There i was sat in New york airport (again) waiting for my friend Will to arrive from the UK. We met when we used to work together back at Sony and it was after a drive to Glastonbury that we thought it'd be a good idea to maybe try road tripping something bigger. Something like America say, 'coast to coast'.
The idea simmered away as i went about organizing my little travel not really knowing whether this thing would definitely go ahead and to be honest it wasn't a certainty for me until i got the mail saying "ok, i've booked my ticket i'll be there on the 7th". I in-turn booked my flight for the day before he arrived and thought nothing more of it until a week or so ago, and now i'm actually here....
First city New York.
New york is one of those places you feel you've been to without ever actually stepping a foot there. Annie hall, Taxi driver, American gangster, die hard with a vengeance, just about every romantic comedy... just last night i went and watched 'Kick ass' and the first shot is a big pan of this city.
Everyone knows the statue of liberty, times square, madison square garden. It is without question the most iconic of all cities.
The day we arrived was also the coldest day of my existence. I had to go buy a scarf, a pair of gloves, a hat. we checked Will into the hostel and sat in a heated room attempting to restore feeling to our fingers. Will had brought me warm clothes from back home but in typical Will fashion something went wrong and the airline lost his baggage and wouldn't be with him till the following day.
So there we where in New york absolutely freezing and an entire city to explore. The plan was to go to times square and see it in it's lit up glory and then when we get too cold; find a bar to watch the rangers game in.
The next day, having rested up and ready to tackle the outside cold, we set off to do the usual touristy thing; Brooklyn Bridge, Wall St, Staten island, Greenwich village, world trade center site, times square...a big day of site seeing whatever way you look at it and it ended with us back at the hostel in time for the Superbowl party.
We arrived just before the anthem's, so we grabbed a seat and talked about maybe watching the 1st quarter then moving onto a sports bar for the rest.
"you want a free beer?" "What! Free?" "yeah sure, the rest of the crates on the table! help yourself"
Seems the hostel was providing free beer! Ok maybe we stay till half time, drink all the beer then go to the bar. "FREE CHICKEN WINGS" this was getting better!! plus the beer stock just kept getting replenished. Once i'd drank my room price in beer and my fair share of chicken winged goodness the game had ended, not only only had i drank my self to a state of happiness (for absolutely nothing) but the Patriots had won as well... doubly happy, and then very sleepy.
Next day brought a visit to the top of the Empire State building and Grand central and also a good look around the remaining boroughs. We did try to get tickets for the Jon Stewart daily show but nothing but failure with that one. We did get a nice look at the building it's filmed in though.
For Tuesday night i'd bought myself a Knicks ticket to watch them play the Sacramento Kings, and sorry if this goes off into a rant but the Knicks over the past few years epically suck. They went up as much as 20 points at one time and still ended up losing in 1st overtime. So many classic players through the years before this slump. The main reason for going though was to see madison square garden itself, i had so many amazing memories of watching games taking place here (usually involving the Knicks getting beat) but things like Jordan's facial over Ewing or Kobe's 61 points are ingrained into my head with association to this place.
Just looking up and seeing those names Like Ewing, Like Frazier on the retired Jerseys and it's just goose bump worthy. I also had a $10 beer which had a similar effect, just far less enjoyably so.
A really good night, even with the loss.
Snow. Lots and lots of snow... that's what greeted us the following morning in Central park. We hunted down the action and watched as everyone was sledding and snow ball fighting. It was pretty beautiful to see it in such weather conditions but i couldn't handle the cold for all the long and when i couldn't feel my feet anymore i had to retreat to warmer grounds. At night Will went off to watch the Rangers game while i hung around with a bunch of people in the hostel playing table tennis and having a few beers... My body doesn't cope well in the cold it was much better off in there.
I absolutely loved New york, so much so i stuck a request on Facebook for an American sham marriage, just for the opportunity to move and work there :) i really do hope i get the chance to live here at some point in my life...... even with the cold the energy is undeniably addictive.
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