Thursday 29 December 1983 – New
York City #3
Good day
today! We slept late – until about 08.00. it was a fine day despite the weather
forecast which had predicted more rain. Once again TV held us up – the morning
show is great fun, especially a bloke called Ira Joe.
I phoned Uli
to see if he had found a way to get our spare luggage to JFK if we left from La
Guardia but there isn’t, so I asked him if he had any objections to our leaving
from JFK. He didn’t, so I went up to the United office on 48/5th
where a most helpful clerk sorted out our bookings for us. So we are now
leaving from JFK at 10.45 on Sunday (New
Year’s Day) which is a bit rough on Uli, but there you are.
 |
| Rab and Matt at the market |
Having done
the business we caught a cab down to South Seaport – a pleasant ride and quite
reasonable at $6.00. we had a good time down there – it is an old fishing area
which has been modernised and made over as a shopping mall with catering. There
were dozens of stalls with different ethnic foods – right up our street.
We had a
look around all the shops and the old ships tied up at the pier, including a
beautiful four mast barque, the Peking. We
bought a few bits and pieces and then got down to the more serious business of
eating. There had been hardly anyone in the food area when we arrived but when
we got back for food, the place was jumping. We managed to find a table and
then I nipped off for my starter – beef enchilada and a beer. While I kept the
table Matt and Rab went and got their baked potatoes. I then had some Japanese
Ginger Pork which was excellent and we finished off with some French fried
onion rings. (if this choice of food
sounds a little ordinary or dull, please remember that we had never seen a food
court before. Hamburger and chips was about the limit of our non-restaurant
eating experience.)
Greenwich
Village seemed an interesting destination and we
decided to walk up there, although it was a bit of a haul. An interesting trek
crossing over Chinatown and working our way up
Broadway through the clothing and garment district. The Village proved to be
interesting but not spectacularly so. It gradually got more cold as the
afternoon drew on, but we had taken the necessary precautions so that was no
problem.
Grabbing
another cab we headed back uptown to the Trump Tower,
a new building on Fifth Avenue
which Rab had read about. On the way there, we were fascinated to see, ducking
in and out of the traffic, a bloke on roller skates. We first spotted him at
about 42nd when he had to brake hard to avoid being hit by a bus. We
kept passing each other all the way down the avenue and he finally shot in
front as we turned off. We had seen cyclists in the traffic previously and had
agreed that they must be mad, but this bloke must be out of his mind – although
having very quick reflexes.
What a place
Trump Tower turned out to be!! Crowds of
people there: two guardsmen as doormen, the whole place made of rose marble,
brass and bronze glass. (We knew nothing
of The Donald and didn’t realise that the colour scheme matched his
complexion.) The Atrium is five stories high with cascading water down one
end. The shops are unbelievable too – what prices! We had intended having a
quick drink there, but at $5.00 minimum charge we decided against it.
 |
| Me and Rab freezing in the cab |
Instead we
walked down to the Plaza Hotel and caught a horse drawn cab for a ride around Central Square. It
was a very pleasant ride, but nothing like the sleigh rides in Zermatt, and a good deal colder. It felt well below zero
when the ride finished at about 17.30 and the rush hour was on. Matt was
busting for a wee and since there were no toilets handy, we popped into the
Plaza – best pisshouse Matt has ever been in, I’ll be bound.
 |
| Matt's private pissoir - all lit up |
Off we went
for a bite to eat at the little coffee shop where we had lunch yesterday and
had a darn good meal for $16.00. I had soup and fruit salad: Matt and Rab had
soup, tuna salad and rice pudding. We walked back to the hotel – only ten
blocks and I took a detour to take some photos of the lights using 1000 ASA
film. Hope they turn out OK.
We were back
by about 19.00 so I packed for tomorrow and caught up with this journal while
the TV blasted away in the background. I fear the quality may have suffered as
a result.
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