"The Big Apple" New York

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" - Semisonic

Monday 2nd February (cont.)

I arrived late into New York dazed, bewildered and very jetlagged. It became apparent very quickly, that it was bloody freezing and the piles of snow sitting on the edge of the footpaths seemed almost surreal. My backpack became about 2 kilos lighter as I took everything that I possibly could out of it and onto me.

After sleeping in to about midday, I went out for a wander for a few hours and looked at the hole where the world trade centre used to be and Times Square as well as a distant view of the statue of liberty. It got too cold, so I negotiated the crazy maze they call the subway - I still have no idea how I managed to get back to my destination - and headed back to the hostel, where I stopped for a break before stepping out to get something to eat and drink. I learnt later on that night that all bars in New York have to close at 4:00am.

Yesterday was superbowl Sunday, so I went out and watched the game at a local bar, and today Ive managed to get up and out to see the Empire State Building and wander around a little more. Everything is quite big and I'm finding that I have difficulty understanding people - the ones that actually speak English, other than that its all good, all smiles, all sing.

Much, much later (sorry for the lack of updates)

A Bridge in snow covered Central Park

On the 2nd, I organised myself in the afternoon to go and see a game of Ice Hockey, and that night was off to the Maddison Square Garden, the self proclaimed "most famous venue in the world" where I saw the New York Rangers play my favourite team in the NHL, the Vancouver Cannuks. The game was fantastic, and the 4-3 result in favour of the local team didnt bother me too much. The winning goal was scored with two minutes to play, so the Cannuks dispached their goal tender to the sidelines and played all out attack for the last 2 minutes in a desparate attempt to get an equaliser.

The next day, I got up and wandered around a very cold, snow covered Central Park and returned to the hostel to meet a couple of punters who went off to Al's Soup Kitchen - made famous by the Soup Nazi show on Seinfeld. The soup was fantastic and the service was just as rude as the tv show suggests. It was a terrible day, so we scurried back to the hostel to hide from the sleet and cold and drank our soup. Later that afternoon we went to the filming of the Late Show with David Letterman. I wont say much more about it, other than if you like the show then it would probably be fun. I dont like the show. Somehow that night I managed to find that the bar I was drinking at had closed, and once again was stuck with the realisation that after 4:00am there is no place to go in the city that never sleeps.

Skating in Central Park

On the 4th, I got up and headed downtown to Wall street and took the Statten Island ferry accross past the statue of Liberty and back again. I then went out and bought some jeans (the one pair that I had only needed until now, seriously needed some company!) and sorted tickets to the show Movin' Out on Broadway. It is a collection of Billy Joel songs with a story made from it and we managed to get tickets for a not too extortionate rate. It was a fun show, although not quite what I had initially expected certainly a good experience. A little different from shows in the West End.

Yep, and I went up to the top of here too..

On my last day in the Big Apple, a group of us headed out to the Rockerfeller Center where we went ice skating - something that I hadnt done in more than 10 years, and it certainly showed in my lack of grace, style and ability to stop. Then, it was off to JFK for my flight back to London town and another new beginning..

London Town

I didnt have the best of flights across the Atlantic and so once again found myself in a very bewildered state upon arrival at Heathrow. After getting myself a phone number and a few hours nap, it was off to catch up with a few mates over a very large number of pints. This theme continued the next day when the annual Waitangi Day circle line pub crawl was held. Not feeling quite up to the occasion, I decided to be an observer and was suitably impressed by the mexican waves from all the punters on the streets outside Victoria Station, and the haka done by around 2000 punters at Parliment Square that held up traffic for about 30 minutes.

Glad to be back? You betcha!

Anyhow, Im off to Sicily next week - cant get too carried away with finding a job and settling down, so check out the action from there (or return to the main home page) at ryanstravels.com