New York

On my first full day in the big apple I went to time square. It would be an intersting experimant to put Mr Gareth Stangroom in the middle of time square and see if he exploded or melted. It was crazy and not very pleasant. I think the word is probably incredible, It is full of impact, but I couldn´t help thinking "but why?" and also "how do I get out of here?"

To compensate I went to central park, which is beautiful. I took some pictures of the Jackie O resevoir and a busker playing the sax and the city skyline framing an expanse of sunlit green, but it is so immense that its hard to capture it on camera.

It was incredbly hot....a sticky, heavy kind of heat that makes you move very slowly so the park was a lovely place to be.

I did a lot of walking. Partly because I like wandering through places to experience them, but also because the subway is a tourists nightmare...it takes a few days to really get your head around it...it makes the london undergrounds look like childsplay. There is a distinct lack of signs, destinations, any useful information anywhere....I think I got it by the time I was leaving which is usually the way.

I made a few friends at the hostel. Angie from Oz, Juliette from Paris and Francesco from Italy. Francesco and I went for a wander round Chelsea (saw the hotel where many famous writiers and musicians have stayed and where Nancy wotserface was killed) and then on the Greenwich Village. It´s gorgeous there and really laid back. We had sushi, real sushi, my first time. I liked it and it was perfect for the weather.

I tried to go to the Moma in the afternoon, but I waited till it was free and then suprsingly about half a million people also had the same idea. The queue went all the way down the blockand was about 4 deep. I didn´t wasn it that much. So I decided I would not waste the afternoon, I´d get the subway downtown (how cool is that?) and go to south ferry where you can look over at liberty island. After some complicated map reading I got to the right subway station and got the number 1 line all the way down to the tip of Manhattan....and then the train didn´t stop and took me all the way back again. It was one subway frustration after another for the rest of the afternoon till I made it back to the hostel about 2 hours later after not seeing or doing anything!

In the evening Angie and Juliette, now staing in an appartment in Chelsea came to pick me up so we could check out the nuyorican poets cafe. I heard they had latin jazz jams on sometimes so we set off with Francesco in search of new things. My expert navigation skills (which only kick in outside of the UK) got us there, but it was $10 entrance and it was a poetry slam. I would´ve enjoyed it I think, but the expressions on my companions faces told another story so we went and bought beer and went back to their new appartment instead. I sat chatting to Angie which was a delight and then when Francesco had fallen asleep in the corner I thought it was probably time we made our way back to the hostel. We waited ages for a train and he kept pointing out all the wildlife in the station (largly rats and cockroaches) until I had to ask him to stop.

The next day was my last full day in NYC. I spent alot of the morning packing and preparing for my journey because the shuttle bus was coming to pick me up at 3.30 the following morning. In the afternoon I met Francesco at the Gugenheim. What an incredible building, it just makes you want to keep looking at it....and touch it. Inside I´ve never seen such a wonderful interior to a gallery before. Form follows function at its most beautiful. Unfortunately the main exhibition space was closed...so all the famous ones were locked away, but the exhibition that we saw was great in places and interesting the rest of the time.

Then we went to Central Park for a free concert...Roy Hargreaves and his big band. It was great...nice weather, great atmosphere and BIG, BIG music. I loved the jazz and Francesco loved the big band numbers and then it all ended prematurly in a full-on thunderstorm. We got very soggy running back to the hostel, but it did allow me to introduce Francesco to the joys of a good cup of tea after such occasions.....just doing my bit for international relations.

I would love to go back to New York, there´s so much to see and so much to eat! I hope I go back there....and then I can be the one who knows how to use the subway!