The Big Apple. The City that never sleeps. The Empire City. Gotham City. New York City. Incroyable.
Living in America for a year allowed me the unique opportunity to absorb and experience the US at a pace which is seldom afforded to the casual visitor. I did my very best to take advantage of this while I was in NY, taking as much time as possible to absorb everything that is NYC.
The city is electric; it really is the city that never sleeps, similar to Vegas (minus the sand). From the minute I landed, I knew I was somewhere special, somewhere with vibrant character and an exuberant personality.
If I was tired getting off the plane I was soon woken up by the “spirited” cab ride in to the city. The cabbie was nuts! Imagine driving through the Clem-7 going 30kph over the speed limit riding the ass of the car in front of you with cars all around you doing the same – best cab ride of my life.
Hands down the most arousing skyline I’ve ever seen.
I opted to avoid taking too many photos on my trip into the city. I often find if I’m too busy snapping away, I end up getting crap photos instead of the everlasting mental snap.
We struck gold with our accommodation, a tidy little apartment on 46th and 9th Avenue (Hell’s Kitchen) from which it was a 10-minute walk to Times Square. Despite it being 1am, it was our first stop.
After positively stuffing our faces with $1 slices of pizza we headed back to our apartment and crashed.
The following morning (not to waste any time) we hit the city early.
For such a massive city it really wasn’t that difficult to navigate, especially with the subway. The streets were pretty simple to master and in fact once we had done so it made getting around a hell of a lot easier.
We headed down into the subway and grabbed a $30 all you can ride Metro pass and headed for Grand Central Terminal.
The architecture and sheer size of the Terminal was mind blowing. Not only is it a hub for the busiest mass transportation system in the world, there’s a food market, shopping mall, food court and of course, a 24 hour Apple store.
Quite the multicultural city, you didn’t have to walk far to be presented an ample selection of numerous styles of worldly foods. Italian, Chinese, Mexican, street vendors (which are a culture of their own entirely), dirty water dogs (for the more adventurous), bagels, more Starbucks than you can poke a stick at, waffles, crêpes, etc – I was a fatty, you get the point.
Central Park would have to be one of the most unique places I’ve been, borderline strange. Unique for its location and strange because locals treat it like a beach, sun bathing in bikinis and DTs (PSA: remember kids, there’s no such thing as a healthy tan). Definitely very pretty.
This was cool, although I stopped taking photos when I was asked for money.
Parking spaces are a rarity in NYC. Fortunately, entrepreneurial individuals recognised this as a business opportunity and now there are no shortage of parking structures to store your car (yes, expensive). Just be prepared to wait a while while your car is retrieved!
The Flatiron building, where 5th Avenue meets Broadway.
Had a look around and found a “Bane Was Here” tag.
After being here and seeing where the Twin Towers once stood, made me realize just how big they were. Too hard to imagine what it must have been like on that day, very solemn place to be.
If you wish to take in New York’s stunning skyline, there are a couple of solid vantage points throughout the city. You really have two choices, The Empire State Building or the Rockefeller Center which, according to my friends who live in the City has the better view. The Rock it was.
Good thing I don’t have vertigo.
Pretty.
Top of the Rock.
I was pretty hungry afterwards. I was absolutely over the moon when I was informed there was a Pie Face in NYC. This was my first proper “Meat Pie” in nearly 12 months.
Our last day in NY was pretty relaxed, there was really only one more thing we wanted to do and that was walk the Brooklyn Bridge.
A stunning skyline, so entrancing we spent a good hour and a half on the bridge and didn’t leave until the sun went down. A mesmerising sunset over a sublime setting.
Keep an eye out for the next post which features the cars of NYC.