Day 18
Not willing to risk our life with another taxi ride, we rang Mac our limousine driver from yesterday to take us to the airport. It’s the best five dollars we ever spent (Onyx luxury transportation ph 901 340 2436).
TRAVEL TIP: Limousines are a lot more common and cheaper in America, probably on account of how bad their taxis are. A limousine will cost about five to ten dollars more for the same trip.
To hire a mid size car will cost about fifty to sixty dollars a day, and with fuel a lot cheaper (about $3.80 a gallon or about a dollar a litre - remember when petrol was a dollar a litre? No, neither do I.) than Australia, it’s probably the best way to get around outside the major cities of New York and San Francisco, which are a rarity in having excellent public transport systems.
Yes, we had another 'random security' search, but this time we got physically padded down.
I don’t think anybody would forget their first time flying into New York, and ours was a particularly dramatic arrival. In the seat opposite us was a scary bearded man who we saw reading from some book and praying to the west just before we took off from Memphis. He was acting a little weird the whole time. Louise, who is a nervous flyer at the best of times, was keeping an eye on this man, whilst little kids were screaming and crying behind us. The plane started to circle New York before coming low over Manhattan, where we can see Central Park amongst all the skyscrapers. In addition, planes make a creaking sound in America, like something I’ve never heard in Australia before, perhaps their just old and worn out, but in any case its not very reassuring. So the plane is creaking, the kids are screaming, and now one is singing a nursery rhyme, like something out of a horror movie, the plane’s low, the bearded man is agitated, and suddenly our idea of driving across America next time is looking real good. Louise turns to me and remarks, "I bet this is what the passengers on the 911 flights were thinking before they crashed into the twin towers". Before Louise had a full on panic attack, the plane was down in La Guardia airport. So it all combined to make a dramatic arrival, that we will never forget.
Getting to the city from La Guardia Airport is easy, if not equally dramatic. The famous yellow taxis are stacked up at the rank waiting for you, and the price is fixed at around $30 to the city. They are quite an improvement on the cabs we have had so far, with monitors in the back (pictured above), which display a Google Maps style display showing where you are, and television programs. The taxi driver drives fast and expertly through the traffic. Crossing the Triborough Bridge, we catch sight of the magnificent Manhattan skyline on the right. However on the left is this familiar looking bridge reminding us of home (pictured below).
We head off on foot down Lexington Avenue, turn right onto 42nd Street, past Grand Central Station, continuing onto Broadway, and then we’re into the explosion of neon that is Times Square (pictured below). After being suitably dazzled, we walk back towards our hotel to find some dinner. In New York they have these café’s, which have big salad bars, where you fill a plastic tray with your selection. You pay by the pound, but its not too expensive; the dinners and drinks cost twenty dollars, so they are pretty good value. They seem to be on every corner and appear pretty popular with New Yorkers. There's no excuse not to eat healthy. Well, I admit we did have a slice of New York style pizza on the way to Times Square (We were hungry, okay? It's actually pretty good).
Well, dramatic has been the word for our first night in New York (Can you count how many times I've used it?). It’s been a quite a change from the relaxed Southern city of Memphis, to the busy city of New York. Everything here is fast; they drive fast, talk fast, and walk fast. Although I don’t see so many happy, friendly faces like in Memphis - must be stressful to go so fast all the time.
Tomorrow, being our first day in a new city, we will take our usual Hop on/hop off bus tour to get our bearings.
NB: Louise bought one of only 200 limited edition 25 year anniversary Elvis and Priscilly dolls for seventy dollars at Graceland. There's a current bid on one on Ebay for over eight hundred dollars. Now, why didn't I buy one? America, the land of opportunity.
TRAVEL TIP: Limousines are a lot more common and cheaper in America, probably on account of how bad their taxis are. A limousine will cost about five to ten dollars more for the same trip.
To hire a mid size car will cost about fifty to sixty dollars a day, and with fuel a lot cheaper (about $3.80 a gallon or about a dollar a litre - remember when petrol was a dollar a litre? No, neither do I.) than Australia, it’s probably the best way to get around outside the major cities of New York and San Francisco, which are a rarity in having excellent public transport systems.
Yes, we had another 'random security' search, but this time we got physically padded down.
I don’t think anybody would forget their first time flying into New York, and ours was a particularly dramatic arrival. In the seat opposite us was a scary bearded man who we saw reading from some book and praying to the west just before we took off from Memphis. He was acting a little weird the whole time. Louise, who is a nervous flyer at the best of times, was keeping an eye on this man, whilst little kids were screaming and crying behind us. The plane started to circle New York before coming low over Manhattan, where we can see Central Park amongst all the skyscrapers. In addition, planes make a creaking sound in America, like something I’ve never heard in Australia before, perhaps their just old and worn out, but in any case its not very reassuring. So the plane is creaking, the kids are screaming, and now one is singing a nursery rhyme, like something out of a horror movie, the plane’s low, the bearded man is agitated, and suddenly our idea of driving across America next time is looking real good. Louise turns to me and remarks, "I bet this is what the passengers on the 911 flights were thinking before they crashed into the twin towers". Before Louise had a full on panic attack, the plane was down in La Guardia airport. So it all combined to make a dramatic arrival, that we will never forget.
Getting to the city from La Guardia Airport is easy, if not equally dramatic. The famous yellow taxis are stacked up at the rank waiting for you, and the price is fixed at around $30 to the city. They are quite an improvement on the cabs we have had so far, with monitors in the back (pictured above), which display a Google Maps style display showing where you are, and television programs. The taxi driver drives fast and expertly through the traffic. Crossing the Triborough Bridge, we catch sight of the magnificent Manhattan skyline on the right. However on the left is this familiar looking bridge reminding us of home (pictured below).
The taxi driver takes a hard left onto Franklin Roosevelt Drive, weaving his way through the traffic, takes a hard right onto 53rd Street, and suddenly we’re in the canyon like environment of Manhattan, with skyscrapers on either side, and everywhere the sound of jack hammers, and car horns. Then we’re pulling up outside our hotel, The Affinia 50, on East 50th Street cross of Lexington Avenue. It was a quite a ride.
Our hotel is in midtown, about five streets south of Cental Park and a couple of blocks east of the Rockerfeller building. Basically, behind the Waldoff Astoria hotel. East 50th means where east of Park Avenue. The room is like a sanctuary from the world outside (pictured below), and has everything we need; an office desk with high speed internet, a deep bath for relaxing after a hard day pounding the pavement, cable TV, and most importantly, silence.
We head off on foot down Lexington Avenue, turn right onto 42nd Street, past Grand Central Station, continuing onto Broadway, and then we’re into the explosion of neon that is Times Square (pictured below). After being suitably dazzled, we walk back towards our hotel to find some dinner. In New York they have these café’s, which have big salad bars, where you fill a plastic tray with your selection. You pay by the pound, but its not too expensive; the dinners and drinks cost twenty dollars, so they are pretty good value. They seem to be on every corner and appear pretty popular with New Yorkers. There's no excuse not to eat healthy. Well, I admit we did have a slice of New York style pizza on the way to Times Square (We were hungry, okay? It's actually pretty good).
Well, dramatic has been the word for our first night in New York (Can you count how many times I've used it?). It’s been a quite a change from the relaxed Southern city of Memphis, to the busy city of New York. Everything here is fast; they drive fast, talk fast, and walk fast. Although I don’t see so many happy, friendly faces like in Memphis - must be stressful to go so fast all the time.
Tomorrow, being our first day in a new city, we will take our usual Hop on/hop off bus tour to get our bearings.
NB: Louise bought one of only 200 limited edition 25 year anniversary Elvis and Priscilly dolls for seventy dollars at Graceland. There's a current bid on one on Ebay for over eight hundred dollars. Now, why didn't I buy one? America, the land of opportunity.
