Reflections on the Big Apple

Okay, I had all these grand notions about blogging on our trip, but it turns out that the high-speed internet in the room was anything but. This, of course, meant that I would have to blog after the fact, which is fine, but not as ideal as writing in the heat of the moment.

We had fun in NYC last weekend, and I wanted to touch on the trip. R arranged everything, and it was nice to see our old stomping grounds. The kids love the big city, though I get a sense A gets more into than N, maybe because she’s a native, or because she’s older.

As is the case whenever we go to the Big Apple, finding a hotel is a chore. If you want to spend the big bucks, then it’s no big deal, but we’re talking around $500 a night for a hotel. Outrageous. Our problem is that we tend to decide to go at the last minute, and then it’s a struggle to find deals. We could have stayed in New Jersey, but that’s just not the same. If you want the NYC experience, then you really have to wake up on the island of Manhattan, along with all of the dirt, noise and grime. It’s all part of the experience.

What seems to be a new trend is getting short term rentals on apartments. I’m not sure about the legality of it all, but landlords are apparently willing to rent out a room for a few days, and they price them below hotel rates. It also opens up more opportunities to stay in different areas of the city, rather than the touristy spots like Times Square. You don’t get the stale continental breakfast with the nasty hard-boiled eggs, but it forces you to go out and have the real New York breakfast experience, i.e, bacon, egg and cheese on a roll, or a bagel with cream cheese. We knew the drill.

The room we got was on the Upper West Side, a stone’s throw from the Museum of Natural History and Central Park. The UWS is also chock full of restaurants, so we were not for want of eats. We also decided that we wouldn’t eat foods that we could get at home, so no burgers and fries and all that good stuff. Needless to say, we had options.

We ended up eating a lot of Asian food, Vietnamese one night, Chinese Shanghai dumplings another. We did Cuban food for brunch, and had assorted NYC faire, including bagels and Krispy Creme donuts. One thing that struck me about the city, both uptown and downtown, was that the Asians seem to be taking over. Everywhere I looked there were Sushi bars, and if not sushi, then some Asian theme restaurant. This was especially true downtown in my old neighborhood, the East Village. Funky Asians everywhere. My cousins both moved to NYC, and I’m guessing they must fit in to that demographic: young, hop Asians who are into design or graphics.

The room we had was on Amsterdam Avenue, and we got the quintessential New York City view of a wall and our neighbor’s window. The place didn’t get much light, but on the bright side, it was quieter. If our room faced the Avenue, it would have been noisy.

The city was also freezing cold, which in turn aggravated our sickness. I think both N and I got worse because of it. I was way too cocky, figuring that I was a Vermonter and New York was balmy compared to what we have up here. Boy was I wrong, the city was freezing, and because I came unprepared, I suffered for my sins. The room was fairly warm, but you begin to realize how much you miss having a nice roaring fire to greet you in the morning. Then again, in NYC, you don’t have to pay for the heat.

R had also arranged for tix to Cirque du Soleil at Madison Square Garden, and that was an amazing show, though they seemed to have toned it down a bit. Me and N were coughing throughout the program, but we were hardly the only ones.

We thought about going to a Broadway show, but I’m convinced that Broadway is a total scam. The tickets are so expensive, and they offer economy seats, but they must be limited because you can never get them. We actually went to the box office, and the tickets were going to cost about $150 each! That’s $600 for a family of four. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, and wondered how any family can afford it. Then again, there are people in New York where that’s a drop in the bucket.

Even off-Broadway shows are pricey, and they always sell out. We looked at a couple of shows downtown, but again, it was going to be around $400 for all of us. What a crazy world it is. We ended up doing free but fun stuff like hanging out in Central Park and heading down to Chinatown and checking out the insanity of downtown while eating a killer meal of soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai, a must when you visit the Big Apple. The kids also got to get another stuffed animal to complement the ones they got on the previous trip to NYC. So very Chinatown, if you ask me.

When you really get down to it, kids probably have more fun just playing in a playground than sitting through a 3 hour Broadway show, which is probably a bit grueling when you're 7 years old. Actually, it can be grueling if you're 37 years old, if you ask me.

All in all, we had a great time, but were happy to be back in Vermont. I have to confess, NYC is not as fun as a tourist, but is more interesting as a resident. Somehow, everywhere I looked, it was about shopping. Consequently, it’s lost a bit of its allure for me. I enjoy going to more manageable cities, especially European ones, where the emphasis is not so much on shopping. Sure, it’s there, but in NYC, everything is on a much bigger scale, especially the stores. I guess that’s the American Way.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.