Day 3 - Fri 17 Oct 2008

Surprisingly, the majority of the 12-strong dorm were all in by 10.30pm the previous night although all appeared to be having trouble with the rather poor swipe cards that instantly cleared their temporary memory if they were put anywhere near credit cards or passports (absolutely no use practically given that, being credit card sized the first place you'd look to store such an item would be ... (surprise surprise!)...in a credit card wallet, next to credit cards.

Anyhow, enough energy spent talking about those. For breakfast, myself and one of the dorm members Hugo from Brazil went to a bagel shop in order that I could try one of these for the first time. That I did, with a rather delicious bacon, egg and melted cheese bagel and a cup of tea, the food being something quite different ti my usual breakfast fare of a bowl of cereal!

After the food, we headed off in the direction of Central Park, passing on the way some most remarkable-looking cop cars outside their station, being considerably smaller than a normal car but larger (but similar in size to...) a golf buggy.

Central Park itself it was obvious to be a haven of relaxation as soon as we entered it and given the autumn-time the colours on the trees were striking. There also appears to be thousands of squirrels who - given the placement of the park right in the centre of an absolutely huge city probably reproduce at a fair rate given the expected small number of predators in the area.

I had been recommended from a close friend back home that I should visit the Chess & Chequers Building at the southern end of the park to show the Americans who's who in the chess world, but that will have to wait until another day as first on the agenda today was the Guggenheim Museum, on the eastern side of the Park.

However, just as we were approaching the Guggenheim on the road, I noticed a bank within the park with steps leading up it. Astonishingly, once I was at the top of the mound, it turned out that right there was a massive reservoir, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Talk about unexpected; accepted, on the map it does look "big" but when you see it up close its something else indeed; more than ten blocks in length north to couth and covering the majority of the complete width of the park, its one large open stretch of water indeed; yet another surprise from New York.

The common theme I've seen from the buildings in New York is that there is significant individuality in the character of the buildings, with none being the same; probably as a result of oneupmanship from where developers have sought to build taller and bigger buildings than their rivals, which is exactly how the Empire States Building ended to be the way it is, with a completely-redundant docking pole for blimps at the top of it installed solely to increase the height of the building by "that little bit extra".

Similarly, the Guggenheim Museum is similar, with its spiral "walkway" leading all the way from the ground to the top floor. Unfortunately - though technically through no fault of its own as it were - the Guggenheim failed to live up to its billing for me, though that was due to the artist's work that was being shown throughout the Museum being Catherine Opie.

There were a few landscapes (as expected) but with her style to be "to create a series of images of command, sexual and cultural identity" there were galleries that included topics such as lesbianism and HIV, although it wasn't the actual topics themselves that were controversial, more than the way she'd decided to show them. One photo entitled "Self-portrait/pervert" (1994) was what I would consider different from typical photos in art galleries as it showed herself half naked with approximately 20 hypodermic needles in both arms, from the shoulder down to just above each wrist, with the word "pervert" engraved in to her upper chest.

The "audio tour" option at the Museum came in useful throughout the tour although I'm not convinced that the artist saying that the hypodermic needles and the cuts in her chest were made by professionals actually support her case for the photograph to be considered as "art".

The other disappointment at the gallery was that because they were bringing in a new exhibit, the sprial walkway and two galleries were closed for the day; though I'm quite happy that there weren't too further Catherine Olie galleries to view on the day with hindsight.

Following that, a bus ride from there to the Empire States Building made the modes of transport used so far in the city to five - plane, taxi, subway, walking and bus. For an extra $100's, helicopter could technically be counted as a sixth possible mode, though for a 10-12 minute helicopter ride I don't think its the best value for money although as I haven't been on such a tour that could be a bit short-sighted of me to say.

What I have seen though is the financial sense of acquiring a City Pass if you vist the Big Apple, or indeed any other of the several American cities that have similar passes. The New York pass includes the admission (and audio tours) for the Empire States Building Observation Platform, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a choice of one of two "mini"-cruises past the Statue of Liberty; overall a grand saving of over $60, a pass validity of 9 says and the added bonus of being able to skip entire queues as its used as a VIP pass!; not bad considering to get the pass you're actually receiving a discount as opposed to paying a premium whereas the layman off the street purchases a ticket at market price and has to wait in line behind you!

At the Empire States Building, this pass means priority access through security, thereby queue-jumping approximately 300 noticeably-disgruntled others. Unfortunately, that still meant an hour wait in total as the VIPs join the general throng of sightseers before being herded like cattle from one part of the building to another, with a further delay once you've got to the 80th floor at which point there's a further queue before the final lift up to the 86th floor where the viewing platform lies.

For someone who doesn't particularly like heights, it probably hit home only when I was in the lift to the 80th floor that maybe it wasn't going to be the best idea I'd ever had, however as the lift was shifting through 10 floors in approximately 3 seconds flat (and only counting each 10th floor in the process!), I didn't really have time to think about it too much.

Overall though the wait was definitely worth it; as soon as you see the view for the first time you suddenly realise how quickly the lifts had been moving; wow, its high!

I'd have been a bit tedious to look down out of an open fifth-storey window, but probably as a result of the metal safety fence around the Observation level and the obviously-sturdy structure beneath me (in a 100mph wind the entire building moves by only a quarter of an inch!), the vertigo didn't really kick in at all. It being a gorgeous sunny day definitely helped matters, as did the lack of any significant wind. It is a shame that the wait to get to the top does take a reasonably length of time but it doesn't take the magic away from the end result too much; I doubt too many people left too disheartened with their experience; irrespective of the long wait some people endured, they can still say that they've been up the Empire States Building, at present the 7th tallest building in the world.

In the non-surprisingly over-the-top gift shop I had a look through some of the books to see if I could find photos of where the Twin Towers used to stand and how tall they were compared to everything else in the Financial District. When on the viewing platform, I had thought about the previous day's walk past Ground Zero and identified on the horizon where I thought they'd stood and estimated their comparative height to everything else in the nearby vicinity; however, after subsequently finding such a photo showing the skyline back in 1997, I was surprised at just how much I'd mis-estimated their height - by approximately a factor of two!

It doesn't take long to do a quick calculation to figure out how many people those two Towers could have held between them to realise the devastating loss and impact on the city when they were destroyed in 2001. However, in its place the Freedom Tower - yet another huge skyscraper - will reach for the skies in much the same way as the gigantic Twin Towers used to.

Hugo parted company shortly after we got to the top of the Empire States Building to a work appointment elsewhere in the city, so given it was well past 5pm by the time I got back to ground level I searched for a restaurant for a very late lunch / early dinner.

I found exactly what I was searching for between 27th and 26th; a French joint with live jazz, called Park Avenue Bistro. A ceddar plank smoked duck breast over frisee greens with button mushrooms, haricots verts and sesame ginger sauce, a slow cooked marinated chicken with pearl onions, mushrooms with creamy mashed potato and crust of bread, a dark chocolate mousse, a complimentary glass of champagne, litres of ice-cold New York water and a Cappuccino served by the generous host Louis Lynn later and here I am! Really delicious food, great venue and comparatively decent pricing at $33 without taxes for the three courses seemed fair, given I'd not eaten since breakfast time.

Time to head back to the hostel (via a $2 subway train - the subways are a doddle to use and for the price and convenience is by far and away the most efficient form of transport out there). A night on the town may be on the cards, but given the walking in the last few days I'm completely shattered so an early(ish) night with a few sights to see tomorrow is probably more likely going to be the order of the day.

At the moment, relaxation is the name of the game; to acclimatise to the lifestyle of not having to go to work, sleeping in shared dormitory accommodation, having to be conscious at all times where my wallet, camera, phone, wallet, passport (etc) are on my person...etc etc

Has to be said though - this traveling lark beats working any day! So far so good.