new york, new york, it’s a hell of a town

In our wanderings through New England, during which we drove 2000 miles in just under two weeks, we saw a lot of countryside. Perhaps countryside isn’t the best term. In Australia we have city and we have country. Country is sparsely populated, away from the coast, and the pace of life is slower. Where we travelled in Maine was still coastal, and we were never really passing through areas where simply no one lived. But the pace of life was slower and the people less rushed. So it’s still countryside to me, despite the big towns, enormous walmarts and biggest yet, the breakfasts.

Despite from the differences throughout New England, it was all thrown into stark contrast by our arrival in New York city. Quite simply, New York runs on raw energy, and nothing is done half way. If it’s small, it’s tiny. If it’s big, you can fit your whole head inside it. People are generally really switched on and quite engaging. A bit contrary to expectations, I found more extroverted, friendly and cheerful people than I found angry, impatient and rude. I’d have to give them the prize for most zealous car horn users in the world, though.

Food was generally pretty good, and there was so much to do. Daph had organised us an apartment downtown on 14th street, which was a great location, and we spent more time wandering around and soaking it up than we did hitting a tourist checklist. We still managed to cover quite a few tourist highlights without feeling like we were following a Lonely Planet itinerary.

One of the things that hit me is that this place never sleeps. London is in the list in ‘I still call Australia home’ as one of the cities that never close down, but that’s a blatant lie. It closes down early and hard. New York just changes shifts and keeps going. Bars, restaurants, cafes, shops – they’re all open late. You don’t get the impression of being around when people are trying to wrap things up, it’s just non stop. Speaking of which, the subway runs 24 hours. Hello TFL, are you reading?

Walking through the city on the first night to find the election plaza, I was staring around like a wide eyed kid in a lolly shop, and when I think back to Manhattan now, I still feel the same way.