NYC: Wednesday

So, we had arrived. We managed to navigate the subway like pros, buying our Metro cards (which give you an extra 20% free whenever you top up) and going through the turnstiles without incident. We got to the hostel (Jazz on the Park, on the upper west side) at about 4, but they were changing shifts at reception so wouldn't check us in for a little while. Our room was rather lovely, apart from the plastic cover on the mattress which squeaked whenever you moved and also meant you couldn't tuck the fitted sheet in properly so it came untucked in the night and you woke up sticking to the mattress cover. But it had air conditioning and three mirrors (are New Yorkers really so vain?!) and we were right next to the bathroom so we didn't have to wander down the corridor dripping wet in a towel after showering. We spent a while figuring out where to go and what to do. I was getting annoyed because we'd got to NYC at 3:30 then didn't leave the hostel until 6, but some parts of it never seem to close, so we actually did a lot on Wednesday night. Having spent the day on the train we were pretty well rested. We went to the Apple store (which is open 24/7) so I could get a new iPod, as my trusty old mini (that I got for my 18th birthday, mind, so in iPod terms it is rather old. In fact I can't think of anyone who's had an iPod as long as that...) had started leaking power. I charged it in Concord to test it out and didn't use it, then when I checked it two days later it was down to 2/3 battery. So we went to the Apple store and I got a red nano. The red ones are the same price but some of the profit goes towards getting AIDS medications for people in Africa, so I felt more justified in spending $200 on it. Not to mention that even with tax added on I got the iPod and a nice case for it for about the same price as the iPod alone would have cost in England.  

The Apple store - basically a big glass box. You go down the stairs (or take the elevator) to the big shop that's all underground. On the way out I made us take the elevator because it was cool and futuristic.

After that we went to Bloomingdale's to get the brown bags (you know - the ones with the knockoffs that are ten a penny on Tottenham Court Road). We asked a sales assistant...

Oz: Do you have the Bloomingdale's little brown bags, you know, the plastic ones?

SA: Yes... Are you from London?

Us: Yes...

SA: Right. Only people from London buy those.

Then he directed us to them :P

We went to the Empire State building, because it's open until half past midnight. The queues were rather long so we got dinner first at Maui Tacos about 100 yards down the road, recommended if anyone's ever nearby and wants a cheap and tasty dinner. When we went back to the Empire State, the queues were less long, which was good as first you queue for a ticket, then you queue for the security check (like an airport where they scan your bag and make you take off your belt), then you queue for the person to check your ticket and let you in, then you queue for the lift. Unless you want to walk up 86 flights of stairs, though I don't think they'd let you even if you did. The first lift takes you up the floor 80 then you can walk the last 6 if you want, so there's optional queuing for the second lift if you really enjoy queuing (being English and lazy, of course we joined the second lift queue). These queues go around several corners so you can't see how epic the queuing is when you first go in, so it was good that we didn't go at a peak time really.

We got City Passes, which give you entry to the Empire State, the Natural History Museum, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Circle Line Harbour tour. These passes were $74 and we were planning to do most of these anyway (Maureen recommended the Circle line tour, so it was good that we knew about that beforehand), and we did end up saving a lot of money that way. We also got extras such as a free audio tour at the ESB - always good to know what you're looking at - and a free show at the planetarium at the NHM.

The Empire State was cool and I'm glad we had the audio tour because then we learned facts about things like when a pilot accidentally flew into it when it was really foggy (5 people died but the building was fine...) and how quickly it was built and how long it took to build, and also obviously the things you could see from the top. It was very strange at the top because it was so windy and there were birds chirrupping about and lots of moths flying around, which were all lit up by the lights from the building, so it seemed sort of eerie and exhilarating and beautiful all at the same time. The lights of NYC seemed to go on until the horizon in all directions. I think my favourite things were the Chrysler building, 5th Ave and the airport, which you couldn't actually see, but because it was nighttime you could see the planes in the air lining up in their landing pattern and going down one by one. We left at about quarter past midnight and attempted to get the subway back, but it was too confusing and no trains going the right way were coming, so we gave up and got a taxi, arriving back at the hostel at about 2am to collapse into our squeaky bed and get a good night's sleep. 

Queuing, but at least we had Tony, the nice Italian American, to listen to on the audio tour

The Chrysler building

5th Ave