NYC: The Second-Greatest City on Earth

I haven't ever really tried travel writing before, but I was lucky enough recently to get to go on the trip of a lifetime to the USA, and even in the midst of a global pandemic, I was fascinated as a Brit out of water. I spent nearly a week in New York, before flying from New Jersey to Orlando for a few days and then on to St Petersberg, Florida, for my cousin's wedding. I'll talk about New York today, and if I/anyone else is happy with it, I'll write a sequel next week about Florida. So, in that unlikely event, stay tuned.

Going from one of the most COVID-restricted places in the US (NYC) to the least (Florida), was going to be interesting I thought, as I nervously awaited the results of my PCR test to see if I could fly. I'd spent the last week working in a busy restaurant that had suffered two outbreaks, so I'd all but resigned myself to ten days in my flat while my family went on holiday. Practically punched a hole in my car roof in the middle of Marks and Spencer car park, then, when I found out the result was negative.

This meant that the one hour delay on my flight to London and the would-be stressful rush to the connecting flight to JFK wasn't even stressful at all because I was too busy appreciating, even after 24 hours, that I was able to fly at all. I still can't comprehend that we live in such times where something like going on holiday depends on these things, but no matter, I was away.

Flying over Canada was beautiful, as was the flight service. As someone who's only ever flown to Europe, and only on budget airlines, getting free movies and unlimited free alcohol was like Christmas come early (347 days early). Was very happy to learn that Brewdog make a beer especially for British Airways transatlantic flights, too. On the way back, my Dad and I drank them all and had to unfortunately switch to Heineken after 5 hours. Trying times.

Arriving in JFK, which is of course in Queens, we had to travel to Manhattan via public transport, so my first taste of New York, and indeed America, was the subway. Made easier by the fact that our bags were still somewhere over the Atlantic, having been missed in the rush, it was nonetheless quite an experience. I was entertained by breakdancers who moved from carriage to carriage with their speaker, and sat opposite a man who conversed with himself the whole journey. This I have of course seen before late at night on the Metro in Newcastle, but never so eloquently as this fellow. Anyway, I was soon in Midtown Manhattan and spent the first five minutes looking up. At home, I live on the top floor of a block of flats and I think that's high. I felt all of a sudden like a resident of Lilliput staring up at the titular character in Gulliver's Travels. Matty's travels, however, had just begun. Jet-lagged back to 5pm, we decided to explore Times Square and the surrounding areas. Was nice that the Rockefeller Christmas tree, or the "Home Alone 2" Christmas tree as everyone seems to refer to it (must've been invented to star in a very derivitive sequel), was still up. Times Square is beautiful at night, but my favourtie thing about New York already was the sheer pace of everything. As a fast walker, I can't stand dawdlers in Britain, forever trying to overtake people without it beng awkward. In the City that never sleeps, there's no need. Everyone has somewhere to be and nobody stops. Not even when they're walking into the path of a yellow cab, I quickly observed.

It was a different world, but the evening beckoned, and even in a different world I was after a drink. Google maps informed us the nearest watering hole, in Hell's Kitchen, was a place called Beer Culture. Later that week I saw the Statue of Liberty, the New York skyline, the World Trade Center, Central Park and Grand Central Station, but whenever anyone asks about New York, I tell them about Beer Culture. Not least because most of the people I meet share my love for craft beer, but because it's possibly one of the best bars I've ever been to. I frequent these craft beer establishments in the UK. I just didn't expect to find one a split second from the middle of Times Square. The very welcoming manager, however, quickly reminded me that the USA is the home of craft beer, and that New York City is full of breweries. I must confess I went back to this bar practically every night. I always wanted to visit an American bar on my travels, envisaging it as coming in, sitting at the bar and the barman showing a genuine interest in your life, and finding it easy to chat to the rest of the clientele. I just didn't expect it to actually be like that! And I loved it. Not only that, I got to drink some of the best craft beer I've ever had when I'd been whole-heartedly expecting warm bottles of bud. Not only was the manager, Peter, a great drinking partner for the week, he was the best person, as a Manhattan resident catering largely for other Manhattan residents, to find out about where to go, when to go and what to eat and drink.

After having McDonald's for tea just because as an employee I like to visit whenever I go abroad (it's largely the same - sorry I'll rephrase that - it's the same larger) we started the day on Peter's recommendation of Hudson bagels (691 9th Ave.) . Like everything else, the bagel was nice and it was massive, but the best part for me was the coffee. As a very British tea-drinker, I'm not usually a coffee guy, but this was really good quality coffee, and it was just loaded with sugar, which I for one, approve of in coffee. Hudson was one of the few breakfast establishments where you could sit down. You needed a vax passport too. Sometimes you even needed a vax passport for shops. And one thing I noticed about New York is everyone, and I mean EVERYONE wears a mask. I have no politcal take on it, and I'm happy to comply. It's just an observation that I find interesting. It didn't take away the joy of my trip at all, I might add. In fact, it's easier to pose for photos when you can't smile if your face is masked. Maybe people in New York haven't got time to get into petty arguments about masks etc. because they've got better stuff to do. And I kind of like that.

After exploring Grand Central Station (it is, as they say, both grand and central, the highlight for me being the Zodiac ceiling), and looking up at the Empire State Building whilst trying not to look like Buddy in Elf, we headed to the Rockefeller centre to visit the viewing platform at sunset. Sometimes you have to pay a little more for a sunset slot, but trust me it's worth it. This being because you get to see the skyline in daylight, in sunset, and at night time. I feel the Rock is the best building to visit, too, because when you look at the New York skyline you want to be able to see the Empire State Building, which you can't if you're in it. This was also the day I discovered Chick-Fil-A and honestly I'll never eat KFC again. The chicken was spot on, the fries were waffle fries as standard but my God the highlight was the lemonade. I only ordered it because I hadn't noticed that they sold coke, but I wasn't expecting the most delicious beverage in the known-multiverse. I don't know what it was but I have a feeling that once again it's just the excess sugar. I quickly learned that in America, they love sugar, and I love it! Dinner that day, though, was at Ellen's Stardust Cafe. If, like me, you're too poor to afford Broadway, this place is great. The food (which is classic New York hotdogs etc and real nice too) is served by singing waiters and waitresses, all aspiring to the stage. I've only recently got into musicals (If you haven't seen Hamilton, stop what you're doing and watch it right now) but I really enjoyed this as all of the songs were ones I recognised and liked, and there was a really communal feel about the place despite being made up largely of tourists.

The evening, of course, was back to Beer Culture, to be greeted immediately by a cry of 'Where the fuck have you guys been?!" by Peter, and another night of good craft and even better company. We met Peter's girlfriend, who works for a brewery, and she even got my sister, who would never touch it previously, into beer. If you can make it beer, you can make it anywhere. That's what they say isn't it? Or something? I should point out as well, that despite my best efforts to not look like a tourist, at least three people that day shouted "hey British Guy" to me across the street. To this day I have no idea why that was so obvious . . .

The next day was a visit to downtown. I liked it there, but it was a different vibe to midtown. Less hustle bustle. Maybe it's because the folks in downtown are the brightest and best; they've made it to the top. Maybe it's just beacuse less people live there? I don't know, but I did enjoy it. It was more chilled out. It was also more chilled, out. Bloody freezing on the Staten Island ferry, but it's free and a good way to see the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and World Trade Center, especially if you're blessed with a clear day, as we were. We then visited the 9/11 memorial museum. I found this incredibly moving, as anyone who read my piece about 9/11 a few months ago will understand. At the memorial fountains however, I felt a bit uneasy taking photographs at all, especially watching other tourists taking very "insta" photos next to the fountains. But that's something I plan to address in a later piece. Instead, I thought I'm not going to share these photos, and just googled all the names of the people who were visible on the memorial in my photo. They were all younger than me. I'm 25.

We walked back to midtown via Greenwich Village, which was everything I'd hoped it would be. Like an entire street of Beer Cultures (Beer Culture's still my favourite though - of you're going to New York - go there). I didn't get to see any live folk music, but that arty vibe was everywhere, and the evening was topped by a slice of Joe's Pizza. Yet another of Peter's recommendations, this is proper authentic New York City pizza. It's also where Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man worked, and the wall was littered with photos of all the celebrity visitors.

The next morning, I opened my curtains to look upon the city covered with heaps of snow. I can't pretend this wasn't a beautiful sight, especially as we were going to Central Park that day. The park in the snow, with the skyscrapers in the background, is a lovely escape. I was excited to see the Strawberry Fields John Lennon memorial, but I never saw it, as it is a mosaic on the ground and the ground was covered with snow. Anyway, that part of the park is a designated place of peace, and was lovely. Then, on to the Museum of Natural History. This is a great museum, and I felt a little bit like Ben Stiller in the film, but Teddy Roosevelt wasn't there, his statue had been removed in light of recent events. Apparently his family sanctioned this, but it still made me think about what I wrote a couple of years ago about statue removal, available on my page if anyones interested.

We finished the day by going to Beer Culture again, having one too many and ending up in an Irish bar with a lot of Hell's Kitchen bar staff. I was drunk enough to be going on and on about how much I loved New York. I loved the culture, the pace, the feeling that you can be anyone you want, the towering structures, the bars and the people. I love how it feels historical and modern at the same time. I'd love to go back. I'd go back every year if I could. But could I live there? I think not. This is only because it's the second greatest City in the world and I live in the greatest, not New York, New Castle. Newcastle upon Tyne. That's home. Always will be for me. Maybe one day I'll write about why.