New York, New York

The sun is reflecting off the large and long Hudson River to our left as it has done all day. It still seems a little strange that one of the world's most famous cities is waiting for us at the mouth of this river that is currently flanked by such greenery.


We pass over and past couple of bridges, the one above was especially picturesque, until we got within sight of the big apple.
New York City is within New York State, 'The Empire State' as it reads on the car registration plates, and is made up of five well known boroughs.
But before we even get to New York a couple of problems have to be addressed. When your budget is $100 a day for food, transport and accommodation you are going to struggle in America's most expensive city. To get a room for less than a hundred dollars a night would be possible but not advisable. To be a tourist at night in a dodgy neighbourhood of New York is just asking for trouble so we make a bold decision. We decide to stay across the water from Manhattan Island and downtown New York in the adjacent state of New Jersey. This sounds more extreme than it actually is. For starters, everything is much cheaper in New Jersey because their state tax is lower so petrol is almost a quarter cheaper. Not that you'd want to drive in New York anyway. Having a car presented another snag in staying within Manhattan Island as parking is sparse. Most visitors to this city have flown here for a long weekend and don't have to even think about a car as they'll be using the subway and taxis. New Jersey was the best solution all round and coupled with the shuttle bus outside our motel taking us into the heart of downtown NYC for only $2 for the 30 minute journey our minds were made up.
We check into our motel in a distinctly Mexican neighbourhood. I like being around the Mexicans, they still have life about them and all of a sudden taco stands appear selling Mexican food cheap to the many passers-by. Still, you can tell we're on the cusp of a big city, the traffic is heavy and there's plenty of full buses on their way somewhere. The sun is beaming and as we get on the shuttle bus surrounded by Mexicans we can't help thinking of Mexico city and all its vibrancy.
From New Jersey we pass through the very long Lincoln Tunnel and turn up and out into central New York. All of a sudden we're surrounded by skyscrapers and hemmed in by yellow taxis.
We step off the bus at 8th Avenue and set about finding the nearest Chipotle Mexican Grill for another classic burrito. After the most important thing is sorted we step out onto the bustling street and it suddenly dawns on us that we have no map or idea where we are. We've got used to small cities with nothing much of interest to see but now we're back in a proper city and totally unprepared. We head in a random direction and find ourselves at Grand Central Station.

A stroke of luck you may say. A double whammy really as not only is this a great building and the site of many an American movie classic, it also serves as a spot for gaining a free map and a bit of info about transport back to New Jersey. I've heard that Grand Central Station is smaller in real life than perceived in the films but I thought it was a decent size. Either way it's a good looking building and a constant hive of activity. You can't help feeling a bit of deja-vu as you wander the streets and see buildings like this because you know you've seen them before. I recall watching The Untouchables and a key scene that was shot here and now I'm standing in the very spot.
We scan the map for the big 'must-sees' of NYC and discover that the Empire State Building is on the same road as Grand Central. It might well have been but we couldn't find it, imagine that. Not being able to find one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world! We did spot the Chrysler building though and for me this is one of the ultimate icons of the new york skyline. Shimmering metal covers the building right up to it's half moon and triangular shapes atop. It's apprantly covered in symbols of the motor industry and we do spot the odd icon but we read that most can only be spotted high up alongside.
We continue looking for the Empire State building and don't spot it for a while. It dawned on me that maybe I've never really taken a good look at the building, I've seen it plenty of times on tv but have I really looked at it? It turns out not because when we do stand at the foot of it it doesn't even ring any bells.

In fact it looks a bit dire and understated in comparison to the superb Chrysler building. It didn't help that the ground floor was surrounded by scaffolding as it's undergoing renovation. We think about going up to the viewing area but as the sun has just begun to set and the queue is massive we decide to leave it until tomorrow.
We get take the subway to visit the Guggenheim Museum but that has now closed for the evening and also, typically, under refurbishments aswell.
The next day gets off to a great start, although I was mistaken for a German (not for the first time on the trip). This time it worked in my favour. A woman approached me at breakfast and told me her and her family were leaving that day and would we like 4 city passes. Of course I did! Many major cities offer a city pass within which you get entry to major attractions around the city but pay it all in one go and for a fair amount less than each individual attraction. Although the trip up the Empire State building voucher had been used we still had vouchers for a trip to Statue of Liberty Island, entrance to the Museum of Modern Art, entrance to the Guggenheim Museum and circle ferry tour of Manhattan Island. Not bad for free!
First up we want to take a good look around Central Park, it's certainly the weather for it as the sun continues it's uninterrupted beaming. We get the subway to the north end of the park and plan to walk through it's entirety. The New York subway system is bit over complicated and run down. The stations are dilapidated and the trains are noisy and old. In fact it is probably the worst underground system we've used. Considering there isn't that many stations there is no need for it's complex nature of lines, colours, numbers and letters. London blows it out of the water and both Shanghai and Hong Kong would fall about laughing at the state of it. But, as we've learnt, Americans are told they're the best at everything so they put up with it.

Getting out of the dimly lit passageways into the bright sunshine and abundant life of north Central Park is a bit of a shock at first. This is clearly a slightly poorer part of town but nonetheless happy. A lake is surrounded by people fishing, kids playing or taking part in a school lesson, old black guys laying back and chewing the fat beneath the sun. This may well live up to the hype and actually be one of the best city parks in the world.
We pass through curvaceous rows of blooming flowers and an Alice in Wonderland statue to a vine covered pagoda under which a solitary man goes through his tai-chi routine.
People buzz around preparing a marquee for an event whilst artists attempt to capture the glorious colours of the flowers encircling a fountain. The park is massive, there's no understatement here, with such a variety of activities going across it. A huge lake is constantly in view for the hordes of runners and roller-bladers whizzing around it probably not even glimpsing at the attractive skyline peering at the water.

We then take in another fountain that is surrounded by pink Spanish tiling and a grand staircase that leads into a covered archway in which a musician plays his way through some classical pieces amongst the faded frescoes.
Halfway down the park we dive into the Guggenheim Museum thankful that we didn't have to pay the $18 dollar entrance. Again we take the UK's free museums for granted and at least give the opportunity for all walks of life and wallet size to have a nosy into the world of art and culture.
The Guggenheim is a white circular building that for me isn't pleasing to the eye but the great exhibition of Chinese art made up for it. A horde of fake wolves, tigers covered in arrows and firecracker art make it worth the visit. The hanging cars in the lobby followed us all the way from the west coast and Seattle's museum of modern art.


By this time the sun is already on it's way down (which shows how big the park is!) when we stroll past baseball fields and a small wood to the end of the park and head towards the Empire State Building. The queues are immense and we have to walk the final 6 flights of stairs up to the sardine-packed viewing area for sunset. The views are spectacular across the city and the around the island itself. As the sun disappears the lights of the city begin to show yet another classic view of the famous city and we elbow our way to the exit and the bar. At the ground floor of the building is a bar which we dive in to sample some of it's brewed ales. And good they are too, it was just a shame the busy downstairs bar closed at half ten and everyone had to leave or go upstairs, very odd and totally against my European principals! Unfortunately we miss the last bus to New Jersey and have to wait an hour for one from a different firm.
Originally we were staying for only 2 nights but they've now passed and we've not even seen half of what we wanted, looks like we'll have to stay a little longer!