An Englishman in New York

Woke up today at an insane hour (think it was 7am!) to rush to the toilet. Anyway met two Canadian friends who fancied walking to Central Park which is heaps a blocks up. So we decided that we may as well go together and set off after our lush free breakfast of toast!

Now the amazing and at first I must admit confusing thing about New York is the street patterns. Everything and I mean everything is in a gride. So running along the south-north axis are the Avenues (i.e. First Avenue, Second Avenue etc) and then criss crossing them are the Streets (i.e. 133rd Street). Now at first this seems weird as everything looks the bloody same! But after a while it does make navigating the city pretty easy.

So we walked up First Avenue as we were staying on 1st & 12 Street and without even meaning to we found ourselves at a rather well known N.Y landmark - The U.N. Building! So we went inside and looked after the place which was good fun. The building is larger than I pictured it and it wasn't hard imagining world leaders gathering here.

Afterwards we headed across the road to this dark huge black tower that was built by Trump in the 80s. Inside we asked the manager a few questions. It turns out that the apartments cost from only $1,000,000 to $25,000,000 to buy! Thats all!!! What really surprised me was the monthly maintenance fee of $25,000! Thats an insane cost to pay every month!

We continued onto CentraL Park and found ourselves rather amused. At the entrance to the park we saw this BUM, and I mean BUM walking around leaning over drinking some spirits with his bum sticking out! As we walked past we noticed these two coppers laughing at him from a distance. As I got nearer I heard them say 'man his bum is sticking out, we better go put his bum in jail!!!' Classic classic comment! So they walked towards the guy and as we laughed they turned round and said 'hey you know his secretly undercover!!!' Such a funny scene, wish I could have taken some photos!

Central Park is huge, and I mean seriously BIG. Their was some gorgeous places in the park, whether it was the lake where the couples where getting married or the central reservoir which is famous from many films. I walked down the famous sidewalk where the Partner in The Devils Advocate got attacked as well as the ghost scene from Ghostbusters 1 and 2!

The difference in look and general feeling of the neighbourhoods is very different on the other side of the park. The suburb of Harlem is located on the north east of the park and didn't look like the kind of place I wanted to go take a walk! So we walked to where Colombia University is and viewed the NY Cathedral which is apparently the largest in the world and still being built.

Afterwards we jumped on the subway and headed back down to Time Square. The food in New York is insanely gorgeous and cheap. The best food of all is along the sidewalks where you can buy a chicken sandwich for $4 which is about 2 pounds! Every corner you turn in this city you find food outlets and its no surprise they have a reputation for eating a lot. But the New Yorkers are so friendly and helpful you have got to love this city. Wouldn't mind working here sometime in the future actually.

Willich out!