Not visiting places in New York

Here's just one of the many places Helen and I didn't visit in New York. The lines at the Empire State Building were so long, that we didn't go in.

We were in town because Helen had to give a talk at SLSA in New York. I'd never been there before so we fly off to New Your for a weekend.

Before we left, a West Virginia asked "what's in New York"? And the answer had to be "Well, New York is in New York".

When I got here, I was really surprised. My expectation was crowded sidewalks that you had to fight to get through. Crime, rampant in the streets, and "u lookin' at me?", everywhere. I thought I'd be fumbling down the streets, clutching my chained bag, avoding eye contact, trying to get out of everyone's way, and getting brused and kicked a little by the passing aggression. Every so often, I thought, I would flop into a coffee shop to sit quivering with all the other country mice, scared to go back out.

Instead, I found a tame herd of (somewhat crowded) apes who give each other space on the not-so-crowded sitewalks. There were trees everywhere where red and gold leaves were still changing on the branches or dancing on the side walk in little eddies. It was a really really wam Autumn weekend (60 degrees in mid-November: who'd a thunk?). My bag never got stolen, I wasn't mugged, and no one knifed me.

As to the night life, I'd like to say it was a wild weekend of partying till dawn in Soho. However, honesty requires me to report that we were tipsy by 9pm, then back to the world's smallest hotel room to sleep by 10.

After not going to the Empire State Building, we didn't go to the Statue of Liberty (again, line too long). Then we didn't go the Guggenheim (too much construction work).

We did get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There, the fates conspired against us.

See, after West Virgina, New York was amazing+++. After a day of wondering around, slack-jawed, like Mr and Mrs Gunderson from Minnesota, we were soooo tired. So, we were like zombies walking round one of the greatest collections of Art in the Western (?entire) World - had to drag ourselves from room to room.

So, all in all, we drank a little too much, walked a million miles, road cabs driven by maniacs/ subways packed like sardines, and ate ate ate such wonderful food. We'll like to come back but the hotel prices are scary. When we checked in, the clerk at the hotel blinked twice at our rate ($187/night for a little box with two single beds and a bathroom shared with someone down the hall). Who'd we kill for this one, he asked?