlimited fortune. If only that were true.
Monday was the day we were flying back. We had to check out the hotel by 11:00. We were being picked up at 13:30, our flight leaving at 18:20. Not much time left to make the most of NYC but we tried. Leaving the hotel at 10:30 (our luggage there as well) we decided to just spend the morning in Times Square. Got our coffee from a van (and it tasted much better than the Starbucks the day before) and just wandered around. We decided to have lunch before leaving. We went to Ruby Tuesdays which was quite nice. I had BBQ Ribs and Jumbo shrimp...just gone 12. Was it too early for a meal like that with ample cocktails? Who cares! When you're on holiday your normal rules and routine do not apply.
And with that, we ended our whirlwind three days in NYC. I'm sure that all the above made for a boring a read and it seemed like we just 'wandered about' in a nice calm state. This is not the case. It was hectic.
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