New York & USA Conclusions

Well we have been up the Empire State Building (we went all the way up to the 102^nd floor, you have to pay extra), beautiful views & boy we’d hate to live here – just buildings as far as the eye can see. Long queue to get up there & they cram you in the lifts like sardines, we had more security checks just like an airport. We heard today that a couple of weeks ago a bunch of tourists got stuck in one of the lifts for 45mins – she said fortunately one of the german tourists had some chocolate with him which he said he kept for emergencies & it kept everyone from panicing!

We also had a big walk around most of Central Park – it was a freezing cold day & all the dogs had jerseys on, when we went back the next day the sun had come out & it was much busier with guys playing gridiron & baseball. Lots of cyclists & runners too – New Yorkers aren’t any fatter than your average kiwi. Looked at the upper West Side neighbourhood, quite smart & there was lots of black nannies pushing little white kids in strollers. The Upper East Side is even posher with some tall thin townhouses like you see on movies – we can’t imagine living there but I guess you have to be a city person.

Craig got some Phantom tickets for half price by standing in a queue for an hour in times square – it saved $139 US though so was worth it. They are so good at queuing here that Craig stood in a four lane queue 80 metres long that snaked to the ticket booth and no-one queue jumped or had to be organised in a line by barriers or anything (it would just be a mad rush in NZ!) After his long wait he was quite hungry & eyed up the meat skewers on the stands that are on every corner – he sensibly decided against it after seeing that the meat was chicken & they half cook it, put it to the side & then reheat it just before they sell it to you! Tess got so cross with a black homeless f**k in Starbucks when he asked her for some spare cash that she looked him in the eye & said ‘NO” in such a loud voice that he & Craig jumped & the whole shop turned around! – Needless to say the homeless guy made a quick exit! One of the criteria for being homeless seems to be able to talk to yourself but we think it’s because they are all drugged up to the eyeballs or mad.

On the whole we think American kids are better behaved, politer & better taken care of. The average person has an awesome vocabulary if you can understand them (especially in the service industry – most waiters & people in McD’s are incomprehensible) and that only LA & New Orleans are noticeably full of fat people. The lightswitches, shower knobs & doors all turn on & open back to front which takes a while to get used to. We really like the freedom of speech here where people can say what they think – it makes the radio talkback & TV shows amazing to listen to compared to back home where we are so conservative & too pc to say what we really think – you should hear some of the ad’s on TV about sending the Mexicans home. Oh Yeah & we are not too keen on US toilets – too high a water level…….

We are at JFK airport waiting to fly out to LA & then on to Raro – we mastered the subway & used it to get out here – pity about all the beggars on the way – they must think the tourists are an easy target to get rid of their spare change before they leave.  They have a very up to date unmanned train system that drops you off at whichever terminal you require.  We are at a very nice new one & the cafe even has power points for your laptop, very handy!  A very nice check-in lady booked our bags in all the way to Raro so hopefully they will meet us there – Tess has an appointment with a shady palm tree & an alcohol free cocktail!

 

 

 

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