A blog about Washington D.C. & New York City
The drive from the bus station to where we were staying was an interesting one.
We gave the driver the address and off he went, zooming down the streets, we watched the buildings shrink down, as we did in San Diego, everything became more run down.
The cab pulled into the side street amongst the run down urban sprawl, Megan and I exchanged worried glances, and the cab driver popped the boot (trunk) and told us to get the bags ourselves as he wasn’t getting out of the cab in this area.
The worried glances between Megan and I continued and this eventually became Megan apologising all the way up until we got to the front door of what looked like a townhouse.
A sign about the size of a standard business card sat above the door handle that asked you to ring the bell, once we had pressed the button, a guy in his late 30s/early 40s opened the door…..he looked like he had not showered or slept for days. His name was Bill.
We were shown into the “hostel”, yes I use that term very loosely for this place, and showed us up the staircase that was falling apart, up to our room, which looked like the sheets had been changed on the beds, but that was the only cleaning ever done in this room. The dust on the floor had footprints and wheel marks from bags on it, the windowsill had some frightening growth in it, the window sat about 2cm short of the window frame on the left hand side and there was an old sock next to the bed.
We said to each other ‘Okay, so the room is a little dirty, the bed is clean and the place seems alright’.
We had gotten there around 4ish, so by the time we were all settled in, we needed to get something to eat.
We had two options in this neighbourhood, one was a Popeyes Chicken, the other, a tiny little takeaway Chinese food place, the food was good, however the 4-5cm thick glass that protected the workers inside, did not make us feel the least bit safe. The food was placed at the end of a little runway, surrounded by said glass, the lady would then slide it down this little runway, to your little opening of the window and wished you a good evening.
The morning came and we were ready to get up and see some of the sights around D.C.
I got up and went to go have a shower…..this was a BIG mistake, I stepped into the bathroom into a puddle, I looked at the shower, it had bath rings in the tub, this was kinda gross, but okay, the plethora of shampoo bottles frightened me, as did the mould growing in the grout between the tiles, but I just figured that I wouldn’t touch the sides of the bath and just have a quick shower and get the hell out of there.
I turned the water on and went to reach for my soap when I saw it…..mould, on the shower curtain…not just on the shower curtain though, all over it, it was about 4mm thick and covered the entire curtain. I quickly washed and got out of there, stepping in the puddle as I left.
We caught a bus into the city and walked around, we went to The Smithsonian and then made our way up to the Washington Monument, which were both amazing.
We could see The Whitehouse and Capitol Building from where we were, so we thought we would walk to The Whitehouse and take some photos before heading to the Capitol Building….then the rain came, and it hit hard.
We were trying to find cover anywhere we could, within two minutes we were soaked from head to toe, hunching over the backpack to protect the SLR from the rain.
Back to the hostel we went, ordered our food through 5cm of glass and went back to the hostel to plan what we are going to do in New York.
Upon entering the hostel we noticed that Bill had been wearing the same clothes he was the day before.
The next day and night were spent planning New York, Bill was still wearing the same clothes.
The following morning came and we needed to get the hell out of there.
We arose at 9am and went downstairs, accidentally woke up Bill as he slept behind his curtain, Wizard of Oz style….except filthy. He was still wearing the same clothes.
We jumped on the bus, made it to the city and caught another bus to New York City.
Our accommodation in New York was actually located in Harlem, and after hearing everyone tell us how dangerous Harlem is, we were feeling a little worried about staying there.
We got out of the cab and headed into our accommodation, about an hour early, so we threw all our stuff in the storage room and decided to take a walk around Harlem, my god was it a beautiful place. Everyone was so relaxed, old guys playing cards on the sidewalk, groups of people gathered outside Laundromats playing 1950s blues from their cars that they had parked on the street.
We walked around, we ate, we looked at the amazing townhouses in Harlem, and went back and showered in a clean shower, and got a good night of sleep feeling nice and safe.
We had graciously accepted an offer from a NYC local and friend of ours, Dave to show us around New York.
He picked us up at 9:30am and we drove through Harlem, through the middle of Central Park into Manhattan.
We walked a few blocks to the Hearst Tower, where a mutual friend of ours, Mike, works, we went up to his office and he has an amazing view of the river looking over into New Jersey.
We were taken around this floor and shown the different views from the four corner offices, the view that overlooked Central Park was unbelievable.
Mike showed us the floor where they do all the testing for Good Housekeeping and after a while we said our goodbyes and continued on our adventure through New York.
We walked down to The Ed Sullivan Theatre and for everyone who doesn’t know, I think David Letterman is the funniest man alive and this is where he films his show, unfortunately he was on a two week break the time we were there, so we didn’t get to see him film any shows.
Around the corner from theatre there is a deli…..this isn’t just any deli though, it’s the Hello Deli, and if you have watched Letterman before, chances are, you have seen this deli and the owner, Rupert Jee.
After the three of us munched down our sandwiches, I got a photo taken with Rupert and purchased a Hello Deli tshirt, as well as a secret gift from Dave.
We then walked down to Times Square, my god was it crazy, it was sensory overload, there was so much happening, from the billboards changing or flashing or moving, to people jumping out trying to give you comedy tickets and Dave jumping back at them shooting down their hopes of selling some tickets.
We began our walk to Grand Central Station, legs beginning to feel heavy only a few hours into the day, but in high spirits.
Inside the station was amazing, it was so much bigger than I ever could have expected, so many people moving around, a giant American flag hanging from the roof.
On the way out Dave explained to us about the Chrysler building and the Empire State building and pointed out to us which was which.
We walked past the hotel where Sid Vicious died, tried on sunglasses and hats, went into vintage punk stores, a lady filmed Dave for TV or a film or something, I’m not actually sure what that was all about.
But after Dave had finished filming, we both felt like a beer, so went into a liquor store, and we got one big ass ‘Coney Island Sword Swallower’, had it in a paper bag, and drank it on the street.
Of course the local guy asking for money does his thing……then tries to get in on our beer….the nerve!
Feeling refreshed, we walked to Chinatown and Little Italy, with meat being offered to us from every way we looked. It wasn’t meat from the Catholic priests, that was kept in their pants as far as I am aware…..but the big grills, massive slabs of meat being carved off and offered to you as you walked past, taking in the chaos of Little Italy.
Out of Little Italy, our trek across the Brooklyn Bridge began and we made sure to stay to the designated walking area, and not to cross into the bike lane. Those cyclists are a vicious bunch, even the older ones….we saw one lady cycling up and because there was someone in front of her she is screaming at them “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE FUCKING DOING!?”
The bridge was awesome to look at, and running underneath it there was a man-made waterfall as part of the Waterfalls of New York art piece.
We crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge and went into the park to look over the river and into the city, so many buildings, such a beautiful city to look at.
We walked around and stood and a fence that gave you the view of one of the man-made waterfalls and just had a chat and took some photos.
For dinner Dave took us to an excellent restaurant in Brooklyn, the name of which escapes me now…but I loved the food and the artwork the company was wonderful as well.
I’m not usually a whisky drinker, but Dave ordered up two shots of Makers Mark and we drank them down….that evening, I fell in love with whisky.
After dinner, we headed back to the park to take a few photos of the city all lit up, then headed to the Apple store, where we checked out the only days old iPod nanos and then Dave drove us back to the hostel in Harlem, we said our goodbyes.
Megan and I got inside exhausted, we got back around midnight, we walked 9.6 miles and our legs were killing us. We wouldn’t change that day for the world.
That day with Dave was easily one of the most memorable days we have had on this trip. Hell, its one of the most memorable days I have ever had. Dave is such a fun guy and we were lucky enough to be able to get the best tour of New York anyone could ever ask for.
The next morning, feeling sore from the day before, Megan and I headed back out to Times Square to have a look at a few more things, we went to the M&Ms store and the Hersheys store. Followed by getting a few slices of New York pizza, which was excellent.
Then the big event of the day, we went to the MASSIVE Toys’R’Us!!
Now, Megan and I being the children that we are, spent hours in there, taking photos with things, making noises at everything, pretending to be dinosaurs.
Feeling really tired, back to Harlem we went.
The next day we knew was going to be a tough one, so we decided to get some food inside us. I went to Grays Papaya and got two hotdogs with everything on them….only because the guy was yelling at me and they have no menus….so I panicked and ordered them with everything….which I don’t regret at all.
We got on the subway and headed down to the financial district, today we were going to Ground Zero.
I didn’t know what to expect here, I didn’t know how I would feel, I didn’t think it would affect me.
The mesh and fencings surrounding a hole in the ground where the Twin Towers used to reside was frightening to look at, the sheer size these buildings must have been was ridiculous. We walked around the mesh, people with their heads peeking over the top of the fence, cameras poked through holes in the mesh, guys standing around the fence, holding open books of the planes hitting the towers. It was too much, Megan and I decided that it was time to go and we headed in the direction of the Statue Of Liberty, discussing how fucked up those book salesmen were.
Not wanting to waste our money and go over to the Statue Of Liberty, we stood by the fence and looked at it for a long time, before slowly making it back to the subway to head back to Harlem.
The following morning, our final day in New York, I was OBSESSED with finding a cheese danish, it was all I talked about the night before.
We had already planned to go to the Seinfeld restaurant and after speaking to Dave, he told us that an excellent cheese danish was to be had at a Hungarian bakery not too far away from the Seinfeld restaurant.
After taking a bunch of pictures….including ‘The Kramer’ hanging up inside the restaurant, we began our walk to my glorious cheese danish.
We found the place, the excitement I had was really quite stupid, I was like a child, ready for my cheese danish.
“A cheese danish and a black coffee please” I exclaimed with joy.
“I’m sorry, we only have cherry or apple danishes left”
My heart sank, the only thing I had really wanted was gone, I sadly settled for a cherry danish and sat sulking eating it and drinking my coffee.
We decided that a nice walk was to be had, back from the Hungarian bakery to our hostel. It was a fair walk, a couple of miles, so we went for it and walked the Harlem end of Central Park, looking at the beautiful trees and the lake, we walked through Harlem for one last time, and I can honestly say that I think it’s the most beautiful part of New York that I have seen, I loved Harlem, absolutely loved it.
When the going gets weird the weird turn pro.
BJ
