Tuesday, May 04, 2004
More on New York City
On the Circle Line cruise I saw two squatter camps. The "houses" in one camp were not much better than cardboard boxes (well, plywood) and the other was a group of 3 or 4 dilapidated houses with little jetties out over the water. It actually looked quite pleasant, if a bit grimy, and Rex and I thought we could live in a situation like that quite happily. Apparently these people keep to themselves and don't cause any trouble, so the authorities ignore them.
Under the George Washington Bridge there is a tiny red lighthouse. I was out of film so couldn't get a photo. Hopefully Julia has received the page I found on the net and has forwarded it to you. There is a children's book called The Little Red Lighthouse and the Big Gray Bridge, which I hope I will be able to buy.
It would take forever to see all the sites of interest on Manhattan alone. The cruise, with an excellent commentator gave a good overview.
There were no buskers in New York. I saw one beggar who was pretending to be a busker and one drug addict/looney.
The footpaths on Broadway are white with big black spots everywhere - really polka-dotted! This is all caused by bubblegum.
The skyscrapers didn't look so tall to me, except in the Wall St. area, where there are so many tall buildings so close to each other they seem to be almost touching across the street. That is the area that is called the canyons of New York.
Under the George Washington Bridge there is a tiny red lighthouse. I was out of film so couldn't get a photo. Hopefully Julia has received the page I found on the net and has forwarded it to you. There is a children's book called The Little Red Lighthouse and the Big Gray Bridge, which I hope I will be able to buy.
It would take forever to see all the sites of interest on Manhattan alone. The cruise, with an excellent commentator gave a good overview.
There were no buskers in New York. I saw one beggar who was pretending to be a busker and one drug addict/looney.
The footpaths on Broadway are white with big black spots everywhere - really polka-dotted! This is all caused by bubblegum.
The skyscrapers didn't look so tall to me, except in the Wall St. area, where there are so many tall buildings so close to each other they seem to be almost touching across the street. That is the area that is called the canyons of New York.
Monday, May 03, 2004
Big Day in the Big Apple
We took a ferry across to Manhattan. That cost $10 return, but at the other side there were courtesy buses to take you to major points of interest. We took a cab for the short distance to Grand Central Railway Terminus, which is actually the most visited spot in NY - more than Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty. The station was not at all crowded, but Ev said that on a week day the ramps to the are jam packed with people running to the platforms.
I bought a book called The Cats of New York Central (true story) I don't know who would enjoy it more - Jessica or Danielle!
Then we took the subway for a few stops (just for the hell of it) and walked along Broadway and had lunch in a little bar before heading back to the docks for a 3 hour Circle Line Tour of Manhattan Island. We passed all the famous sites and under lots of interesting bridges. A very large part of the island is taken up with apartment blocks, as I suppose you should expect with about 3 million people living on Manhattan itself. There were also surprisingly large areas of parkland or forest.
It was a great trip, just a bit scary when everyone moved to one side of the boat to get photos of the Statue of Liberty. Rex and Ev enjoyed the trip as much as I did - if not more because they were more familiar with the area and its history.
The city was not as big and busy and black as I expected, similar traffic and pedestrians to Melbourne on a similar sunny day. It was a bit noisier with people honking their horns all the time. Weekdays are quite different, so I'll look forward to seeing it when I go to a Broadway show with Ev on a Tuesday.
So now I have 3 days to rest before heading off to West Virginia on Thursday, which will be an 8-10 hr drive.
By the way, Toby calls Evelyn "Geyser"
I bought a book called The Cats of New York Central (true story) I don't know who would enjoy it more - Jessica or Danielle!
Then we took the subway for a few stops (just for the hell of it) and walked along Broadway and had lunch in a little bar before heading back to the docks for a 3 hour Circle Line Tour of Manhattan Island. We passed all the famous sites and under lots of interesting bridges. A very large part of the island is taken up with apartment blocks, as I suppose you should expect with about 3 million people living on Manhattan itself. There were also surprisingly large areas of parkland or forest.
It was a great trip, just a bit scary when everyone moved to one side of the boat to get photos of the Statue of Liberty. Rex and Ev enjoyed the trip as much as I did - if not more because they were more familiar with the area and its history.
The city was not as big and busy and black as I expected, similar traffic and pedestrians to Melbourne on a similar sunny day. It was a bit noisier with people honking their horns all the time. Weekdays are quite different, so I'll look forward to seeing it when I go to a Broadway show with Ev on a Tuesday.
So now I have 3 days to rest before heading off to West Virginia on Thursday, which will be an 8-10 hr drive.
By the way, Toby calls Evelyn "Geyser"
