For a long time have I had this image about New York ... a very crowded street, with people walking on both sides of the road, one big mass of people moving like one.
Well ... it's not really far from the truth ... First contact was pretty violent, as we got there on one of (arguably) the busiest days of the year (Labor Day weekend), there were just SO MANY people walking around Times Square ... it was crazy ...
What hit me was the fact that the metro rail was quite dirty, in no way comparable to Washington, or Paris. The dirtiness seemed to continue, as the streets were in no way squeaky clean ...
The city is best seen from the distance, with a quite impressive skyline ...
... the view from the top of Empire State Building is a must see ...
... but the Brooklyn Bridge view is not all that bad also and is another must ... the picture doesn't really do it justice ...
Apart from this, we've seen lady Liberty and it was nice ... Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Natural History, Madame Tussaud's ... and so on and so forth ... we'll get to those later ...
Oh yes, and if you get to NY, make sure you take the night tour ... it was tons of fun and I really hope you are lucky enough to have the same guide we had ...
And now for what I believe is the single biggest problem with NY ... the people ... The place is crowded by immigrants .. I mean, I have no problem with them, but, common, learn a little English, will you? It's not really normal to (try to) order a darn coffee milk shake (or whatever it was) and end up by pointing fingers in the menu ... Or the fact that people were speaking to you IN SPANISH and didn't get bothered by the fact that you were looking at them with a very puzzled face ... I guess the guide on the night tour said it best ... this is a place where you need to learn to tolerate a lot, because there are so many cultures that come together here ... and you should try to tolerate all of them, because they will hit you in the face at every corner... (the last part is added by myself)
And to conclude, here is the list of DON'Ts:
1. Don't go to chinatown at night (post to follow)
2. Don't go to Harlen
3. Don't eat anywhere else except Italian restaurants
4. Don't forget to know how to speak Spanish.
5. Don't even think you can see two museums on the same day (they're huge).
6. Don't even think about taking the ferry to Lady Liberty later than 10 A.M. (we didn't and you should take our example).
So to sum things up .... go see it ... take a bite ... I found it to be a little sour...
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