The Big Trip

Got to do this very quickly. Am doing it from hotel Business Centre and very expensive. However very quick internet. So here goes. not fixing typing msitakes.

Well....got to JFK. First Impressions. Shit...Airport is about 80 years old. Very dirty, very disorganised and the people at customs have attitude. But.... it is New York. On plane from Finland got frisked, handbag gone through and they looked at things like lipstick etc. Id bought some make up at duty free and it got taken away fom me and put in hold and I got it at the other end so thats OK.

So...first impressions, werent good and I thought. Shit... However walked out of arrivals hall, went to information desk. Heard a guy from a transit service saying he was going to 46th st.. I was going to 56th street. So 10 minutes later was in vehicle. 60 minutes later was in hotel for all of $17 bucks so not bad.

Hotel fantastic. Was upgraded into a suite (22nd floor) with own lounge etc and wide in TV in both rooms. Impressed. Howver took shoes off and noticed carpet was soaking. So next day, shifted into another room and lost upgrade and 4 floors (18th). Last night, took shoes off and noticed carpet was wet. Its been raining here and apparently hotel has a few leaks. Seems OK though, its drying. Will see how tomorrow goes because apparently its going to piss down.

First Impression - very very clean city and well organised. Not as congested as I thought. Traffic flow very good. People on the streets really friendly and overall very good. To be honest, there were more people in Florence and Dubrovnik and because it wasnt English speaking, I probably felt more intimidated.

Anyway, hotel window view Times Square (literally can read the signs). 10 minutes to Central park and has metro station down stairs (havent tried yet). Bloody ripper. Cant get better. Its not too expensive $150 US which is pretty good for central NY.

First night. Didnt do much had 6 hour time difference and was a bit buggered. however enjoyed the 58 ENGLISH SPEAKING CHANNELS and had a mammoth channel flicking episode... got RSI of the thumb.

Yesterday...raining off and on for morning and then pretty heavy mid dayish and then tapered off afternoon. Did Central Park because i thought there wouldnt be many people out (i was right) and it was lovely. Its absolutely huge and gorgeous. Didnt do much, saw tribute to John Lennon and got lost in a place called the rambles - no one else around, in fact, got a bit nervous in case anyone jumped out of the bushes. Couldnt even here any traffic and just lovely.

Then went to Museam of Natural History. Lots and lots of stuffed animals but well done Got lost there too... not the best maps. Then onto Museam of Art - great Egyptian exhibition and was impressed.

Then caught my first taxi and went to a Deli and had BBQ ham. So for $25 I got...4 slices of very think ham and a gallon of BBQ sauce. Two huge scoopes of mash potatoe and another gallon of normal gravy. Beans and carrots. And then for extras I got a bowl of coleslaw and a bowl of pickles (oh and a Bud). Needless to say, I ate 1/4 of it (drank all the bud). Really, I'd like half the meal for half the price. My hotel doesnt have a bar fridge otherwise I would have taken it to go (see know the lingo) but it would have gone off. Then walked down to Times square and enjoyed the millions and millions of lights. Really spectacular.

Today, went on one of those red buses and did a tour of downtown. Rained though and not pleasant. My feet are especially sore because my shoes got wet yesterday and renewed my blisters. Lovely!! You would think that after 6 weeks, I would have hardened feet but no... still got bandaids on them. In fact, bandaids have been one of my biggest purchases. Im a specialist on them.

Saw Ground Zero. Wasnt going to because I thought it would be depressing (it was) but the bus stopped close to there. Also went to China town but because feet was sore, didnt walk to the interesting bits. May go down there later this week. Then bus went through SOHO and the village and went on Brooklyn tour which was interesting.

Have got tickets to "Wicked" on Broadway which is a parody of the Wizard of Oz. Apparently its the "hottest" show at the moment. Going tomorrow night. Also got tickets for Ferry Ride at night as well.

Tomorrow apparently its going to be raining hard so not sure what Im going to do. I have umbrella but everything else gets wet.

So....better close off as its getting a bit steep here.

Overall, NY is not as scary as I thought. Weather though hasnt been good. Still havent seen top of Empire State Building yet - only clouds. Bit of a bummer... But its still good.

So...bye from the Big apple.. Ill find a cheaper internet service and do a more comprehensive one (plus photos).

cheers and beers (might try a coors tonight!!)

Kay