The City : it has a smell all its own – like a weird mix of diesel fuel, hot dogs, urine, exhaust, perfumes, flowers, and just about anything else you can imagine. The smell changes slightly, based on where you are (for instance, in Central Park near the Zoo you smell exotic animals), but the undertones are basically the same all over the place. And you’ll never smell that place anywhere else in the world.
The People : They are NOT rude!! They’re fast, they’re in a hurry, and they don’t have time for stupid people…and I like that! But the “foreigners” are the rude ones! They’re the ones who slam doors in your face, who speak about you in their own languages, and who cannot seem to grasp the concept of walking single file on super crowded sidewalks! I was only caught in the crossfire of an angry New Yorker once – when my arm got yanked in the revolving door of Saks, I believe. Seems like the people up there believe you have to shove those things as hard and fast as you possibly can, and he who hesitates is lost…or at least gets her arm crushed! And for my trouble, all I got was a dirty look! That’s OK, though…I learned my lesson.
The Price of Things : Well, surprisingly it’s not THAT expensive. Drug stores are roughly the same, maybe a dollar more, and eating out doesn’t seem to cost THAT much more! And you have what I like to call “variety” up there to choose from to eat…you have Ray’s Pizza, Molyvos Greek restaurant, The Benash Deli, The Carnegie Deli, The Stage Deli, etc. All within a block of each other…and that’s not all! Carnegie Deli is freaking expensive, I won’t lie…but it’s a TON of food, and if you live there it’s like 4 meals in one! I recommend you have their chicken soup with golden noodles…it’s just the right thing on a cold day in the City! But the expensive things??? LIQUOR…I couldn’t afford to live in NYC and drink there!! Even the liquor stores were more expensive (not MUCH more, but still more!) than down here.
Don’t know much about the cost of living, but the hotels are pricey…we looked into a trip again, and the best deal was a hotel pretty far downtown, which I now realize isn’t such a good thing because you’ve either got to brave the Subway (which I did NOT get to do darn it) or hail a taxi (and pray) to get to where the action is.
People in NYC like to use their horns. A lot. And they drive like maniacs. Taxi drivers don’t look before they change lanes, they just honk and go. I would NEVER, EVER, EVER drive in NYC. Never. Bus drivers aren’t much better. And since I didn’t get to experience the Subways on this trip, I’ll tell you about those next time. It cracks me up that in the more residential areas there are signs posted on corners saying “No Honking. $350 fine” but it’s not enforced. And I’m assuming those signs are missing from Times Square because who could enforce that?!
My favorite times in the City :
1. Our 17 mile (or longer!) trek through Central Park. Down the Literary Walk, past the old Dairy, the Zoo, and up to Strawberry Fields. We saw what I’ll affectionately call “The Godspell Fountain” because, as Michael pointed out, that’s where the movie version of “Godspell” was filmed. That was an amazing time! I even bought a goofy tourist hat from a street vendor because my ears were burning from the cold! You’ll see a picture with our other constant companion in NYC, affectionately called “Fatty.” Fatty and I had a nice stroll down Literary Walk…
2. “Spring Awakening.” We saw this amazing show on Sunday night…….and if that show doesn’t win the Tony for Best Musical, well, then the Tony voters must be drunk! It was shocking, intelligent, heart wrenching, and CONSISTENT. The actors were young, “unknowns,” and supremely talented. Choreography, music, script, acting, all of it was phenomenal. In a word : WOW.
3. WTC Tribute museum. A measly little $10 donation gets you access to the most gut-grabbing, emotional, and intense experience one could ever have. Words could not do this experience justice, but I’ll try….
Ground Zero : I cannot really begin to even describe the emotions I felt when I saw the site. It’s fenced all around and the fencing is covered with tarping. There are huge ground moving machines everywhere, and people go by to and from work but most of them steal a glance at the huge empty space filled with bulldozers, road graters, and the like. People mill about on the walkway, looking. Other people, like us, are on the opposite corner staring up in awe at the enormous empty space where the twin towers once stood. Never having been to NYC to experience the towers as they were, the experience was a shocking one. You see them in so many movies, they’re a constant in every picture of the skyline, they’re always in EVERY movie filmed in NYC…to see the city without them is to see an incomplete NYC. We walk across the street and down a little way to the Tribute Museum. It was unreal. As I stared at images of the planes, of the buildings on fire, of people fleeing, and of the displays at the end with photos and mementos of those who perished on 9/11 (and in the 2003 attacks), I was struck by an intense feeling of hatred. Hatred for people who could so blindly…hate. As I hated, I realized that if I allow them to make me feel hatred for them, then I’m no better than they are. And I AM better. I’m an American, and I’m proud to be an American. I think if we were all a little bit more proud of this country, and if we ALL spent a little less time trying to fix other countries, then fewer countries would hate us blindly. Staring at the names of those who perished, you see Muslim names, Egyptian names, Irish names, Indian names, Italian names, Latin names…and more…you see names from nearly every continent on the earth, and you have to realize that Americans are EVERYONE. We are not one “race” of peoples…we are not a singular culture. We are a mishmash, a great “melting pot,” if you will. And the sooner everyone realizes that, the better off we’ll all be.
My heart goes out to ALL who lost loved ones, hope, and selves on 9/11. My heart goes out to ALL who continually lose on a daily basis because of 9/11. I ache for the children who lost their parents. I grieve for the spouses who lost their soul mates. I weep for the parents who will never see their children on this earth again.
And as I stood there, hating and crying…I found myself uttering a silent prayer. I prayed “Dear God give comfort to them.” I just couldn’t think of anything else to say, so I said it over and over and over. Thankfully, there were about a million boxes of Kleenex all around so I didn’t have to wipe my nose and eyes on my sleeve!
I took no pictures of Ground Zero, or of the museum. It felt obscene to me, somehow. 3,000+ people lost their lives there on 9/11, and I personally felt that if I took pictures it would somehow cheapen their deaths, and detract from the meaning that their lives had. So you’ll have to just be OK with my words.
The memorial they’re building at Ground Zero is amazing. An area full of trees with a huge memorial/museum in the center, and two large voids (the size and places of the two towers) with inverted waterfalls cascading to the middle. I am looking forward to going back to see that.
I found myself missing the City already. It has a certain draw to it, one you cannot help but listen to…and I’ve already started looking at going back! I’m gonna be a part of it…New York, NEW YORK!!
Our first (of many!) taxi rides in the city! Headed uptown...
1 comment:
I LOVE New York!! It really is an amazing place-and you are right-the people are great! I have a great story about that and the subway...so I went for the 2nd time in 2003 with the family I lived with in Lubbock-we had been in DC already for 6 days, there were 5 of us and we had a TON of luggage. We had taken the Amtrak train from DC to New York, so we managed (by the grace of God) to somehow get all 5 of us AND our massive amount of luggage onto the subway before the doors closed...and then off. It was quite an experience!! Well, then we had to get all of our large suitcases up the stairs to the street so we could walk to our hotel, and some nice fellow decided to help the dad carry each one up. We are SO grateful to him!!!
We also saw The Lion King there on that trip (I had seen Phantom and Miss Saigon on the previous trip for a total of $50) and it was AMAZING!!
Ground Zero is breathtaking. I had seen the twin towers in all of their glory about 5 years before and my mom had also spent 2 weeks one summer there when she worked for Dean Witter...so to see the vast void was just unreal. It definitely felt like sacred ground and somehow in the midst of a bustling town it was peaceful. I look forward to returning and eventually seeing the memorial.
The one place that I have never gotten to go to when in NY is central park, so I am looking forward to one day doing that. So glad you had a great time-it is an amazing town with so much to offer!! Blessings~
Post a Comment