When I
mentioned to an American in Boston that our next stop was New York,
his comment was,
“Mmmmm.
You'll find the pace of life a lot faster there.”
And
it is. In fact, as soon as we arrived in New York station yesterday,
we were immersed in a buzz of rushing commuters.
Today
starts off well. We remember that all this hostel offers is coffee
and bagels for breakfast. We have our usual cup of tea in bed as I
write the blog (thank goodness for our trusty travel kettle). As we
go past the breakfast area in the hostel lobby, a member of the
hostel staff says,
“Coffee?”
“No,
thanks,” I smile at him.
“We're English - we drink tea.”
He
smiles back, knowingly.
We
return to the little cafe we visited on our very first morning in New
York (and in America). The hostel staff recommended it to us –
it's just a couple of blocks down from our hostel. Here we enjoy a
really good English breakfast that will set us up for the day – we
won't need to eat much until dinner tonight.
We
discuss our plans for today, which involve shopping for gifts for
friends and family. Although we've already bought a few gifts, I
have warned Reg well in advance (with frequent reminders) that when
we get to New York, we will need to set aside a few hours for
shopping. You won't have seen shopping mentioned that often in the
blog, because it is Reg's least favourite activity, unless it
involves entering a computer store or a bike shop.
Reg
is resigned to the fact that this shopping will have to take place,
and since he's had adequate warning, he's actually quite mellow about
it. He has got his tablet, after all, and there are plenty of cafés
in Macy's – and wifii available. He won't of course accompany me
while I browse the floors of this huge department store.
Our
hostel is on East 34th Street, just a few blocks away
from the main shopping area of “downtown” New York. As we walk
towards the shops, we see that the Empire State building is right
there, on our way. Going up to the skydeck is on our list of things
we hope to do in New York, and it's a beautiful clear, sunny day. We
decide to do it first, before the shopping, so that we can get a feel
of the lay-out of New York, and tick “the Empire State” off our
list.
Our
experience of visiting the skydeck of the Seers/Willis building in
Chicago had been hugely pleasurable; this is the opposite.
As
we approach the Empire State building, one of several blue-shirted
people with an “Empire State Building Employee” identity tag
around his neck, and a photo of himself on the tag, approaches us.
Would we like to pay an extra $7 to avoid all the queuing and fast
track to the skydeck? Our ticket will include a virtual “skydrive”
tour of New York for free, which alone would usually cost $39. The
total cost for us will be $53 dollars each.
The
thought of avoiding the queue to the skydeck, when we see the number
of people waiting to go up, convinces us to buy the fast-track
tickets. Actually it is cheaper to buy the skydeck and
virtual skydrive tickets together, if we
what we had bought were fast-track tickets – but they weren't! The
man gives us our receipts and tells us to go in a different entrance
to get our tickets– so we do avoid the queues for tickets; but not
the queue for the skydeck itself. There are hundreds of people
waiting to go to the 86th
floor.
The
young girl who issues our tickets tells us,
“It's
an extra $8 for this skydeck map,” as
if we have to purchase it.
“We
don't want it, thank you,”
“But
you'll need it. And if you wait until you get to the skydeck, it'll
cost you $20.”
“We
don't want it. We've paid enough already” I
say, reaching for our tickets, which the girl is holding. She
thrusts the tickets towards us crossly.
“That
way then!” she
says angrily.
This
is turning out to be a very poor first experience of New York City.
We
think we'll be fast-tracked now; but we join a long, long queue of
other tourists. Then we see some other tourists showing their
tickets to an attendant and bypassing this long queue; they must be
fast-track tourists like us! So we do the same.
“Yours
aren't fast-track tickets,” says
the man. “Look,
it says on your tickets, 'THIS
IS NOT AN
EXPRESS TICKET.”
“The
man who sold it to us, outside the building told us it was
fast-track,” says
Reg. “That's why
we bought them from him.”
We
go to follow the other fast-track people and the man doesn't stop us.
Even then, there are more long queues for the lifts, then long
queues when you get to the skydeck itself. However, at least we did
get to by-pass the initial stage – but no thanks to the con-man who
supposedly sold us fast-track tickets. Didn't we learn anything from
our Tienanmen
Square scamming experience in China?
The
views of New York from the 86th
floor of the Empire State building are spectacular, although it's a
tight mass of people on the skydeck itself; it is worth it in the
end, but we have to say, it isn't an enjoyable experience at all.
And should we want to go up the 20 more floors or so to the very top
observatory, a sign tells us it will cost us an extra $20.
“Money-grabbing
New York,” mutters
Reg.
I
feel I just have to get away from all these jostling people.
“Let's
just get out of here,” I
reply, realising that everyone else slowly making their way towards
the exit must be feeling the same.
Glad
to breath fresh air once again, we cross the street and make our way
the couple of blocks down towards Macy's; we're glad to sit down in
the comfort of the little 2nd
floor café
and enjoy a green tea (Reg) and a lemonade (me) – plus a pastry
each. We usually avoid Starbucks like the plague but I have to
confess, taking refreshment in calm surroundings is bliss.
“Apart
from this cafe, the whole of this huge floor is shoes,” I
say to Reg, having gone off to find the restrooms.
Reg
and I split up and agree to meet back in this cafe an hour and a half
later. During that time I buy some of my gifts, but have more I need
to buy. Reg says he's quite happy in his little niche in Starbucks,
drinking green tea, downloading and perusing some apps on his tablet,
while I finish my shopping.
I've
finally bought everything I want to buy, and queue for my purchases
at the circular till; a big lady dressed all in pink flounces to the
counter with her numerous purchases, bypassing the “corded” queue
completely, and gets served! Using my best assertive, non-aggressive
manner I point out to the shop assistant what has happened. She
doesn't say anything, but carries on serving Pink Lady.
When
I eventually get to the till, I comment that I can see little point
in having a queue if people can bypass it.
“I
know you're doing a difficult job,” I
add. “But if it
were you waiting, you'd probably feel the same.”
Again
the assistant says nothing, but agrees to give me discount when I
show her my British passport, as other tourists had told me to do.
I
return to the café
with my bulging bags to find Reg relaxed and happy.
“I've
enjoyed myself this afternoon, downloading these apps,”
he greets me, with his usual big smile. “How
have you got on?”
“I
need a cuppa!” I
say. I tell him about what happened at the counter, and he
sympathises.
“I
don't like New York,” he
says. “It's not
my favourite American city.”
We
discover that it's thunder and lightning outside – we aren't used
to rain! We have dinner in Macy's, hoping that by the time we
finish, the storm will have passed over. When we emerge into 34th
Street, there's just a few drops of rain in the air, and the
skyscrapers are set against a vivid backdrop of a beautiful
pinky-orange sky.
We
catch the bus back to our hostel – at the end of our first day in
frenetic New York.
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