Taking the Cliched Bite - Part 2

I took the L train (don’t I sound like a New Yorker already?) down to Union Square where I exited and began my adventures in Manhattan. It didn’t take long to see why the city has so much to offer. Not two minutes out of the subway station and I see on one corner of Union Square a yoga demonstration and on the other corner a tv show filming (I think I heard it was for Law and Order, but could be wrong on that). Meandering along the main road I was able to get in touch with an old friend from high school and plan out lunch with him. Then I finally found Little Italy (stuck right in the middle of Chinatown, or rather co-opted by Chinatown). I took some pictures and wandered the streets looking at all the goodies on display from cannolis to – no kidding – fried oreos. (I’m pretty sure that one didn’t come over on the boat!) Having satisfied one quarter of my heritage and paid homage to my grandmother by for once doing what she suggested, I made my way back up north to meet Brian.

We had lunch at a little riverside joint on the Hudson with nice views and a brisk fall breeze. Like with Julia, Brian and I tried to work out when exactly it was that we met last and I’m sad to say it had been much too long ago. Now, I can’t take all the blame for that as Brian is one of the most globe-trotting-est people I know! Just this summer he ended up in China helping out after the massive earth quake and getting photo ops with the cutest pandas.

But enough about him, this in My blog and though I don’t have amazing pictures of pandas like this, I do have some other awesome tales. Like……. The Naked Cowboy!!!

That’s right, I got to see the legendary (if you live in New York or watch the Today show as often as I do) Naked Cowboy who “stands around Times Square all day playing the guitar in his underwear”. Oh yeah… my trip to New York is complete. And he wasn’t the only naked man I saw that weekend but we’ll get to that later. Let’s just take things one at a time.

After lunch and couple of beers with Brian I wandered my way over to Central Park, trying to match up in my mind the locations of dozens of movies and tv shows I’ve seen that take place here to park as I walked through it. (Most of them didn’t match but that just leaves more fun for next time!) Then I almost, kind of, felt like I got lost in the Rambling (or called something like that) part of the park and envisioned being mugged as the sun faded into the skyline, but that overdone stereotype left my mind as I left the part (well ahead of sunset anyways) and I made my way back to Brooklyn in time for dinner.

Friday was another day on the town and the highlight of the trip as far as I was concerned because this was the day I would head over to the Today Show studio as well as take a tour of the United Nations. I first found my way to Rockefeller Plaza, but as it was my ‘vacation’ I didn’t get up and moving early enough to actually catch the taping let alone be right in front of the with a sign saying something like “I [heart] the Today Show” or what not. So I’m afraid, Matt, Meredith, Anne and Al, you’ll have to wait for another occasion to give me my 15 seconds of fame. Ah well. I did enjoy all the fabulous architecture around the plaza though so all was not lost.

But this trip was Not all fun and games as I had an errand to run which took me to Time’s Square area. I must say that Time's Square during the day is rather.... blah. I mean really, its a Huge intersection of god knows how many streets and its not even a square at all, more triangular, bordered by towering buildings all around. However, I did enjoy that area better later that night. After the rather laborious project of exchanging my money I managed to walk around quite a bit and explore. (That is actually when I saw the Naked Cowboy.) I went on a mission to see all the big sites, literally. The Empire State building, Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building. Then I made my way to the East River and the UN. Since I can remember I have been fascinated with this organization. Just the thought of trying (if not always succeeded so well) of bringing together all the countries of the world in one place has been an inspiration to me in my studying and career aspirations. Until that moment the closest I’d ever gotten to the General Assembly hall was a book my dad brought back from one of his trips to New York several years ago. And now here I was about to see it all in person! As I took my fill of pictures of the iconic buildings I noticed a protest happening just across the street from the UN. If I remember correctly (yes, this is a hazard of not blogging sooner), it was in support of an Iranian town that was being threatened by the government because of their demands for greater freedoms. It was a cold and windy day; their commitment to the cause was displayed in their passionate stamina. As for me, I needed a different stamina.

After going through the security ‘tent’ reminiscent of the DNC in Denver this year (which will be blogged about too… someday) I finally found the line to buy tickets for the hourly tours. As I waited in line for about the same length of time the tour itself would take, I occupied myself by re-reading Equus in preparation to view that night’s performance at the Broadhurst Theater. Finally we were off and moving with tickets paid and security badges in place. I won’t go through and describe the whole tour but I will say that although they didn’t allow you to see much, it was thrilling enough for me to be in the General Assembly hall. After the short-ish tour we went to the main attraction – the gift shop, of course, where I bought and posted (because they have their own United Nations Post Office in the building!) some postcards and also got myself the little treat of a bookmark.

Finally to round off the day of treats, after a brief respite at Julia’s I went back into the city to watch Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths in Equus. I’m glad I read the play over again, but you don’t necessarily need to do that to enjoy their performances. It was beautifully done and though a lot has been made of a stark naked Daniel Radcliffe (and despite all the jokes that that was the only reason I was going to see the play), I must say that his nudity did not attract all my attention during that scene (no offense Dan, you are looking very fine!). I say not all my attention because of course there was some attention given to him but in terms of the context of the scene itself I wasn’t looking at his… er hmm… ‘equipment’ but at his face and the response to the other nude on stage – the love interest. There was definitely a surge of electricity and sexual tension in the air and I must say that it was one of the best parts of the play, seconded only to the portrayal of the crime that landed Daniel’s character in the nut house in the first place. All in all, I Highly recommend this as a must-see if you have the time and inclination to visit Broadway.

As I mentioned above Time's Square isn't all that fabulous by day (at least for me) but by night.... its a another story. With all those monolithic buildings lit up and more pedestrians out and about (or maybe it was the same amount, but just looked like more in all the fluorescent lighting) and the billboards flashing desperately to get their message out, I was at once impressed and slightly horrified at all the advertising for this and that. True, much of it was for plays or tv shows but also just the rampant consumerism (which is a tale for another day) was rather shocking. And as lovely, in one sense, as it was to see all the lights it was also almost assaulting to the eyes to take it all in. Perhaps that's why so many people who come to New York stay, they become hypnotized by all the lights. As for me, I did manage to leave the city but I took one message along with me....

That does it for this installment of the adventures in NYC. Stay tuned to the next and final part and finally some tales from beyond the sea.