A Helluva Tooooown...

Haroah Nuoak! John and I spent a fabulous three nights, four days in the Big Apple. Despite the Nor'Easter that blew through (it's what they call a big-ass storm that closed down parts of the city) and the subsequent wet and wild weather that I now blame for the cough/cold I am suffering, we got to see all the sights we wanted, and didn't have any major setbacks.

Highlights: this is a never-ending city. It's like walking around downtown Toronto and never seeing the sky. You live in perpetual city twilight because of all the skyscrapers. But wow, what a sight all that concrete is. And the streets haven't been painted with homeless people, would you believe!

The food was good, though pretty expensive anywhere along Broadway. If you ever plan to go, eat locally in places like Chinatown and Little Italy: it gets expensive to eat at chain restaurants in the big touristy areas like Times Square.

Shopping: meh, since the exchange rate isn't so good and we were both loathe to bring home crap, the only thing we ended up buying was an umbrella to stave off the rain, and some cough drops. The customs lady didn't believe us. (It's okay, though: I made up for the lack of shopping by going out today. John bought me the best hat ever for next winter...) We did visit the huge Toys R Us on Broadway and 42nd: to give you an idea of how big it is, there's a full-sized ferris wheel in the centre of the store. FAO Schwartz is still in business too, but I don't think it's as cool: they didn't have any Avatar toys at all.

Tips for travellers: fly into La Guardia Airport. It's closer than JFK.
Stay around Midtown. We stayed at the Rockefeller Center Hotel, a clean, quiet, no-frills hotel with nice fluffy towels and good service. Barely even a lobby to speak of, but the amenities are simple and the bed was really comfy. Plus, it was down the street from Radio City Music Hall, and steps from Fifth Avenue, Times Square, Central Park, and a whole bunch of other great sites. There was also a great little cafe next door that sold breakfast for pretty cheap (compared to going out somewhere to eat, that is.)

Coolest thing we saw there: I'm sure John would beg to differ, but I think it's this:

Help me USPS--you're my only hope!

And because everyone asks, air fare, hotel, and tickets to Les Miserables cost me a total of $1700 Cdn. on Expedia.ca. And it was well worth the money.


Next stop: San Diego Comic-Con! (In...oh...ten years or so...)