'Start Spreading the News...' - Frankie
August 22nd 2011 02:16
‘That’s Manhattan’, says the cab driver in a monotone voice, simply pointing out another landmark on the unofficial tour.
I turn and see light dancing from a hole in the clouds across an urban vista of buildings I have seen a thousand times over in films and photos and on television and yet I may as well have never seen it before in my life, such is the impact rendered. A peachy haze sits above the skyscrapers; the last sunrays of the day illuminate them. Mist settles and rises all at once. Thousands of white crosses from a cemetery in the park span the foreground and I have never seen a sight more breathtaking, as it quietly burns a fiery blaze in my memory bank.
Only three days have passed since that moment and in that time there’s been iced tea, cafes and bars with gardens, vintage boutiques, bagels with cream cheese and tomato, frozen margaritas, deep fried chicken wings the size of my head, pickles, pork, cops, playsuits, farmers markets, dainty jewellery, rock ‘n’ roll, reading Patti Smith’s Just Kids (great read), yellow cabs, the subway, tipping, ridiculous levels of heat, ketchup not tomato sauce, flip flops not thongs, trash cans not rubbish bins, sidewalks not footpaths, candy not lollies, flashlights not torches and more.
New York is what you make of it. So far our New York has consisted of discovering fancy dive bars with no signage on the door and dancing at ‘The Woods’ bar on a stage next to a girl who bends all the way back, wearing platforms, loose pants, a sweater and looking incredible. Meeting an American guy named Christian Lion who laughs uncontrollably at everything and was pleased to meet Australians for the first time. Sitting out the back of a converted warehouse that looks like a reformed barnyard, featuring hipsters and a taco truck.
Which brings me to my next point nay heaven feature. Wheels and food; my first sample of this was the heavenly light yellow ice cream truck. 'They're on wheels because the food COMES TO YOU', said my travelling companion Sophie, highlighting the lazy persons' idyllic paradise. I then spotted them all across the city; tacos, pizzas; hot dogs, waffles, crepes, cupcakes and more.
Our New York has consisted of walking everywhere and waking up with sore and tired muscles. Our energy is sapped but we’re always smiling. I am amused by almost every tiny, insignificant detail as it feels like a bizarre deja vu that I'm seeing for the first time (but I coulda swore I already seen it, ya know?)
We had dinner in Brooklyn at a friend’s house, drank copious amounts of wine and rum from homemade mojitos, a delicious cake and a (my waist is thankful for) healthy dinner of crab ravioli and scallops all made by our Columbian American friend Kim and Andy our American friend from Spain.
New York; dirty streets, authentic Italian pizza delivered, delivery boys, eating while watching bad television and incredible advertising, feeling dehydrated and running to the corner store for some peach iced tea and some clean bottled water and seeing a rat run past, skidding in my tracks, suppressing a scream and battling on.
Hello New York. It’s nice to meet you.
I turn and see light dancing from a hole in the clouds across an urban vista of buildings I have seen a thousand times over in films and photos and on television and yet I may as well have never seen it before in my life, such is the impact rendered. A peachy haze sits above the skyscrapers; the last sunrays of the day illuminate them. Mist settles and rises all at once. Thousands of white crosses from a cemetery in the park span the foreground and I have never seen a sight more breathtaking, as it quietly burns a fiery blaze in my memory bank.
Only three days have passed since that moment and in that time there’s been iced tea, cafes and bars with gardens, vintage boutiques, bagels with cream cheese and tomato, frozen margaritas, deep fried chicken wings the size of my head, pickles, pork, cops, playsuits, farmers markets, dainty jewellery, rock ‘n’ roll, reading Patti Smith’s Just Kids (great read), yellow cabs, the subway, tipping, ridiculous levels of heat, ketchup not tomato sauce, flip flops not thongs, trash cans not rubbish bins, sidewalks not footpaths, candy not lollies, flashlights not torches and more.
New York is what you make of it. So far our New York has consisted of discovering fancy dive bars with no signage on the door and dancing at ‘The Woods’ bar on a stage next to a girl who bends all the way back, wearing platforms, loose pants, a sweater and looking incredible. Meeting an American guy named Christian Lion who laughs uncontrollably at everything and was pleased to meet Australians for the first time. Sitting out the back of a converted warehouse that looks like a reformed barnyard, featuring hipsters and a taco truck.
Photo by Sophie Roberts
Which brings me to my next point nay heaven feature. Wheels and food; my first sample of this was the heavenly light yellow ice cream truck. 'They're on wheels because the food COMES TO YOU', said my travelling companion Sophie, highlighting the lazy persons' idyllic paradise. I then spotted them all across the city; tacos, pizzas; hot dogs, waffles, crepes, cupcakes and more.
Our New York has consisted of walking everywhere and waking up with sore and tired muscles. Our energy is sapped but we’re always smiling. I am amused by almost every tiny, insignificant detail as it feels like a bizarre deja vu that I'm seeing for the first time (but I coulda swore I already seen it, ya know?)
We had dinner in Brooklyn at a friend’s house, drank copious amounts of wine and rum from homemade mojitos, a delicious cake and a (my waist is thankful for) healthy dinner of crab ravioli and scallops all made by our Columbian American friend Kim and Andy our American friend from Spain.
New York; dirty streets, authentic Italian pizza delivered, delivery boys, eating while watching bad television and incredible advertising, feeling dehydrated and running to the corner store for some peach iced tea and some clean bottled water and seeing a rat run past, skidding in my tracks, suppressing a scream and battling on.
Hello New York. It’s nice to meet you.
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