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There must be something in the New York City air that makes the people who live there race through life. I didn’t realize how fast the pace was in NYC until I arrived fresh from the Deep South - where a cup of regular coffee could take 10 minutes to pour as the waitress and regulars took a deep interest in your life story - to find that if I didn’t yell the exact type of coffee bean I wanted, and the way it ought to be prepared at the person behind the counter within 10 seconds, they’d roll their eyes and yell for a more “with it” person to call out their caffeine demands.
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I had actually left NYC before this all fully sunk in because at the time I was too busy trying to get with it – and even began to succeed a little. Stepping onto the road at a crossing with the lights on red I yelled at a driver who tried to jump the lights and almost ran into me, and argued with a cab driver at 5am in the morning outside a Manhattan hotel because he tried to charge me double what I knew the cab fare ought to have been (it pays for tourists to do their homework because it’s very easy to get taken advantage of when you’re a stranger in town and everything’s moving so quickly). Both of these things are so much out of character for me I’m not sure where the audacity came from, and yet they are very much part of a native New Yorker who tends to take such situations head-on.
If there was one piece of advice I’d give to other travelers heading to New York City it would be to know exactly what you want before you walk into a store or restaurant – and of course learn how you like your coffee because “regular” isn’t always an option!
New York Broadway My Broadway experience was a magical experience. Dinner was first on the agenda. Sardi’s one of the most famous restaurants in Times Square was expensive and made a hole in my budget but hey this was a night to remember so it was worth it. No longer at the top of the dining tree, the food may not be what the experts consider the pinnacle of haute cuisine, but the staff and atmosphere were great. Just sitting looking at the caricatures of famous ex-patrons of the restaurant I felt I was really living the high life! |
The show “Grease” was all I thought it should be. An enthusiastic cast supported by an enthusiastic and appreciative audience who were dancing in their seats if not the aisles! Afterwards the thought of sleep was impossible opening up the opportunity for another New York City tradition …..cheesecake!
Back to Time’s Square it was to Junior’s to sample their famous cheesecake. There was something magical, not to mention somewhat decedent about sitting in a restaurant in one of the major capital cities of the world eating desert at that time of night! Unlike Sardi’s where the service was far superior to their food, here at Junior’s the cheesecake really lived up to its reputation – the portion was big enough (bearing in mind the dinner I’d ate only a few hours earlier) but that didn’t stop me buying another slice to go!
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