12 August 2007 - NewYork, NewYork

I left work just in advance of the thunderstorms and took a tiny little plane from Raleigh to LaGuardia airport in New York. I was waitlisted for an earlier flight - but air traffic delays meant I didn't get to the Big Smoke till midnight. No customs this time but luggage handling took longer than customs at Heathrow airport! I got some USdollars and a taxi and headed for my hotel wich was well situated at 38th and Madison.

In the morning I was greeted by tall buildings scraping an clear blue sky. I bounced out of bed and headed out to see New York. I had a vague plan which included the natural history museum, central park & shoe shopping,

I set off in search of the subway. I was quite pleased to find the empire state building around the second or third corner I turned. I stopped for breakfast in a bagel shop (they have these arrays of fruit and goodies as well as bagels) and perused my map. I targetted Madison Gardens (the square of green not the stadium) and enjoyed the sight of Saturday morning New Yorkers walking their dogs in a small dog run which smelled appalling as you would expect. They do love their dogs!

The subway was on one corner of the gardens and they had an all day travel card for half the price of an equivalent ticket in London. The platforms seemed old and the entry gates barred to the ceiling so it felt a little oppressive. And it was hot! Not 104 as it was in NC but a dirty humid underground hot that was relieved the minute a train came. I got into the first refrigerated car and got out again on the next stop as I'd predictably got on going in the wrong direction.

I had to return to the street and go down another set of stairs on the opposite side of the street in order to change directions. This wasn't the case in all stations. The entry to the subway is unobtrusive from the street and easy to miss even by the end of the weekend. I can't imagine they can handle the volumes of London.

I found my shoes in Chinatown - not as seedy as expected although the number of policemen around was concerning. I gathered there had been a bomb scare or something with prompted several streets to be roped off so it wasn't the area's reputation which prompted their presence. I didn't buy them of course - you never buy the first pair you see right! I ended u returning to the same shop before getting to the airport on Sunday because my forays into the next 12 or 15 multilevel shoes stores did not produce the targetted pair!

I planned to visit the Natural History museum and then relax in the park all afternoon but a sudden change of the train I was travelling in meant I got dumped out at one end of the park instead of at the centre where the museum is located. I planned to walk as it was a lovely day but a cyclist taxi convinced me to pay him for a tour and he would drop me there afterwards. I'm glad I did as I got a relaxed overview of all the corners of Central Park and a local (Truskish Student - lived in NY for 8 years) interpretation of the city.

The Natural History building doesn't even approach the magnificance of Darwin's one in London but inside it's very impressive. They had a special exhibition of Dragons and Mythical Creatures so....well naturally I couldn't resist They also had a brilliant dinosaur section and I wandered about for several hours happily drinking in information before remembering what a stunning day I was missing and heading back to the park.

Munching an apple and cinnamon bagel I found my way to the concert area where there was a rollerdance session going on. Some of the guys were very impressive with their dance moves and one was balancing is water bottle on his head as he wheeled his way around. But I was looking for the area where the Tango would be (definitely worth paying that young man for his tour!) and sure enough found the statue with a chalk mark TANGO scrawled on the group. I spent several hours - not dancing (very unusual for me) just watching the dances and listening to that beautiful music and marvelling that I was here in New Yorks' Central Park enjoying all of this.

An argentinian woman came and sold home made empanadas (sp) for a dollar so that took care of dinner. I eventually left this very pleasant scene for my bed. My heart wanted to dance but my feet had other idea.s Walking all over this very big city takes it's toll!

My bed destination was serendipitously interrupted by a quick diversion to Times Square. It's such a buzz to actually BE somewhere you have seen in the cinema or on TV so many many times. I walked the increasingly darker streets back to my hotel - very aware of my surroundings and feeling quite comfortable even as the bustling shopping/theatre district and flashing ginza-like light billboards gave way to empty streets.

Sunday was another scorcher and as the shops didn't open till late I jumped on the subway to Central Park again. It was much quieter so early on the cristian sabbath, but people were jogging and playing baseball and other energetic things. I lay on a rock and watched children run in and out of a fountain in a climbing play area till I judged there would be shopping starting and headed the 10 minutes back to retail therapy.

And a Parade! Bonus was it was a day for every Dominican in the city to don patriotic garb and line the streets for about twenty blocks. For several hours I joined in. I say joined in but I was the only non-dominican and many probably thought I was just on my way somewhere else. Nobody handed me a single flyer. Obviously my latin spirit was not visible. But I loved hearing the spanish and the music - meringue and - my favourite Bachatta. Many of the floats were for political parties. Hillary Clinton had about four floats. Everyone got an enormous cheer - even the police car which was just getting from one place to another.

My last sight of New York was through the back of the window of the taxi - that unmistakeable skyline. I have plans for my next visit. Hope it's soon.