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| Leaving Boulder |
Not going to lie to you. Last night was a little bit brutal.
Mark and I, normally 9 pm to bed kinda folks, arrived at DIA around 10 pm for our midnight flight and used up most if not all of our energy to stay smiley and lovely as we flew the coop… Leaving Colorado behind and fleeing into the night, we were elated to be off the big adventure that had been almost 9 months in planning.
It was only a 3 hour flight and actually the airplane got in early to JFK. All signs pointed toward a great first flight but of course that doesn't take into account a very late night, an incredibly short sleep and arriving in a new and bustling city at rush hour - which apparently starts around 4:30 am in New York City. They call it the city that never sleeps for a reason and now, we were the tourists that hadn’t either.
In all honesty, I did get some sleep. About 2:45 of the 3 flight hours I was blissfully unconscious. But I had awoken as the plane descended and my ears flared with pain and pressure. Thank you sinus infection. :-(
New York City is a bustling, thriving metropolis. An animal all unto itself and a slightly dirty and chaotic one at that. This was not my first time in NYC but I was delighted for the opportunity to view that first impression through Mark's eyes.
A little after 6:30 am we were the travelers admiring vibrant billboards at Times Square and found ourselves crashing a taping of the NBC breakfast show near Rockefeller Center shortly thereafter.
This morning on the SW corner of the park, we had the amazingly good fortune to be singled out by Harley - a Persian dude with quick wit and lovable personality. It took him all of 2 minutes to convince us that a 45 minute ride in the back of his power-assisted pedal rickshaw, taking in the major sites and most photographed features of Central Park, was just what we’d been looking for. (He was right!)
Snuggled up together, the sunshine just busting rays though the 25,000+ gorgeous trees, Mark and I giggled at Harleys cheesey jokes and admired fountains, bridges, architecture and memorials to people who mattered most around here at some time or another. While it matters little to me where Brangelina or Marilyn Monroe lived, it was still interesting to see where John Lennon was assassinated and his widow still resides…. Or view various spots made famous by scenes in movies. I asked Harley if he’d consider playfully dancing with a brightly colored umbrella in the fountain where “Friends” did just that for their opening show credits, but while he didn’t outright say no, his price was a little steep! LOL
Harley rode us back to Times Square and gave us good directions on using the subway to get to Rector St for our next tourist stop...
The One World Trade Center Memorial was called Ground Zero the last time I was here. That was the 6 month anniversary 9/11, 2001. Perhaps like me, you’d not even recognize it now. Several of the 5 destroyed buildings have been rebuilt and a fancy new subway system connects them to each to the and the rest of the city. It is still a work in progress and I was shocked at how emotional the revisit was. Two pools, draining water peacefully down their sides into the depths of the earth are surrounded by the permanently etched names of emergency responders and 9-11 victims. A fresh rose drew attention to the ones that would have had a birthday today. Staring into the pools, then up at the changed skyline, the progress, the scars and the trauma is still really, really apparent. Sobering.
In case you can’t tell (and I can’t see why not) the bridge is crowded with people who use it legitimately to commute and who share it begrudgingly with some of the most selfie-driven souls I have ever met! Dear God… it’s a bit of a sh*#-show! Every other step is hindered by those who stop in the middle of the walking (or biking) path to pose vainly. They are being cursed incessantly by cyclists who feel the need to remind everyone of their right to run you down if you stray from the pedestrian side of the path to the biking side of the path.
Despite it all, we enjoyed spending a half hour strolling in the sunshine, taking pics of the skyline and the admiring pleasing convergence of the wires that seem to suspend it all over the river. And at the end… back on the Manhattan side, we began what is surely a “must do” in New York City.
People watching. And squirrel and pigeon watching too!
Yes, exhausted by a lack of sleep, the heat and walking long all day on concrete (with backpacks on) we found ourselves perched on a quaint park bench listening to non-stop horns, sirens, rap music and a senior Jamaican on her cell phone. Aching feet, craving ice cream, full of photos and street food, over-stimulated by crowds and colors, weird smells and trying to get our heads around NYC public transit - we were done. Really… done.
Today was a day packed with interactions among friendly, helpful and curious locals. Not all the advice we received was good, but it was ALL well-intentioned and we are very grateful for the people who have helped us navigate a city in full swing, making it possible for us to cram into one day, so many things on our bucket lists! New York City certainly is a unique animal...
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
November 2, 1883
NOTE: While the city charmed and delighted us, JFK certainly didn’t! LOL. Ridiculously slow bag check lines, TSA screening that was eventually watered down to a quick march past screeners in order to keep up with increasingly impossible lines and passengers missing flights. Forget taking shoes or jackets off, leave computers in bags (and stuff everything else in there too because no plastic bins available for your loose items) and bypass the people scanners altogether please. Two hundred or so people in our line went from walking through 1 person every 3 minutes to 3 people every 10 seconds and in the blink of an eye we’d passed “security”. On the other side of security… internet that was useless and there was no real food - only pre-packaged sandwiches and drinks. If you wanted something green and good, you'd have to settle for gummy bears! (Not the end of the world, IMHO.)
We have been spoiled by living under the clean, organized, spacious shelter of DIA and forgotten what it’s like to leave the US from a more challenged airport. All airports are not created equal and JFK acts like it just started TSA screening last month but is still ironing out the kinks. Yikes!
Onward.
1 comment:
And youryo off!! Looking forward to reading more!!
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