New York stinks.
Not a figurative stink, like it was boring or annoying or I didn’t like it. It literally has a smell to it that permeates everything and is quite unappealing. I can’t quite describe it, either. It’s not like you can break it back into separate parts. It’s just… New York.
It was fun, though. Got to see lots of stuff. We stayed a couple of blocks from Grand Central. Stepped in there, and was impressed by the contrast. The main hall is grand and stuffed full of people. High ceilings and big staircases make it look all impressive, but then when you step onto the platforms, it’s very industrial — tiny little corridors with ceilings made up of pipes. The subway portion was about what’d you expect… very dirty, overcrowded and loud. Tons of people doing stupid human tricks for money. These ranged from a band that actually wasn’t too bad, to a guy with a violin who wanted money because he could make it make noise, to a guy who wanted money for telling people to move to the back of the car when they stepped on the subway train (seriously).
What pissed me off about the needy people of New York, which is actually not much different than most panderers, is that they want money, not food. I had an extra burger from lunch that I tried to give away, and no one would take it. “No food. Only Money!” typical. so, no, I did not feel compelled to give away any of my money.
Let’s see… what else did we see… Rockefeller center, Radio city music hall, Broadway, the Met, Central Park, Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, The MetLife building (which is only important as a point of reference for Grand Theft Auto IV), the Audi dealership from Jumper, FAO Swartz (and its giant piano from Big), Times Square, the naked cowboy, and a bunch of other stuff.
Broadway was interesting. I was amazed at how bright it is there at night, and how many people are on the street at 11pm. Broadway was cool. We saw Macbeth, with Patrick Stewart. Was very interesting. It was a modern interpretation, meaning it was set in like WW2, but used the original dialog. Patrick Stewart’s interpretation of the “tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow” speech gave me a completely different respect for that little portion of Shakespeare. I had never even imagined it like that. And the “double, double, toil and trouble” scene with the witches was amazing. It was set to a bit of music that’s hard to describe – very fast and somewhere between rap and techno – and really showed how rythmic shakespeare can be. I wish I had video of those scenes… and the sammich scene. because Patrick Stewart doing Shakespeare through a mouth full of pickle sammich is just funny.
Central Park was kinda an oddity. We stepped down in one corner of it, and it’s like when you step down off the last step, it gets quieter and less smelly. People are all laying and playing around on the grass (behind the “do not walk on grass” signs). It’s understandable, too. The park is one little bit of sanity and sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the streets just outside the park. It just seems to make sense that it’s there. People need that kind of refuge. It’s pretty much the only place you can see nature, wildlife, and trees (besides the ones on the side of the Trump building).
Walked by the Empire State building several times before realizing what it was. It’s really nothing special from the ground, and doesn’t look any different than the buildings around it, unless you’re looking straight up. Didn’t go up inside it, though… Something about paying $20 to get on an elevator annoys me.
The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) is another one of those hard-to-describe things. It’s big. That is, of course, an understatement. 2,000,000 sq ft. And extremely open, with massive exhibits in huge halls. Not your typical museum feel. I was amazed at the sheer amount of stuff they had, too. We only saw about 2 1/2 of the 19 or so exhibit halls. They had more egypt stuff there than all other exhibits I’ve seen put together. And their arms and armor exhibit featured swords from all different areas and time periods. Medieval broadswords, old french rapiers, and some amazing japanese katanas. One in particular, from ~1600, was breath-taking. I’ve seen swords by today’s “masters” of the art, and they are nothing compared to this sword.
It’s also worth noting that the part of town where the Met is is so much different than the area near Grand Central. It still stinks, but with a bit more urine. It’s a much nicer (i.e. snobbier) part of town, but everyone there has dogs that they walk on the street, and having no grass to go on, the dogs just go on the street. What can you do, right?
Unfortunately, I missed seeing even more of New York due to the fact that my feet hurt! so. much. walking. My feet still hurt. I’m pretty sure my left foot is bruised. And shifting all my weight to my right foot make it hurt. Made walking very painful.
The city is not for me, but I could see how some people could do it. Driving in that city is just a stupid idea, btw. I’m not sure how people do it. They instituted a $350 fine for honking in NY. yeah right. Everyone honks. all the time. Listened to one guy honk once every three seconds as he drove down the road. No one in front of him… I guess he just felt left out. It’s also one of those places where if you get hit, it’s your fault. That goes for cars and pedestrians. If a car hits you while you’re walking, you were obviously in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Overall, I wasn’t really bothered by the people of the city. Like, I really didn’t feel nervous about walking around. There were a couple of places where there weren’t a lot of people, but those were, ironically, down in the good part of town. Those were really the only spots that really bothered me. Everyone else was full of people, and a larger proportion of police.
We made a point to eat at some places unique to New York. of course, a pizza place, and a deli, and McDonald’s. The snazziest McD’s I’ve ever seen. several stories with flashing lights and big angus burgers that we don’t have here in texas.
Overall, it was a lot of fun. The new 757 we flew from NY to ATL in was pretty snazzy, too, actually. Everyone had their own touch screen with free on demand movies, music, tv, and games, including a trival challenge game that everyone on the plane could tie into and play against each other. I lost. partly because the turbulence was so bad that my hand would jerk and hit the wrong answer. and partly because playing a trivia game in said turbulence had me on the verge of being very ill. my own fault, I guess.
anyway… all in all, it was very fun.
i’m glad you guys had fun! i’m so jealous. *pout* i’ll get out there one day, i swear it.