New York - Part 2

So where was I? Flew into New York. Crap airport hotel. Subway to Soho. That’s right, we’d just checked into our hotel and already we were impressed. The dining room was open all day so we could drop in whenever we liked for a juice or a hot chocolate, or just somewhere to sit and eat a sandwich.

Having settled in, we headed off for our first “real” day in New York. We stopped for lunch at an Italian restaurant close to the hotel in SoHo. The food was fine, but the service was disappointing. I like to imagine our tip was received with similar disappointment. Then we jumped aboard a Subway and headed north.

I quickly became very attached to my subway map, and soon learnt the various routes and stations with savant-like exactitude. What I didn’t master was finding my way out of the subway stations. Those subway stations are huge. They are usually at least the size of city block and two levels deep. I’d suggest that people who enjoy using the word labyrinthine would certainly describe them as such. They were labyrinthine (see what I mean?). It is very difficult to predict which street you’ll end up on, and which way you’ll be facing, when emerging from a subway station.

We got off at 42^nd St and headed to Times Square. It may be a geometrical misnomer (I’ve seen squares, and that there ‘taint one), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a terribly exciting place to be. Mind you, there’s only so much of having a 20 foot tall Daniel Radcliffe grinning maniacally overhead that even the most durable of constitution can stomach.

If you weren’t aware, Times Square is where it all happens in New York on New Year’s Eve. People gather to watch the ball descend atop the New York Times building. The ball in question is some monstrosity of coloured lights that really didn’t excite me. But I guess that really sums up the fundamental problem with New Year’s Eve. The excitement and anticipation is always just a little more that the reality can sustain.

I’m told (well actually I read) that one million people gather in Times Square to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve (and yes, I’m smirking when I write about the ball dropping an descending, but can we please just move on). Now, Times Square is essentially an intersection. If one million people are going to be standing at an intersection to watch a ball drop (stop it!) then I think I’d prefer to be somewhere else. In fact, I’m also told (well, overheard in this instance) that the smart people head to Bethedsa Terrace in Central Park.

Central Park. Now there’s something. I had no idea just how big it is. And how full of healthy people doing healthy things. Things like running and riding bikes and skating about on rollerblades and rowing boats on lakes. Except for one guy who’d evidently pushed the healthy activities a little too far and so on our first foray into the park we were greeted by a guy having a good old chunder.

I also had no idea how many huge rocky outcrops would be scattered through the park.

But it’s the size that really amazed me. 834 acres. Let me put it into perspective for you. Take a regular photograph. That’s 6 inches by 4 inches. It’s a lot bigger than that. But, if you take that photograph, and cut it in half lengthwise, and then in half again – you’ll have a long and skinny photograph. Now, take about 28,000 of those photographs and lay them side by side to form one row. Then, make about 28,000 rows just the same. That’s how big central park is.

If that didn’t do it for you – check this out. I’ve laid Central Park across North Melbourne. You probably want to click on this to enlarge it ...

Now do you get it?