DAY 1 – THE UPPER WEST SIDE

 

 

I’m writing my first blog entry under the shade of a cherry tree in Sakura Park near Grant’s tomb and Riverside Church in the (upper) upper west side. You should hear the church bells – they’re almost worth the trip by themselves. I hope they’re ringing because Sunday-service has finished, I want to go and take some photos from the tower (that’s right, I’m heathen scum).

 

My first night in NYC was pretty cool. As usual, I was rushing to finish some work even as my taxi pulled up, but I managed to grab a few hours sleep on the flight and arrived at JFK feeling pretty good.

I caught the subway to Manhattan and headed uptown towards my hotel, the West End Studios. The location is great – just off Broadway between Central Park west and Riverside Park. My room is unlike anywhere I’ve ever stayed, so I recorded a little tour of it, which you can see by clicking the icon on the right.

 

I’d heard online that the best pizza in New York, Sal & Carmine’s was just a couple of blocks from the hotel, so I struck out to find it. I had a plain cheese slice, washed down with Dr. Pepper. It was the best Pizza I’ve ever had. I had planned to spend the evening watching Macbeth in Central Park, so I bought a couple of beers, made some sandwiches and walked the 20 blocks downtown to the Delacorte Theater. Unfortunately the free tickets had all gone, so I contented myself with exploring Central Park.

 

Dragon Fly Reserve

Woman Talks to Bird

Toward Midtown

 

Missing the play was probably a good thing as I was pretty exhausted… Anyway, the church bells have stopped, so I’m going to go try and take some photos from the tower… peace out.

                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

Bah! Riverside Church is closed all day. What is it with Christians and Sunday? I walked a couple of blocks downtown and checked out Columbia University, before heading west to Amsterdam Avenue and the Cathedral of St. John the Devine, though I’m thinking more ‘St. John the showy’. The cathedral *is* gigantic, apparently the biggest in North America, though you couldn’t call it pretty. It’s all gothic gargoyles and demons, with a creepy statue in the garden that I can only assume must be revelations-inspired:

 

Towards the Bronx

St. John the Devine Cathedral

Creepy Statue

 

I’m writing this in a Columbia University sports-bar - the Iron Lion Tavern. The heat was getting to me, so I ducked in for a cold beer and to use their free Internet, which doesn’t work. At least the bar is cool and the beer is cheap. I’m going to nip back to the hotel now for a shower, and to upload this blog… TTFN.

 

 

I’m ‘Spurlocking’ this trip - trying a different fast food chain each day. I started with a veggie quarter-pounder meal from McDonalds. The burger was great! I’d give it a 9/10, but the fries sucked… so they get a 2. I guess that averages a low 6.  In the spirit of mixing the sublime with the ridiculous, I decided to eat in Central Park. I saw some squirrels who seemed interested in my food, though they refused to eat my crappy fries and I wasn’t parting with the burger.

                                                                                                             

McDonalds

Gourmet Squirrel

Central Park Lake

 

After dinner I planned to head to the East Village and see some bands at CBGB. I’d spent the day building up my ‘world-traveler’ ego - I’d been all over Manhattan on the subway and I was feeling pretty cocky, which is why I was surprised to find myself in lost in Queens at midnight rather than drinking in the East Village. Tired and sweaty from the 98 degree sun I sloped back to the hotel with my tail between my legs. I blame the jet-lag!.. or possibly heat stroke?

 

DAY 2 – MIDTOWN AND THE DAILY SHOW

 

Dave, a friend of mine from InfoLab was in town for a conference at NYU, so we arranged to hit some of the sites together. We met up at 10AM in a McDonalds opposite the Empire State building, which is surprisingly difficult to find as it blends in amazingly well with the surrounding blocks. This is perhaps one of its biggest triumphs. One of its less successful features; the blimp-mooring spike was closed after some important NYC folks blew away. It took me by surprise just how iconic the building really is. I’d seen a thousand imitations of the decor without realising what was being imitated. Unfortunately, the high humidity and pollution meant that the view from the top was a little hazy and while still impressive, it didn’t match up with Shanghai’s Jinn Mao Tower which I visited last year.

Empire State Building	The Lobby	Straight Down
Down Town	Midtown	Blimp Spike

 

We then hiked north-west towards the air and space museum, which is housed on the aircraft carrier Intrepid, moored in the Hudson River. The museum was an interesting, if somewhat gung-ho tribute to American militarism with some well put together exhibits, ranging from the touching 9/11 memorial to an unsettling kill scorecard. It’s hard of course not to put this history in context of America’s more recent, more shameful wars and perhaps that’s appropriate as the ‘good war’ is still invoked to generate support for our military adventures. One chunk of history missing from the museum was the role of the ship during Vietnam, when four of its crew - ‘the intrepid four’ became some of the war’s most famous deserters.

 

Intrepid	Touching	Horrific
Lurch on Deck	Valor	Plane

 

 

After a quick lunch, Dave started his trek to the airport and I headed uptown to shower and change for the Daily Show taping. It meant a long wait in the hot, sticky New York summer, but it was worth every minute. An Oregonian family who were queuing near to me were one ticket short; fortunately I had a spare, which seemed to make their day. The studio was smaller and shabbier than it looks on TV but the warm-up guy soon had the crowd all fired up and the show was the best I’ve seen in a very long time. The guest was Calvin Trillin, author of two books of poems about Bush. I’m planning to go to a reading he’s giving at The Strand tomorrow evening. I was amazed by how slick the show was. They were straight through in one take with absolutely no foul ups. I think my favourite bit was Dan Bakedal’s piece on Republican cessation from the Congress softball league, which I’ll post as soon as I can get a copy.

 

Daily Show Studio

Standing in Line

 

 

After the taping, I headed back uptown for some food - today’s chain being Subway. Now I know what you’re thinking, ‘sandwiches aren’t proper fast food’, but don’t underestimate subway. My foot long sandwich had two veggie patties on cheesy bread, topped with more cheese, chillies and creamy mustard dressing along with crisps… more than a match for some food in the heart-attack stakes…. The sandwich gets an 8, but they lose out on the side-orders – I mean crisps?! So an overall score of 5. After dinner I stayed in with the intention of updating my blog and reviewing a paper that I need to get to my supervisor, though writing this has taken so long that the paper will have to wait until tomorrow! Nighty night.

Subway

 

DAY 3 – POETRY AND POLITICS

 

I spent the morning sitting in Riverside Park looking out over the Hudson and reviewing a paper. It was almost fun. The weather has finally broken and it’s pleasantly cool – perfect for walking around town. After finishing the paper, I hopped on the subway to Union Square to do some shopping. For some reason, Union Square seems to be ringed with cheap shoe shops (the shoe district?) and I found it pretty easy to find the Converse my sister wanted.

 

After my half hour of shopping I was feeling hungry, so I continued my Spurlocking, this time at Taco Bell… the Burritos were good. Maybe a 7, no side orders though, but there was all-you-can-drink Mountain Dew. That’s got to average an 8. After dinner I vegged-out under a tree in Union Square Park waiting for Calvin Trillin’s reading and signing in the Strand book-store.

 

Taco Bell	Union Square Park	The Strand
Calvin Trillin	A Heckuva Job	Trump Tower

 

The reading began with some history about the Strand from its current owner - The strand and its 18 miles of books are the last remaining store of ‘book row’, which used to contain over 40 stores. Who’d have thought that reading was on the decline in the U.S.?! The wine was bad, but the poems were funny and Calvin talked about being on the Daily Show, which was cool as I was in the audience. I’d managed to get a copy of the Village Voice and track down a showing of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, so after the reading, I headed back uptown to Lincoln Plaza, just by Trump Tower (the monument to dickishness seen in the last photo), to catch a showing. The movie was good and scary in equal parts. Something everyone should see. Also, I’ve discovered something I call ‘New York Guilt’… there’s so much going on, you feel bad for sleeping and thus missing stuff; still I’m pooped so I’m going to crash early. Night all!

 

 

DAY 4 – THE COLBERT REPORT AND CBGB/OMFUG

 

I’m knocking back a couple of ‘Sam Adams’ beers in the hotel room (cherry wheat is nice) after returning from the Colbert Report. The show was great and quite different from the Daily Show. Colbert’s act was just as good, maybe funnier live, but his warm-up man was a bit crap. Interestingly though, the show had much cooler music during the breaks (Green Day, Jimmy Eat World...) and what does Colbert do in the breaks? Plays air guitar and rocks out behind his desk… weird huh? Waiting in line for Colbert was less painful too. The waiting area is covered, which was a nice break from the hot sun and on the day I was there, some apartments in the block were having a party with live salsa music, which along with the book I’d brought passed the time quite nicely. After Colbert, I headed east towards Times Square, which can be seen in the photos below. Personally I don’t really ‘get’ Times Square. There’s not much there except the same chain stores are there that are repeated every 10 blocks through the city and you have to fight your way through thick throngs of people to get to them. Nevertheless there was a Burger King near by, which allowed me to continue my spurlocking. The food was pretty good. McDonald’s quarter-pound veggie burger was perhaps a little better, but Burger Kings side orders more than made up for it. I’d give them a solid 7. Anyway, times-a-wasting, and I’m running short of beer. It’s 10PM and I need to get down to the East Village and CBGB. Adios!

 

Colbert Report

Times Square

Burger King

 

I’m sitting under a tree in Riverside Park trying to avoid the heat after eating two slices of Sal n Carmine’s Pizza. I think I’ve become an addict. I’m averaging one and a half slices per day and when I’m not eating their Pizza, I’m thinking about eating it! After finishing up my supply of Sam Adams last night I managed to find my way to the East Village and the legendary CBGB. Entry was cheap: $5 for four live bands, though beer wasn’t quite as good at $5 per bottle. Still, I suppose you can’t complain at paying UK prices in such a legendary venue :-). I was surprised to find the club pretty quiet, with fewer people there than you usually see at the Yorkshire House (Lancaster’s CBGB?) on a good night. The bands were really good, in particular Kindergarten who were a slightly trippy, bouncy rock band. The sound-system kicked ass too and most importantly, the place oozed atmosphere from every sticker covered wall. I didn’t take my camera with me, but managed to snap a few shots on my phone (just to prove I was there).

 

CBGB, Front Door

Kindergarten

CBGB, Toilet

 

Anyway it’s a beautiful day and I’m kind of behind on seeing the ‘Big Sites’ so I’m going to head way downtown to the harbor and take some photos. Buh bye.

           

DAY 5 – THE HARBOUR & DOIN’ LAUNDRY

 

I thought it was finally time for me to check out New York’s biggest site, the Statue of Liberty. I took the subway way down-town to the Staten Island ferry, which took me out into the harbor. Its weird how being in the city makes you grateful for the little breaks, like cruising around the harbor on a nice day in the (relatively) fresh air. The day had turned a little hazy and the sun had sunk a little lower in the sky though, which wasn’t the best for taking photos.

 

The Ferry Terminal

View of the Bay

Distant Liberty

 

Obviously, New York is a working port and the harbor is pretty busy…

 

The Ferry

A Pretty Ship

An Ugly Ship

 

As well as the statue, you also get some pretty good views of the city from the water…

 

 

I got back from the harbor around 8. Even though the sun’s gone down, the weather is still a muggy and oppressive 80 degrees, which combined with being tired from CBGB last night means I’ve decided to just do my laundry (there’s a free Laundromat downstairs!) and get an early night. Not before continuing my Spurlocking though! This time it was Blimpie, which looks and tastes like a poor man’s Subway. I blame the lack of additional cheese – 4/10. See ya…

Blimpie

 

DAY 6 – China Town, the Lower East Side & Ground Zero

 

The weather has finally broken. It’s raining but still muggy so I’ve decided to focus on indoor stuff. I’m currently in Union Square Park (the rain’s holding off for now). Next, I’m planning to head down the Bowery, past CBGB through China Town and on to the Lower East Side, killing three birds with one stone. I began my Spurlocking early today, with lunch at Pizza Hut. What was I thinking?! The food was terrible and cost about 3 times as much as one of Sal and Carmine’s divine slices! Pizza Hut gets a 1/10. I’ll have to buy two slices from Sal tonight by way of apology! Anyway, I better hit the road while the rain holds off. Ciao.

Pizza Hut

 

 

So I hiked down through the East Village, which is all tattoo parlours, alternative clothing shops and funky little cafés and then along the Bowery, past CBGB. By the time I got to China Town, the sun was out and the temperature was way up in the 80s. China town was pretty cool, like a city within a city, with its own newspapers, road signs and (of course) Chinese stores with buckets of wriggling fish, exotic herbs and trinkets out front.

 

Upper Mott Street

Monument

Lower Mott Street

 

China Town might not be Shanghai, but it's probably as close as you can get in North America. It was over to Penn station next to buy a ticket to Niagara for Sunday (my time in NYC grows short).  The ticket took about an hour of queuing, which was a bit crap – could Amtrak be *worse* than British rail!? As I left, I passed a lively protest in front of the station to combat police brutality against transsexuals and transvestites, which I suppose is very New York. Anyway now it’s off to the Ground Zero memorial. Byeee…

 

 

The former site of the World Trade Centre is an odd and slightly unpleasant place, which is, perhaps, how it should be. All that remains is a huge muddy hole, surrounded by a high chain-link fence and, on the surrounding buildings, memorials to those who were lost. The area has an oppressive atmosphere and seems quieter than the rest of the city, though what I found most depressing were the stores selling tacky WTC souvenirs, as though capitalism is consuming its dead even as you watch.

 

Memorial

Ground Zero

The Pit

 

Right, well it’s getting late and I want to hit CBGB again before I leave. Later.

 

DAY 7 – Coney Island, the Mermaid Parade and Brooklyn Bridge

 

I’m writing in the hotel room on my final night in NYC (though I’ll return for a few hours on Wednesday). Today was the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island, so I had to check that out. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty crappy. Nevertheless, Coney Island was an interesting, historic slice of Americana at the far end of Brooklyn. It’s on the subway, which means you can reach it from uptown for just $2. Coney Island is the home of ‘Nathan’s Famous’ hotdogs (the ones with the eating contest) as well as various side-show and fairground attractions. There’s even a small beach and while the palm trees are plastic, it *is* on the subway.

 

Coney Island

Nathan’s Famous

Plastic Palm Trees

 

 The parade was a lot of fun, more so than I was expecting. It had a really good artsy and local vibe…

 

Parade Start

Skaters

Artists

 

After the parade, I headed north-west, back towards the Brooklyn Bridge, the views from which are spectacular. Unfortunately, I picked the worst day to hike across. It was raining lightly and the sky was a mucky grey color. Nevertheless, as this was my last full day, I decided to make the trek. Even with the rain, the views made it worthwhile, as you can see…

 

Toward Manhattan

Upper East Side

Back Towards Brooklyn

 

 

After the Brooklyn Bridge I hopped the subway to Penn station, where (after another long wait in the Amtrak line) I bought my return ticket for Niagara. The subway had flooded after the rain, which meant there were no express trains and the ride back to the hotel was a hot and slow one… nevertheless as this was the final night, I had the ultimate Spurlock to look forward to: Sal and Carmine’s pizza, donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts and a bottle of Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat beer. Yum yum... All that food is now in my belly :-)

The Final Spurlock

 

DAY 8 – The Journey to Niagara

 

I write this on Amtrak’s ‘Maple Leaf’ service. I’m about 5 hours into an 8 hour journey from Penn station to Niagara Falls. I didn’t get to sleep until 3AM last night and had to be up by 5AM to catch this train, so I’m feeling pretty tired. Nonetheless, the journey has given me a chance to dust off the GridStix slides in preparation fro the workshop tomorrow. The scenery has been pretty nice too - so far the train has worked it’s way through the Hamptons and past Albany, which looked like a nice city from what I could tell, then on through Rome and Rochester and a couple of other towns that I missed the name of. Each small town I pass through seems to have more American flags than the last - perhaps to ward off Canadian invaders?

 

Hampton Glades

Albany

Rochester

 

I don’t imagine I’ll get up to much tonight as I have to get up at 7AM tomorrow for the conference. Plus I’m planning to make the most of having a hotel room with its own shower and air-con, so this is me checking out. So long!

 

DAY 9 – MDC and American Niagara

 

I checked into my hotel – the Niagara Holiday Inn Select late yesterday afternoon and crashed pretty quickly. Before I knew it, I was getting up again for the conference. After a big American breakfast, I headed over to the conference. The workshop was interesting and I saw some good work. My presentation went pretty well too, though it was a little short. While I was in the conference, I also found out that our paper for All Hands has been accepted and won the best paper award. Cool Huh? After the conference, I headed out to explore American Niagara, which is dominated by the giant Seneca Casino and (of course) the falls. US Niagara seems to be being rebuilt at the moment - everything is being dug-up or else is covered in scaffolding. Overall, the tourist part of town lacks charm, though at the right time of night the falls walk-way has a pleasant kind of a carnival atmosphere.

 

Along the River

The ‘Seneca’

A Seneca

 

As the light started to fail, I headed into the falls reservation and towards observation point. The falls themselves are very beautiful and kind of awe-inspiring. Also, I keep seeing tributes to the Seneca Indian tribe, who apparently massacred some British soldiers at Devil’s Hole in 1763. Good for them, though I’m sure we massacre’d them right back. Here’re some photos of the falls:

 

Falls from the Walk-way

Down from Observation Point

Falls from Observation Point

 

After seeing the US side of the falls, I headed back to the Seneca Casino with a pocket full of quarters that I’d saved up in NYC. Unfortunately, (unlike Vegas) the machines all use tokens and tickets. Plus they’re a *lot* stingier with the free alcohol. Without the cup full of jingling quarters and free margaritas it just wasn’t the same. Tomorrow it’s over Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side of the falls…. Now, I’m off to bed.

 

DAY 10 – Goat’s Island and Canadian Niagara

  

It was raining hard today and a muggy 75 degrees, but I was determined not to hang around inside, so after a big breakfast of eggs, French toast and sautéed potatoes I headed out armed with my umbrella and camera. Somehow yesterday I managed to omit Goat’s Island from my little walking tour of American Niagara, so it was the first place I hit today. The Island divides the American and Bridal Veil Falls (closest in the photo above) from the larger Horse Shoe Falls and you can get really up-close, which is very cool. There are a couple of photos below:

 

Bridal Veil Falls

The American Falls

Rocks Below

 

Even while enjoying the sights of Goat Island, my attention kept being drawn back to the Canadian side of the river with the tall casinos rising out of the mist – did they have gambling with real quarters? After taking in the view, I walked to the US side of Rainbow Bridge, which separates the two countries (last photo below). After a 10 minute walk I was standing at Canadian immigration having my passport stamped… I was in Canada.

 

Rainbow Brige

Oh Canada!

Falls from Bridge

 

….Oh Canada! My Home and Native Land…. Canadian Niagara was definitely nicer than American Niagara, which looks run-down by comparison. Canada also has a better view of the American and Bridal Veil Falls, probably of Horse Shoe Falls too. What’s more, the party is definitely in Canada (specifically on Clifton Street). There are many more casinos, shops, restaurants, and hotels than on the US side. Unfortunately, the Canadian ATMs wouldn’t accept my debit card, so I had to hike back over to the US side, get myself some dollars, then come back and change them, which was OK as I needed to do some holiday shopping.

 

Ferris Wheel

American Falls

Canadian Flag

 

After hitting the shops, I had a quick dinner on Clifton street and used up my remaining Canadian dollars in the Niagara casino, which, unlike the Seneca uses real (though Canadian) quaters, which jingle in the cup and everything. I even managed to score a couple of free Labatt’s, though I didn’t drop the jackpot. Coming back into the U.S. was telling. Firstly you have to pay 50 cents to cross the bridge, and when you get to the other side, there’s a big line for immigration with finger-printing and cameras. I’m saying nothing.

 

DAY 11 – Escape from New York (State)

  

It’s almost 4:30AM and I’m sitting on the Amtrack back to NYC. I didn’t sleep last night (of course), and ended up watching the late-night talk shows and movies hopped-up on Mountain Dew. I’m feeling kind of edgy from all the caffeine and yet my mind is dull at the same time. As often happens when I miss a night’s sleep, everything seems overwhelmingly significant and absurd: Sitting on the pavement outside the deserted hotel below the monstrous Seneca Casino on a warm night, cruising through deserted Niagara, which looks like every small American  town you’ve ever seen on TV, standing on the dirt ‘platform’ of Niagara station under the yellow spotlights, the train’s engine surrounded by heat haze making it look like a sweating animal getting ready to pull the train... And this is my life. Not always interesting, but always bouncing from deadline to deadline, idea to idea, trip to trip. Do I like it? I’m too spaced out to tell. I’m going to try and get some sleep before New York. J

 

 

Well I slept pretty well for almost three hours, before being awoken by the train attendant, who told us that due to large parts of the north-east US being underwater, the train would be terminating at Syracuse, where we would be switching to a bus as far as Albany and then back to a train for the rest of the journey to NYC. Will I make my flight? Isn’t it exciting? At least it’s given me chance to try Dunkin Donuts ‘breakfast omelet’. Croissant + egg + cheese = awesome. Sod’s law though, Syracuse it’s about the only station we pass without free WiFi. C’est la vie!

 

 

I write this on the coach from Syracuse to Albany. The last words the train attendant said were “It might even be quicker.” At 10AM, after a two and a half hour wait, it’s pretty obvious it isn’t going to be quicker. Still, I have a lot of slack in my journey, so I might be OK. I’m looking on the bright side anyway, I don’t have it as bad as some - one poor girl traveling alone was stranded in Syracuse with no way out as all roads in her direction were blocked. Fortunately just as my coach left there was an announcement saying that road had cleared. Besides, without the slight detour, I would never have seen wonderful Syracuse train station, with its Dunkin Donuts, sign advertising the city and shop for ‘some sports team’. Anyhoodle, I’m going to conserve battery power (and my remaining mental faculties) by getting some sleep.

 

 

Well that turned out to be an interesting coach ride. We passed town after town that was flooded, some very seriously - puts my little delay in perspective. I got back on a train at Rensselaer and I’m now only two hours away from Penn station if all goes well. I might even get my remaining New York shopping. Fingers crossed eh?

 

Underwater Cars

Underwater Truck

Lucky Guy with Boat

 

 

Well I made it back and I write this from my desk in InfoLab 21 back in sunny Lancaster. It was a great trip. So long America, and thanks for all the shoes.