- In shops/restaurants people ask how you are, and when we asked how they were in return, it was met with a surprised response, like ‘why would you ask me that?’
- They have Uniqlo in NYC and it’s not much cheaper than the UK but some of the shops are *enormous*. H&M seems to be a bit more expensive than in the UK. Levis, however, in Macy’s – with no sales tax for clothes – was much cheaper than in the UK.
- Fererro Rocher ice cream and Oreo ice cream were possibly the nicest ice cream flavours I’ve ever had.
- Cold pizza for breakfast after having the majority the night before at midnight was a perfect New York moment.
- The free Staten Island ferry was great fun, and gave a perfect view of the Statue of Liberty, as a bonus, since access to the statue was closed due to the government shutdown. In my head I was also reliving both the episode of Sex and The City when they go to Staten Island to judge the Fireman’s calendar, and the start of the film, Working Girl.
Statue of Liberty from free Staten Island ferry
- The Staten Island September 11th memorial was very moving, and it faced directly to downtown Manhattan where the World Trade Centre was.
- Walking around Wall Street again, brought back memories of the film. We didn’t find any Gordon Gekkos though – red braces denied.
- Walking across Brooklyn Bridge at sunset to re-inact the Miranda and Steve moment from the first SATC film was pretty magical.
Brooklyn Bridge
- Having pizza at a recommended restaurant in Brooklyn, accompanied by an eighties soundtrack including Nothing’s gonna stop us now, by Starship; Take on me by Aha; Take my breath away, by Berlin, was magic.
- We went to Jackson Heights in Queens to see the house used for Ugly Betty. It is a very diverse borough with lots of suburban houses and the Manhatten skyline in the distance. It was like the film locations scout just got off the subway and fell into the next street.
- I accidently had bubble tea, during our trip to Queens. This is neither tea, nor does it have bubbles. It is like cold watery chocolate milkshake, with ‘bubbles’ of tapioca in the bottom, drunk through a large straw. I won’t be rushing back to have it again.
Ugly Betty's house in Queens
- I found myself quite addicted to black cherry soda, tasting of fizzy glace cherries.
- Visiting the Top of the Rock, at the Rockefeller centre was a better view than the Empire State Building, because you got to see the ESB. The Rockefeller Centre also gave me a chance to remember that scene from Serendipity where they go ice-skating on their date. This is one of my favourite Christmas films, and I've used the title for my novella, Christmas Serendipity, out in December.
- Sampling some cocktails in a 1920s style cocktail bar in the Flatiron district. Much stronger than London cocktails, especially for someone who doesn’t drink often, like me.
Empire State Building from the Rockefeller Centre
- Sampling some cocktails in a 1920s style cocktail bar in the Flatiron district. Much stronger than London cocktails, especially for someone who doesn’t drink often, like me.
- In SoHo at lunch, we sat on a table next to a woman wearing immaculately clean Hunter wellies which I’m sure had never been anywhere near mud, who averaged 15 mentions of ‘like’ in a minute. This means in the hour she sat next to us, she said ‘like’ about 900 times. She ate a lentil soup and half a grapefruit.
- We stumbled across a John Lennon exhibition of his drawings, put on by Yoko Ono. Very moving, walking around the drawings, accompanied by Beatles and Lennon’s music. ‘Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted time.’ Lennon quote which I’d heard before, but somehow in that context, was more powerful.
I hope you've enjoyed my random ramblings about my visit to NYC. As you can probably see, I'm a *massive* fan of American films and TV series, so going to NYC did feel like walking in a huge film set, which I loved. Years ago, when I went to LA, I specifically went to the stairs featured in Clueless, when Cher - Alicia Silverstone - walks, lloaded up with shopping as she's trying to think about what to do with her friend/love life situation. I wept, I was so excited. It was like coming back to the mothership, or something...*coughs*
Have you ever visited places from your favourite films/books/TV series? I'd love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Liam Livings xxx
RSS Feed
