Hello JJBhoy, what an experience and yes the name Blue Lagoon does seem appropriate from your description. I can only imagine how wonderful the warm water felt.

I am so looking forward to the next installment of your trip report..wonder if NYC was prepared for you four Scots LOL.

A great start! Written with such charm. I can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventures.

Oh, this IS good!!
Can't wait to hear more JJBhoy!!

( I think it is safe to say that New York City is the greatest city in the world )

After landing at JFK & making its approach towards the terminal building our plane remained stationary for what seemed like ages. The pilot apologised for the delay but explained that as we were 20 minutes or so ahead of schedule, our gate was currently occupied by another aircraft. A perfectly reasonable excuse of course –or at least it would have been if I hadn’t been able to clearly see blazing flames not too far away & thick black smoke billowing across the runway. It was impossible to tell if the fire was actually on the airport property or whether it was coming from somewhere outside – perhaps an industrial unit or the freeway. The pilot made absolutely no mention of the fire & we never did find out what caused it but it made for a rather unsettling welcome to New York. Maybe it was just coincidence but it wasn’t until the fire had noticeably died down that our plane eventually docked at the gate & we were allowed to disembark.

Having all visited the US previously, we had already had our retinas & fingerprints scanned & so we were able to get through customs relatively quickly & it wasn’t long before we had collected our luggage & found ourselves out at the taxi rank. Following advice given here we had decided that, with there being 4 of us, a taxi was the best way to reach Manhattan. It was around 7 p.m. on a Sunday evening in early March (Oscar night, actually) which I would guess is a relatively quiet time for arrivals
& so there was no queue (sorry, line) for taxis (sorry, cabs). What is that saying about two nations divided by a common language?

Eddie had brought an outrageously large samsonite-type suitcase with him which we christened Big John. Honestly – it would have made more sense to have given Big John a seat on the plane & checked Eddie into the hold. The taxi greeter took one look at Big John & decided that a “normal” cab wouldn’t be up to the job so a larger vehicle (at home we would have called it a mini-van) was called into operation. After a short delay while the driver almost gave himself a coronary loading Big John & the rest of our luggage into the trunk (there – getting the hang of it now) we found ourselves en route for Manhattan.

There was a thread here recently about “wow” moments in New York & several Fodorites had mentioned their first sight of the spectacular skyline as they drove into Manhattan. For my part, however, I found the approach to the city just a wee bit less exciting than I had anticipated. Perhaps it was the route we had taken (via the Lincoln Tunnel) or maybe it was because I was worrying over how much of a tip the driver was going to expect for putting his life on the line during his 3 rounds, 2 falls or a submission match-up with Big John. Anyway, it wasn’t too long before the taxi pulled up outside our accommodation – the Best Western Hospitality House at E 49th & Lexington. Even although we had taken an oversized cab we were still only charged the regular fixed fare from JFK to Manhattan (from memory $45?) which I reckoned was a very good deal. And the driver’s tip? Easy – “Don’t plant your tomatoes in the shade” (sorry – an old Scottish “joke”. And not a very good one at that).

We were very pleased indeed that we chose the Hospitality House. To call it a “hotel” is a misnomer and in fact I don’t even think that it would qualify as a “suite-hotel” as there are no on-site bar or restaurant facilities (although there are two restaurants immediately adjacent next door). In effect you are renting a short-term apartment but there is a staffed reception area (albeit small), the apartment is cleaned daily & your kitchen is also stocked daily with various staple essentials. Due to the make up of our party we needed three separate sleeping areas & I had sought advice here previously when various suite-hotels & apartment rental websites had been recommended. In fact, at one point in my planning I had reservations at both the Beekman Tower & the Hotel Metro (where I had reserved a “family suite”) but the Hospitality House was very well reviewed on Trip Advisor & the rate we were quoted on Best Western’s website was too good a deal to pass up;

http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=33114#null

For $286 a night ($325 including taxes etc.) we had a two bedroom apartment with an additional sofa-bed in the lounge. Both bedrooms were very spacious, as were the lounge (which, in addition to the sofa bed also had a good sized dining table & chairs), the bathroom (which had an excellent shower & bathtub) & the completely separate kitchen (which came complete with fridge, oven, microwave & dishwasher). As I mentioned above the kitchen was restocked daily with milk, coffee, tea-bags, bagels, orange juice, fruit, breakfast cereals, butter & jam – not a huge supply but enough to get us going in the morning before we went out for our “real” breakfast (of which more later). There was plenty of closet space & a TV in each of the two bedrooms in addition to the set in the lounge.

We found the location to be excellent – within easy walking distance of Times Square, Grand Central, The Rockefeller Centre, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Ave., 51st Street subway station etc. etc. etc. The fact that that so many hotels (including the Waldorf Astoria) are in the immediate vicinity probably tells its own story about the location.

To be objective, however, there were a couple of negative points too. When I reserved the apartment online I had requested a room on a higher floor to try & cut down the outside noise which, from what I can gather, seems to be pretty much inevitable in Manhattan. Best Western make it clear, however, that they can’t guarantee to meet such a request & sure enough, when we checked in we were told we had been allocated an apartment on the second floor (which of course we would regard as being the first floor at home). The receptionist assured us that the apartment had recently been refurbished (which may well have been true) & that it was nicer than those higher up (bear in mind that this is not a tall building – maybe only 7 or 8 floors). Nevertheless, Liz is a great believer in the adage that “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” & she tried to gently persuade him to transfer us to a room higher up. My impression was that the guy genuinely didn’t have any other rooms available but a minor detail like that isn’t enough to stop my darling wife when she gets into full flow & so she kept going on & on. And on & on. And on…..well, you get the picture. When eventually the guy had convinced her through his tears that he had nothing else available she relented & left him there – a quivering wreck rocking slowly back & forth on his chair sobbing “no more rooms…no more rooms” over & over again. Having been married to Liz for over 20 years now I understood only too well the pain & anguish he was going through & so I discreetly slipped him the telephone number of a qualified counsellor before hastily gathering our luggage & falling into line behind her as she strode purposefully into the lift.

Sorry – got a bit distracted there. The point is that we did find outside noise to be an issue at night. The service entrance to the Marriott Eastside is directly across the road from the bedrooms & there was some noise from delivery & garbage trucks. It didn’t cause us a major problem but if nigh-time noise irritates you unduly then you might want to bear it in mind. We also found the bedrooms to be too warm at night, even although it was very cold outside. Although the rooms had air-conditioning we found it too noisy & so we just put up with the heat – not too much of a problem in early March, but how would we have coped in summer?

My other negatives are pretty minor & the first is the lack of natural light in the lounge. There is only one smallish window in the lounge, which overlooks an airshaft (for want of a better term) and so we found the place to be rather dull. The walls are also painted a shade of olive green, which didn’t help matters any. I also thought that the chairs in the lounge were a bit dated looking.

With the possible exception of the noise issue, however, I would consider these criticisms to be nitpicking & would have no hesitation in recommending the Hospitality House – particularly if you can pick up a similar rate to ours. If you can afford it, the likes of the Righa Royale & some of the higher end Affinia properties may be that bit more luxurious but we felt that the Hospitality House represented excellent value for money & we would be only too happy to stay there again.

More to follow…..

Jim

I'm hoping this was a long trip and you continue to include all the details! (I already foresee Big John's struggle home).

Lovely report so far!

Please tell me you tipped the cab driver?

I wish you could see me clapping and cheering (woo hoo!!!). Yes, NYC *IS* the greatest city in the universe.

I agree!

Very entertaining...but where's the rest

JJBhoy

You must clear up the meaning of what you said was an old Scottish joke: Don't plant your tomatotes in the shade.

Good trip report - keep it coming.

Sandy

I'm loving this - can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

I guess jjboy was 'tipping' (ie advising) the cab driver not to '...plant tomatoes in the shade'.

I think the joke is something like this:

So a guy goes into a restaurant and gets the rudest, sloppiest service possible from the waiter. The guy puts up with it, then when the check gets slapped down, he pointedly lays down the exact amount, gets up and heads to the door.

As he gets his coat on at the door, the waiter runs up and says, "Hey mac! What about my tip?!"

The guy swings the front door open and, as he leaves, answers: "You want a tip?! Here you go: Plant your crops early this year!" And slams the door.

(Cue rim shot from the drummer.)

Glad you liked it.

But - there's no probably about it. And we usually say universe!

OK, I've now had a couple drinks with dinner, but I still read this twice. You landed at JFK and went into Manhattan by way of the Lincoln Tunnel? What am I missing here?
All else aside, I'd say you got an incredible ride at an amazing bargain for $45 if you went to New Jersey enroute to Manhattan! I'd say your driver deserved a big tip if he drove you that far.

LOL I was thinking the same thing Neo. I am enjoying this report. Love visitors impressions of the city I call home.

I love this trip report! Where is the rest? Very amusing and you still manage to provide useful info.

Perhaps that tunnel was the Queens-Midtown Tunnel ?

Oh, and I like Liz

Just a few points quickly before I go out to work;

Firstly - thanks very much for all of your kind remarks. They are very encouraging.

SandyBrit - someone once said (I can't remember if it was Jean Paul Sartre or Adam Sandler)that if you have to explain a joke, then it's not funny. Given that I already knew this one wasn't funny I suppose it was inevitable that I would have to explain it. As it happens both highflyer & rjw_lgb_ca called it right.

Go Travel - Of course I gave the cab driver a proper tip - "Don't wear white socks with black shoes." Really, don't worry, I tipped him with the generosity for which we Scots are world-renowned.

Neopolitan & laartista - Mea Culpa. It was the Queens-Midtown. As usual Scarlett was correct although I have to say that I find her opinion of Liz somewhat worrying.

As for the rest of the report? Well, I'm afraid that it hasn't been written yet. I don't keep a journal or notes so I am having on rely on a series of rapidly blurring memories which may not all be 100% accurate. I will try to type up more today.

Thanks again.

Jim

Jim, please do post more - it's been informative AND funny so far!

"someone once said (I can't remember if it was Jean Paul Sartre or Adam Sandler)that if you have to explain a joke, then it's not funny" Thanks, you started my morning off with quite a laugh.

Hi JJBhoy, I am so enjoying your report and your sense of humor. Regarding the tip I sure "got it", could be because my dad was a Scot (raised in Australia) and that would have been the type of joke he would have told. But my mother, she never ever got a joke or a funny comment in her life LOL. Use to drive the family crazy.

And your wife, love her style, never take no for an answer. Well not at least until you know the NO is truly a NO. Good for her!!

LOL
"....when she gets into full flow & so she kept going on & on. And on & on....
I don't know Jim, there is just something about Liz that is familiar

ttt - just because this is soooo good.

LOL Scarlett, I was thinking the same thing. There was this time in Hawaii when we started to check in at the hotel we found out we were not going to get the ocean front room we had been assured of...well two hours later the Mgr. actually put us in an oceanfront suite...and ran the opposite way everytime he saw me for the next week. And my DH went to the bar while I had discussions with the desk clerk, the Sr. desk clerk, the Assistant Mgr and BINGO finally the Mgr.

Husbands should appreciate women like us. Honest JJBhoy, it is true!!

Who cares if your memory is blurring or not, just keep typing1

...LOL..."Big John" very funny!

What a great report!!

Who said men weren't observant about decor?

If you'd all been to the US before, Jim, where had you gone, if not to the greatest city in the world?

Before I go on, just to answer another couple of points raised earlier. We arrived in New York on the Sunday evening & left on the Thursday evening so we had 3 full days & the best part of a 4th. It still wasn’t nearly enough, however.

McLaurie – we have all been to Orlando, Florida on family holidays and in fact we made our third trip there last June (2005). In addition, Eddie had also been to Las Vegas and Liz & Anne Marie had made a short 2 day trip to Niagara from Canada a few years ago. Incidentally, I would like to go on record to thank you for the wonderful information you provide here for visitors to NYC.

I really wasn’t sure how to approach the next part of the report. Up to now it has been written more or less chronologically but the problem is that we packed so much in to our visit that I honestly have a pretty poor grasp of the exact timeline – in other words what happened when. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t keep a journal or any notes. In the circumstances I have tried to loosely group various aspects of the trip together but I hope I will be forgiven if I wander “off topic” from time to time. The more observant of you will have noticed that I am inclined to do that anyway!

I should say upfront that some of the things we did went flatly against advice often given here and so I fully expect to get flamed. Perhaps the most obvious example is;

FOOD

One of the problems about travelling in a group is that you have to make compromises & eating out was probably the prime example of that during our trip. Whereas Anne Marie & I are game to try almost anything, Liz & Eddie are both naturally cautious travellers & very much prefer the tried & tested – particularly when it comes to restaurants. I had arrived in New York armed to the teeth with recommendations for restaurants scattered the length & breadth of Manhattan but, in the event, we had dinner in chain restaurants within steps of Times Square on each of our first 3 evenings. Our litany of shame read….Olive Garden; Planet Hollywood; Hard Rock Café.

Look, I know…..the food is overpriced & probably no better than you can find in other, less “touristy” parts of the city but Liz & Eddie recognised the chain names from our Florida trips & were happy to play it safe. As it happened I actually thought that the Olive Garden was OK but I would be perfectly happy if I never had to go to another Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Café again. On our last evening we did manage to persuade them to eat in Carmine’s which, as far as I know, isn’t a chain although it is still on the threshold of Times Square. There was a lively atmosphere, huge portions & much better value for money than the others but I can’t say that I was over-impressed by the food.

By & large we had no language problems at all during our visit but Eddie ordering food was a constant source of amusement to the rest of us. Any ex-pat Scots reading this will no doubt remember a comedian at home named Stanley Baxter who used to have a very successful TV show in the 70’s & 80’s. One of the most popular features on the show was a running sketch entitled “Parliamo Glesga” (“Glesga” being the local pronunciation of Glasgow) which was a spoof on those very stilted & staged “teach yourself a foreign language” educational programmes. Stanley & his sidekicks would act out a little play of everyday “Glesga” life in the local slang before stopping to “translate” what had been said into very formal English.

For example, Stanley would go into the local grocers & say to the assistant, “Geeza punna burra furra murra” before looking the camera straight in the eye & explaining in a very posh accent that he was enquiring as to whether it would be at all possible to purchase a pound of butter for his mother. Other “useful” words were;

“Scummindooninbuckets” – “My goodness it is raining heavily today!”

And, said by an indignant young female to a rakish young man at the local dance hall;

“Takyurhonaffmabum” - “Would you kindly please remove your hand from my posterior?”

I have a very broad Glasgow accent so whenever I travel (even if it’s just down to England) I always go to great pains to speak slowly & enunciate my words as clearly as possible. Eddie, on the other hand, makes absolutely no concessions at all & as a result no-one (and I mean NO-ONE) we met in New York had the remotest idea of anything that he said to them. Invariably, Liz would order her meal first and it was always the “safest” item on the menu – lasagne, for example, or spaghetti bolognese. Almost before the last syllable of the word “bolognese” had left her mouth, Eddie would chime in with “Allhuv’atanall”, which Stanley Baxter would have translated as “I would like to order the same meal as my friend, please”. Every time, they both ordered the same thing as each other and, sure as fate, every time, the waiter/waitress had absolutely no idea what Eddie had said. Wherever we went shopping we became accustomed to the sight of a bewildered store assistant looking blankly into the face of a red faced Scotsman desperately trying to get his point across. Eddie would ask a seemingly straightforward question, for example, “Excuse me – are these shoes available in a size 11?”, to which the assistant would smile weakly, disappear for a couple of minutes & then triumphantly return carrying a tennis racket and a photograph of the Dalai Lama.

If there is one thing I could transport from New York back to Glasgow I think it might just be the deli’s. We made a point of getting up early each morning, around 7.30 a.m., making tea or coffee & some toast & then going out to have breakfast. We would just choose one at random and without exception they were all excellent, although I think our favourite was the one next door to the Tourist Information office on Seventh Avenue (sorry, don’t remember the name). We also got into the habit of stopping off for a nice warm bowl of soup each afternoon after a morning’s sightseeing in the cold weather. We simply don’t have anything to compare to them at home – I wish we did.

More to follow….

Jim

OMIGOD, Jim, I am weak with laughter, wiping the tears off my face and my husband is looking at me with a familiar blank look LOL.......

The tennis racket and the photo of the Dalai Lama did it

"the assistant would smile weakly, disappear for a couple of minutes & then triumphantly return carrying a tennis racket and a photograph of the Dalai Lama."

Oh, help!! I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. BTW, I had an aunt in Ireland with whom I believe I had this very same conversation.

I came back looking for more of this report and am not disappointed! I don't know what you do for a living but consider writing a humor column somewhwere and we will all subscribe...hmmm a travel column and you can see the world on someone else's dollar!

I've been watching for updates on your trip report and look what I find. You are hilarious! Looking forward to more.

And if it's any consolation, we ate at Forrest Gump's in NYC. We were just all very tired and hungry and there it was.

Great report.

And, now I don't feel so bad for turning on the captions when I rented "Trainspotting"

I'm checking back tomorrow, hope there is more...I need a good laugh!

Once again – thanks for your supportive comments; ncgrrl - I needed the subtitles for Trainspotting too.

Since I mentioned the subject of shopping on my last post I may as well continue in that vein. Having visited Orlando, Florida on 3 previous occasions I think we had been somewhat spoiled in our expectations of bargain clothes prices in the US. It goes without saying that New York has an absolutely fantastic range of shopping & it is also true that, in general, the prices here are cheaper there than at home. But for a few exceptions, however, we didn’t really find the level of fantastic bargains we had become accustomed to in Florida.

Before our trip, Anne Marie had heard some good reports about the Woodbury Common Discount Outlets, which are about an hour by bus from Manhattan and she & Liz decided that they would like to pay a visit. Now, I like bargain shopping as much as the next man (assuming the next man is slightly overweight, balding & has seen better days) but I wasn’t going to spend one of my few precious days in New York at a shopping mall. Eddie felt the same so it was agreed that we would have a day when we could all go our separate ways.

Eddie had been looking forward to seeing the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum so, bearing in mind his linguistic difficulties (see my previous post above) we walked him down to West 46th St. early on the Wednesday morning, pointed him in the right direction & then told him to keep walking until he came to a big boat. I then walked with the girls down to the Port Authority building, where we barely got in the door before we were set upon by a swarm of sales agents all trying to sell us bus tickets to Woodbury Common. They seemed to assume that any female who entered the building was bound for a day’s shopping and of course, in our case, they were dead right. I saw the girls safely on to the bus & then, after waving them off, I headed straight for the nearest whorehouse.

Nah…..of course I didn’t. I went exploring but will save that story for my next post.

When we met up later on Liz & Anne Marie had done a fair amount of shopping, but nothing like the “credit card melt down” proportions I had expected. For instance, I can well remember Anne Marie buying 6 pairs of shoes in little more than an hour at the Orlando Premium Outlets on the last day of our 2005 visit (one pair of which consisted of 2 left feet – we had to take them back to the Liz Claiborne store at 10 p.m. the night before we flew home). They thought Woodbury Common was OK but the prices weren’t up to (or should that be “down to”) Orlando standards.

As we have two teenage boys at home who are VERY particular about their clothes we had to bring back plenty of presents for them & most of this was done at two stores – Century 21 & Bloomingdale’s. I’m afraid that we never found the time to visit either Macy’s or Saks (even though we passed by the latter every day) and I can’t even remember seeing either Barneys or Bergdorf Goodman. Century 21 turned out to be quite a success, although the crowds are such that is very much survival of the fittest – every man (or, more accurately, every woman) for him/herself. We were able to find some of the boys’ favoured labels at excellent prices (Energie & Lindbergh Sports, for example) and we simply cut the Century 21 labels off & stuck the clothes in Bloomingdale’s bags before handing them over. Presentation is everything.

Now… Bloomingdale’s….Our visit there was quite eventful & perhaps even worthy of a trip report in its own right, so I hope you’ll bear with me.

I had read that if we took ID demonstrating we were visitors to their Customer Services we could get a card giving us a discount on most of our purchases. So, Liz & I headed there immediately on our arrival & sure enough we got our discount card. I can’t remember now exactly how much of a discount it was, but I think 11% - certainly well worth getting. While we were waiting in line at Customer Services we noticed a few of the people in front of us collecting black Bloomingdale’s shopping bags & key rings & so when we got served Liz asked about this. The assistant explained that, as discount card holders, we could claim a free gift for every $100 we spent. All we had to do was present our receipts at the end of our visit and so we thanked her for this information & headed back to meet up with Anne Marie and Eddie & do our shopping. A few hours later we sat in the Showtime Café on the 7th floor and on pooling our receipts we found that we had spent over $800. So, that equated to 8 free bags – perfect gifts for family & friends back home.

In an attempt to curry favour with Liz (I had seriously upset her earlier at breakfast when I accidentally put 52 grains of sugar in her tea instead of her usual 51) I offered to take the receipts down to Customer Services while she & the others finished their snacks. So I headed back down armed with our receipts but my journey downstairs was halted somewhat when I found that one of the “down” escalators was closed & on looking down I saw a very curious sight. Lying spread out on the ground at the foot of the escalator was a very expensive looking fur coat – it looked rather like those chalked body outlines you see on TV detective programmes when there has been a murder. Standing around the coat were 3 Bloomingdale’s employees – 2 harassed looking female shop assistants & one important looking man in a suit who was barking something into a walkie-talkie.

Ever since I have puzzled over what was going on. Had someone attempted to steal the fur coat? Maybe, but why didn’t the staff just pick it up & why was it necessary to close down the escalator? Was there an extremely small old lady inside the coat who I hadn’t noticed? Maybe she was just so small & frail that she had slipped imperceptibly through the 5mm gap between the stairs & down into the escalator innards among all the cogs and gears. If so, what a horrible way to go. Of course, that’s just my theory. Maybe you have a better one.

Anyway, I eventually got back down to Customer Services & presented our receipts to the same assistant I had spoken to earlier. “You’ll find that they total $832”, I proclaimed proudly. “I’ll take 8 free bags, please”. She looked at me disapprovingly & explained that it wasn’t quite as simple as that. Her story now was that we were only entitled to claim one free gift for each member of our party and not simply per $100 spent. “Oh, I see”, I replied, although I didn’t see at all – this definitely wasn’t what she had told Liz & me earlier. My life slowly passed before my eyes as I pictured going back upstairs to Liz & explaining that I had only got the 4 bags.

The conversation then proceeded along the following lines;

Bloomingdale’s Assistant – “So sir, how many people are in your party?”

JJBhoy (panicking) – “Er…8”.

B A – “8! Are you sure?”

JJB (a little more sure of myself now) – “Yes. Definitely 8”.

B A – “But there was only yourself and your wife earlier on!”

JJB (well, there’s no going back now) – “Yes, I know. The others were all upstairs shopping”.

B A – “I’m afraid that I will need a note of their full names & addresses”.

JJB (confident & self assured) – “No problem”.

I knew that she hadn’t asked the people in line before me for this information & that she was just testing me out so, in addition to our own 4 names & addresses I gave her the details for my mother, my sister & Liz’s mother & aunt. She wrote down every single detail on a sheet of paper & then gave me the 8 bags. What’s more, God bless her, the smile never left her face throughout the whole process. I have no doubt that the sheet of paper went straight in the bin the minute I walked away.

Did I do wrong? Maybe – but would you have gone back to Liz & explained why you were 4 bags short? Believe me, I was caught between a rock & a hard place. Those who disapprove will be pleased to hear that we got our come-uppance when we got home to find that a Hugo Boss sweatshirt we had bought for one of the boys was too small.

We actually went on to spend another $300 but decided not to try & claim any more bags. Eddie offered to go down to Customer Services and have a go and I was sorely tempted just to see how that conversation would turn out, but we already had one tennis racket & photograph of the Dalai Lama. What was the point of getting any more? I thanked him for the offer but told him just to forget it.

But that’s not all.

We went to the male grooming section in Bloomingdale’s to buy after shave for our boys & Eddie wandered off to see if he could find anything for his own son. Once we had completed our purchases we looked around but couldn’t see Eddie anywhere. We eventually found him having some sort of lotion rubbed into his cheeks by a glamorous looking sales assistant. He was doing his best to fend her off, but she just wasn’t taking no for an answer, although I suppose to be fair she had no idea what he was saying to her. We stood for a while enjoying the spectacle until eventually the laughter proved too much to bear and we stepped into rescue him (or her – not sure which). Eddie has quite a ruddy complexion & he told us later that she had approached him with the memorable sales pitch; “Good morning, sir. Is it windy outside?” To me, that is tantamount to saying “Good morning, sir. My God, your skin is in one hell of a state”.

This section has gone on for far too long, so just a quick mention for two other places. The sales staff in Tiffany’s were absolutely charming. We went in for a quick look expecting to feel quite intimidated but they could not have been nicer. Even though it must have been perfectly obvious that we had no intention of buying anything they were friendly and happy to let us look around. We also liked Pier 17 at South Street Seaport. A good place to pick up inexpensive gifts for back home, a decent food court but, best of all, a fantastic view of the Brooklyn Bridge while you eat.

Still more to follow…

Jim

I think you were a perfect husband to make up to Liz for the gross oversugaring of her tea.
The mental picture of the frail old lady slipping through the cogs had me cackling , then questions were asked by my husband and now both of us are grinning like fools.
Jim, please, remember everything and make this last a very long time...Thank you, Scarlett
If only we could have audio on here, I want to hear Eddie asking questions!

This wins the "funniest thing I've read this week" award.

Great reading! I need to share this with my husband. He will be able to relate, I am sure

Thank you for such a good laugh tonight!

I feel the same way about Woodbury Commons. Never exactly feel the trip is worth it. However, it sounds like your Liz and Anne Marie fared well in the shopping department -- good for them!

Oh JJBhoy, you have me in hysterics again!! And I agree, if we only had audio here..I would love to hear Eddie talking (would have loved to hear Liz giving the hotel clerk his nervous breakdown also). Yes, please don't cut this report short..every little detail please. Imagine it took NYC a good week to recover from your visit!!

JJBhoy,
I too am loving your report. So tell us...Are you a professional writer?

schmerl,

Not even sure that I would qualify as an amateur...the only stuff I have ever written is here on Fodors Talk.

Jim

and Fodors is richer for it!

Please give us more...no detail is too small! Terrific!

Great story. Figured I'd say that so I can easily find this thread for the next installment :.)

Me too Barry!

JJBhoy - Wonderful funny writing. Please don't cut it short. You are making my work day so much more enjoyable - though my officemates are wondering why my tea keeps being snorted out of my nose.

really enjoying this

Terrific report, JJBhoy! Saving it to read thoroughly later...

Chiming in here, to say keep it coming JJ! You had me with, "I am sure my knocking knees must have set off some sort of seismic counter at the Icelandic Geological Institute and it is quite possible that local emergency crews were put on standby at the prospect of what appeared to be an imminent earthquake." I hate the cold, but I may just visit Iceland having read your report!
Maggi

The suspense is killing me. More please, JJ!

Just arrived home from a weekend jaunt to FLA and came rght to Fodors for your report. You are one funny Scot! Good for you and your 8 bags-Hey, bloomies can spare it. Please continue

Yet again thanks for your comments - they are very much appreciated.

Sorry for the delay but I'm afraid that I haven't been able to do any more work on my report. The first weekend of the month is always particularly busy as Liz insists upon me hand-polishing all of our cutlery, item by item. She says that she wants to be able to see her face in them although I don't see why she can't just go out & buy a mirror like everybody else.

Will try to get get back down to it today & re-post the final part of my report ASAP.

Jim

JJ, you done polishing that silver yet?

Thoroughly enjoying every minute. Can't wait for MORE! MORE! MORE!

Oh JJBhoy!!! I love this! Please hurry back and don't make it your final chapter...!!! I need a laugh while at work!

Hi all,

Just to say sorry again for the hold up. There has been quite a lot going on at home plus Liz has had a nasty dose of the 'flu so I haven't had much time on my hands. Thankfully she is on the mend now, however & so I promise to get things moving again.

Jim

JJBhoy

Hope Liz is better. Any chance of a fodors reunion in Glasgow?
I can't be the only one who wants to meet Eddie & Big John!

And another thing, you're a fantastic writer, you should be sending this to the Herald.

Keep up the goog work

Sorry for the further delay but guess who caught the flu off Liz?

Rather than hold things up any longer I thought I would post a short(ish) piece on the subject of Getting Around.

Over dinner on our first night we discussed how we should approach our first full day in NYC & we decided that the hop on – hop off bus tour would be a good idea. I know that they are not universally popular here but I have to hold my hands up & confess to being a bit of a junkie. I think that they are a good way of getting an overview of a new city & have travelled on a few over the years; London, Edinburgh, Paris, Dublin, Seville, Barcelona & Amsterdam (well, actually, that was a canal boat but the principle’s the same). It goes without saying, however, that I have never taken a hop on – hop off tour of my home city of Glasgow. In fact, now that I think about it that could make for a good thread here on Fodors – “Have You Ever Taken A Bus Tour Of Your Home Town?” I suspect very few of us have done so.

On our first morning in Manhattan we headed for the Tourist Information office on 7th Avenue & bought tickets for the Gray Line tour. They have a variety of different tours available but for $49 dolars each we bought their “All Loops” option. This ticket is good for 48 hours from the time of purchase & covers their Uptown, Downtown & Brooklyn tour loops. In addition it is also good for their Night-time loop, although this particular tour isn’t hop on – hop off.

Have you ever saw one of these open-top buses driving round your home city & wondered what on earth possessed those poor souls to sit upstairs in weather that would keep any sensible mortal wrapped up in front of the fire with a large whisky in one hand and a even larger whisky in the other hand? Well, if you were in Manhattan on the morning of March 6 2006 you may well have spotted one such bedraggled bunch huddled together for warmth on the top deck of the Gray Line tour bus as it worked its way downtown. You probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to 3 of the party sitting in the back seat– two slightly dodgy looking women & a guy with a red face - but I daresay you would have taken a second look at the rather distinguished looking man sitting in the seat in front. “Gosh”, you might even have said to yourself, “those 3 at the back are pretty iffy looking but, even on such a cold day, that other well dressed gentleman exudes bonhomie, savoire faire, joie de vivre and other French phrases that I don’t really know the meaning of but which sound pretty cool. I wonder who on earth he could be?” Well, of course, modesty forbids, but I think we both know who you were talking about. In fact, you should have come up & said hello. I would have ignored you, obviously, but still, you might at least have made the effort. Actually, to be fair, although it was very cold there was barely a cloud in the sky during our entire stay.

Although we made very little use of the “hop on-hop off” facility, we certainly got our money’s worth out of our tickets. We all travelled on the Downtown loop from Times Square down as far as Ground Zero via Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown & Little Italy but never got to make the “return journey” up through the Lower East Side & East Village. The following day (while the girls went shopping at Woodbury Common & Eddie visited the USS Intrepid) I took the Brooklyn loop which began & ended at South St. Seaport. At one point, while driving along one of the major thoroughfares in Brooklyn (maybe Atlantic Avenue?) we found the road closed off by a line of police cars & the bus had to take a detour down through some side streets which proved very interesting & gave a different view of life in New York. Our tour guide was originally from Brooklyn & seemed to genuinely enjoy this unexpected opportunity to revisit some of his old haunts. Whether the driver enjoyed having to negotiate his way through the unfamiliar narrow streets is another matter entirely. On the same evening we took the Night-time loop but only managed to last around half an hour on the top deck before admitting defeat & moving downstairs. We were all agreed that the best part of this tour was the breathtaking view of Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn. Finally, on our last morning we took the full Uptown loop from 8th Avenue, up through the Upper West Side, through Harlem & back down the Upper East Side – again very enjoyable. The guides on all of the tours were entertaining & seemed to know their stuff although they occasionally gave out conflicting information. For instance, the guide on the Downtown loop assured us that baseball was first played in Madison Square Park, whilst the guide on the Night-time loop told us to ignore anyone who said such a thing. They can’t both be right.

Our first trip on the subway was quite an experience. As I mentioned earlier, Liz & Eddie are quite cautious travellers and were both a little wary of using the subway. As it happened we found ourselves down in Lower Manhattan one evening & decided to take the subway from Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall back up to Midtown. The train came very quickly & we found ourselves in a relatively quiet carriage with maybe just 3 or 4 other travellers apart from ourselves. After a couple of stops the connecting door burst open & in came 4 noisy young men who could kindly be described as boisterous. If I was being unkind I could say they looked as though they might have been out for trouble – certainly Liz & Eddie’s faces fell & I must admit to feeling a little uneasy myself. They stood in the doorway of the carriage & seemed to be egging each other on before one of them cleared his throat & addressed the rest of us. “Ladies & Gentleman”, he said. “Sorry to disturb you – Mr. Bass Man, please”. After a short intro by “Mr. Bass Man” they then proceeded to sing a wonderful doowop song before passing a hat round & making their way, still singing, up through the connecting door at the far end & into the next carriage.

On another occasion a guy worked his way up the carriage on his bended knees begging for money & I was quite surprised to see Liz giving him a handful of change. It was only later on that she told me she had felt sorry for him because she thought he was a midget – she hadn’t realised that he was kneeling down! That’s my wife with her finger on the pulse, folks.

On re-reading this I realise that I seem to have painted a pretty negative picture of the subway, which certainly wasn’t my intention. We found it quick, clean & easy to use & would have no hesitation in using it again. As regards the beggar I’m afraid that they seem to be a sad fact of life in big cities & I have seen far more aggressive & threatening beggars in both Glasgow & London.

I will post a further, final piece on our NYC sightseeing but I will close this part with a quick comment on photographs. QuiUK has posted her New York trip report here recently & included a link to her photographs which are really spectacular. I hope that she won’t mind me posting the link here;

http://tinyurl.com/hhylk

Just so you all know – I won’t be posting any pictures from our trip on the Internet. If you want to know why please see this earlier thread from the Europe board in which my photographic skills (or lack of them) are discussed in depth;

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34651089

More to follow…

Jim

Jim,
Your latest installment is every bit as enjoyable as the earlier ones.
I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA and I finally did take a bus tour (actually it was a Duck Tour) of the city this past summer!

Jim, We did a similar trip on a hop on/hop off bus in London in May last year and must have matched your bedraggled group. There we are, sitting on the top deck while an icy, biting rain blew in under the canopy and drenched us. About 10 minutes of that was enough before we moved downstairs. We lucked out though - it was probably the worse weather we had in 15 days in the U.K., since it was usually sunny. By the way - I'm loving your report! Jan (twina)

JJBhoy, FYI many people in the US can't stand NYC proclaiming itself "the greatest city in the world" and even worse "the crossroads of America" That title belongs to Chicago or St. Louis.

Fair enough, jorr. Bear in mind, however, that I am speaking for myself & not for anyone else. Anyway, I only said "probably...".

Jim

Well , Jim, I got an email from a friend who said she was waiting on the corner in town on March 6th and she saw one of those tour buses. She usually never pays attention but this one caught her eye because of the well dressed gentleman exuding bonhomie, savoire faire & joie de vivre sitting on the bus
I knew I liked Liz, feeling sorry for the short man lol
Another great story !!
Glad you are both feeling better..

Scarlett,

Your friend should have come up & said hello - I would have made an exception for her!

Jim

Hi, Jorr,
Boston may take the cake for the boldest brag: Hub of the Universe -- or the Hub, for short.

Jorr?!? Hey!! That's *MY* city you're talking about! Actually, "Crossroads of America" is the Indiana state motto...

And by the way... INMO {!!} NYC *is* the greatest city in the world.

What a pleasing sense of humor you have, Jim! Offbeat, but thoroughly enjoyable!

Jim
I read much of your report many
days ago before my computer
crashed. Happy to see new
installments, such a nice
bright shining spot on this
board! Please continue, more
more more!

michelleNYC, My point exactly!

Aye, JJ, one of me wee friends 'as the Marrbury smoked salmon business so I get the language thing, lol. I've been vacationing in California and missed your posts, but I have been crying from laughing so hard. Thank you!

Jim,
Great report and great photos.

Almost all NYC hotel rooms are noisy. They almost all seem to be over dumpsters that are emptied at 4:00 in the morning. I actually LOVE noisy window air conditioners, because they are sort of a white noise thing that blocks out all the other noise.

NY is a fabulous city. Your photos made me miss it. I wish you could have seen the World Trade towers. They were unbelievable, they were so huge.

wliwl,

Glad you are enjoying the report, but just to make it clear, the photos aren't mine - they're QuiUK's. You're right though - they are fabulous.

I'll complete my report later this week.

Jim

Hi Jim, came to this report from the link you posted on the Scottish accent thread on the Europe board. This might be the best trip report I've read on Fodor's. I am not prone to laughing at my computer but I really did "fall out" over your description of Eddie in Bloomingdales!

I know what you mean about touring your own city. I lived in the NYC suburbs for 9 years, and my parents stayed for another 21 years, and we only rode the circle line bus tour (which really is great) before and after we lived in New York! Same with the Statue of Liberty.

I'm hoping that by topping this thread that you might be shamed into providing at least some more writing about this trip!

I'm glad you topped this one. I have a Scottish friend and she, too, cracked up about Eddie, LOL! Great story

It's always so interesting for me to read how much people love NYC, I have to show this to my husband, he hates it!

Just for background, we've lived in CT outside of NYC for years, and he's been through stints working in and out of Manhattan, currently he's commuting to the city (or as he calls it, doing time).

He's worked mid-town, downtown and Union Square, and he can't stand any of it, on his ride home he's overcome with joy that he has escaped to the pretty 'burbs. He thinks NYC is dirty, overcrowded and disgusting. I think it would blow his mind to read all of these accolades. I like NY for about 24 hours, then I have to leave.

On the other hand, he loves Boston and tries to get to his office there as often as possible.

Correcting myself: Circle Line boat tour. Where did I leave that brain? It used to come in handy...

I'm afraid a combination of domestic stuff & computer problems led to me losing the impetus with my report - then I thought maybe its time had come & gone.

I have written some of the final part, however & I promise that I'll try to bring it to a conclusion over the weekend.

Thanks,

Jim

Looking forward to it!

Oh my gosh, thanks for the laugh. I love New York too, but I am biased!

dsm22, ex New Yorker.

Jim, I pulled this up when I searched for shopping new york city. I think you have written the funniest trip report I have ever read.

I hope you take the time to finish it. PPPPLLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEEE Deborah

Even in

And I so hoped this would be the weekend he'd come back to finish this! Where are you JJBhoy?!?

BayouGal (and others),

Very nearly done & will definitely post it this week.

Jim

Read Degas' stirring report on Italy to hold you over.

JJBhoy,
I just stumbled upon your post and I am certainly glad I took a look! I have really enjoyed your trip report to NY and I can't wait for the conclusion!!

p.s You really should write professionaly.

Back to the fur coat-I'm thinking it may have been dropped and gotten stuck between the steps.

Great report,I'm certainly having a laugh-and yes,NY is the greatest city in the world!

JJBhoy, oh dear, I was so hoping to read more about your time in NYC before I go there on Monday. You certainly have given me a new way to look at one of my favorite cities. Your group has got to be a HOOT to see in action Your trip report is such a fun read. Deborah

ttt

is anyone else wondering what happened to 'the rest of the story"? or is it just me...... ??? Jim - where ARE you?

Post above on 6/17 says he'll post the rest this week. We are all anxiously awaiting . . . my DH read it last night and said Jim could create a new genre of travel books. Boy, they'd be better sellers, wouldn't they?!

Great report.

And... ARRGGHHH... I just got the dreaded "new window" for my reply. I thought this glitch had gone away.

But still, great report.

oohps... my bad. i thought a week had passed already.. anxiously waiting.. all that laughing while i was reading this thread was taking the place of my having to do situps. Yes, Bayougal, i'd def buy this book!

I insist on photos of you and Eddie with the tennis racket, the fur coat and the woman at customer service in Bloomies.

Thanks again for all of your encouraging comments. I’m really sorry for the lengthy delay in completing my report but, in the spirit of “better late than never”, here goes.

SIGHTSEEING

There were a stack of things on our list that we simply didn’t have time to do – no Broadway show, no Radio City backstage tour, no museums or galleries (unless you count the MOMA shop),no helicopter tour, no pizza at Grimaldi’s, no ice skating in Central Park. In fact, we never set foot anywhere north of 59th St – all we saw of anything above midtown was from the tour bus. It’s a pity but then if we had fitted any of that stuff in we would have missed out on something else & regretted that instead. The moral of the story is that if you’re only visiting New York for a few days you can’t possibly hope to see everything so there’s no point in worrying about it. Enjoy what you can & make plans to come back again….and again….and again….

We didn’t do anything particularly clever or exclusive – our sightseeing was very much on the tourist trail but none for the worse for that. When you’re travelling it’s easy to look down your nose at some of the more popular tourist sights but the fact is that there’s a reason why a particular place is popular. I don’t think that any of the places we visited in New York disappointed us – on the contrary they more than lived up to & in fact probably even exceeded our expectations.

One of the first places we visited was St. Patrick’s Cathedral & although it’s probably a predictable reaction it’s nonetheless true to say that the first thing to surprise me was its size. Photographs & TV shots make it look tiny compared to the modern buildings surrounding it but when you get up close (& particularly when you’re inside) you realise how formidable it is, both in terms of scale & design. It really is a beautiful building & we spent a very pleasant hour in it before buying medals & crucifixes for relatives back home.

The Empire State Building is one of the places I had in mind earlier when I was
talking about potentially “cheesy” tourist sites. I can’t say that I was particularly excited at the prospect of going up & yet at the same time I also fully appreciated that we couldn’t come to New York & not do it. I hadn’t been sure whether we should go at night or during the day but as things worked out it was probably around 8 p.m. when we decided to pay our visit. There was virtually no line & although I was initially impressed on first entering the building I was distinctly underwhelmed as we made our way onwards & upwards – too many souvenir photo & audio guide companies for my liking.

When we finally made our way out to the viewing platform, however, I was completely won over by the Empire State Building – it truly was awe inspiring to look out on Manhattan, either straight DOWN…Down…down…to the miniature traffic & cabs directly beneath us or across the lights & rooftops spread out before us as far as the eye could see. Airplanes & helicopters droned & whirred down the Hudson & although it’s a terrible cliché you really did feel as though you could have reached out your hand & grabbed one. Although it was a magical experience to see the night view I also wondered what the view would have been like during the day. It would have been nice to have seen Central Park in all its glory rather than the eerie black void that took up much of the view looking Uptown.

I know that some posters recommend the view from The Top Of The Rock over the Empire State (perhaps because you can see the latter from the former) but not having gone up the Rock I can’t really comment. It would have to be MIGHTY impressive to beat the Empire State, however.

Although I always do a lot of advance planning for my trips I don’t set out any fixed itineraries – I know where I want to go to but I don’t like to tie myself down to a particular running order or schedule. Sometimes, however, that approach can lead to wrong choices like going to Staten Island & Ellis Island on the same afternoon. The Staten Island Ferry seems to be universally hailed as one of New York’s greatest free attractions & being Scottish there were two chances of us missing out on a free deal – slim & none (had to tone that saying down for a family audience). And, of course, the hype is justified – it’s a great experience in any circumstances, but to get it for free is just fantastic (even if you’re not Scottish).

Our mistake was that, on arriving back at Battery Park, we decided to take a trip out to the Statue of Liberty and/or Ellis Island. Nothing wrong with that in itself but because we had left it till quite late in the day we had already missed the last sailing to Liberty Island & in fact we ended up taking the last boat to Ellis Island which severely curtailed our time there. Looking back on it, there was really no point in taking the Staten Island trip if we were going to pay to go over to Ellis Island anyway. The sail across the harbour is wonderful & not to be missed but there was no need for us to make it 4 times in the one day.

If forced to make a decision on the absolute Number 1 highlight of the trip I think we would probably all choose Ellis Island and I say that even although we had precious little time there – maybe just over an hour all told. I normally steer well clear of organised tours but as luck would have it one of the official guides was just about to start his tour when we arrived & in view of our limited time it seemed to make sense to go along with him. As it turned out this was a very good decision indeed.

It was impossible, of course, for us to really understand how those arriving at Ellis Island all those years ago must have felt, but the guide did a very good job of giving us some sort of appreciation of what it must have been like. As we sat on the benches in the Great Hall listening to his tales it didn’t take too big a mental leap to imagine the people huddled together in their family groups & hear the babble & hubbub of different languages.

The guide explained how the new arrivals would find their way up to the hall by means of a steep winding staircase which gave watching immigration officials a perfect view of their progress upstairs. Those who struggled on the staircase (perhaps due to infirmity, ill health or age) would be taken aside for medical examination. It must have a bewildering experience after such a lengthy & arduous journey, particularly for those who couldn’t speak the language. I found it a very emotional experience & I say that as someone who has no family link with Ellis Island (as far as I know, anyway). I think that if I knew my ancestors had actually passed through there I would have found it very difficult to keep my composure.

Unfortunately the guide had to cut his tour short due to time constraints and we only had around 10 or 15 minutes to wander around by ourselves before the building closed and we went outside to catch the ferry back to Manhattan. I have very few regrets about our trip, but I do wish we had given ourselves more time at Ellis Island.

Before coming to New York I had been determined to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and we managed to fit this in on our final evening. Following advice given on Fodors we took the subway across to Brooklyn & then walked back up the ramp on to the bridge towards Manhattan. We found it an easy walk (shorter than I had imagined) & the views were every bit as spectacular as had been promised.

Talking about walking, there’s little I like better than wandering about a new city on my own & Manhattan really was the ideal place for that. On the day we all split up I disembarked from the Brooklyn bus tour at South Street Seaport & then walked aimlessly (but perfectly happily) through Lower Manhattan up past Wall St. and on to Broadway. I then followed Broadway up as far as 23rd St. before eventually admitting defeat and catching the subway back up to our apartment. Although the walk was very enjoyable I’m afraid I did suffer a couple of embarrassing incidents along the way.

Somewhere round about the Canal St. area I was crossing the road when my foot caught the kerb & I made a really spectacular headlong dive before landing spreadeagled & face-down on the sidewalk. Getting up to my feet I half-expected to see a line-up of judges awarding me marks out of ten & although my artistic impression was probably lacking somewhat I reckon that for sheer athleticism I had earned at least an 8.5. Of course what really happened was that the passersby lived up to their job title & passed right on by – probably on the assumption that I was either drunk or stoned out of my head. I got back to my feet with as much decorum as I could muster, dusted myself down & walked on, trying to give the impression that my fall had just been a minor inconvenience – the type of thing that happened all the time. Next time any of you are down that neck of the woods keep your eyes peeled & if you look closely you will see the outline shape of a bespectacled 6 foot & ½ an inch Scotsman, with arms & legs akimbo, engrained into the concrete sidewalk.

Feeling peckish & needing a caffeine shot to get over my indignity I went into a French style coffeeshop (think it might have been either Au Bon Pain or Le Pain Quotidien) & stood at the counter waiting to get served. Nothing happened. Another customer took pity on me & giving me a menu card & a pencil she explained that I was supposed to fill in what I wanted to eat on the card & then hand it over. I thanked her for her help but on reading the card I still didn’t really understand what I was supposed to do. I don’t know if some sort of delayed concussion was starting to set in from my fall but I kind of panicked (for want of a better term), put the card & the pencil down & left the café as quickly as possible. The female customer & the staff must have wondered what on earth was going on & I wouldn’t blame them if they had tuned into the evening news that night to find out if an escaped mental patient was on the loose in Manhattan.

I’ve already mentioned that Eddie visited the USS Intrepid & although I can’t say that it would be my cup of tea (or should that be cawfee?) I know that he spent most of the day there & enjoyed it very much.

Of course, there were other less obvious sights which stick in my mind – the jaw-dropping sight of the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle; a guy going down Broadway on a unicycle; the press & TV companies jostling for position on the steps of the courthouse during a mob trial – just like in the movies.

I’ve deliberately left Ground Zero until last – mainly because I’m really not sure how to explain how I felt about it , but also for fear that my comments might cause offence in some way, which definitely isn’t my intention. Before we went I felt uneasy about treating the area as some sort of tourist attraction and I feel equally uncomfortable now writing about it. However, the whole point of writing a trip report is to give honest opinions & impressions of the places we visit & so I don’t want to just gloss over the subject.

It strikes me that the city fathers must have been in an almost impossible position when it came to how to “present” the site (if I can use that word). I would imagine that two issues must have been uppermost in their minds; to pay a suitably respectful tribute to those who were tragically lost in the disaster and yet at the same time to show the world that New York itself would not be bowed or beaten by the terrorists but would continue to prosper.

If I’m being completely honest I felt that the “memorial” aspect could perhaps have been handled better. Although the signs & notice boards which ring the site are interesting & informative I was surprised that I didn’t feel more emotionally involved. I felt that the area lacked some sort of central focal point although, to be fair, perhaps I would have felt differently if we had been able to go inside St. Paul’s Church - unfortunately it was closed to the public as it was hosting a musical recital. The day after our visit to Ground Zero I was very surprised to see the battered but still recognisable Globe virtually hidden from view behind wooden hoardings among heavy construction work being carried out in the Battery Park area. In fact I only noticed it because it was pointed out to us by the guide on our tour bus - we had actually walked right past it the previous day without even noticing it was there. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have located the Globe somewhere around the World Trade Center site as a tangible reminder of that terrible day?

I should stress that I’m well aware that I’m making some snap judgements based on a fleeting visit to the city. There may well be very good reasons why the Globe was located where it was and if that’s the case I’ll be happy to stand corrected.

On the other hand, you only need to spend a couple of hours in New York to know that the city’s spirit remains unbroken. I’ve visited several of Europe’s great cities but there is a sense of confidence & self-assurance in New York that I simply haven’t experienced anywhere else. Perhaps this could be misconstrued as arrogance but based on the people we met that would be a very unfair description. Like every big city, New York has its faults but I know that if I was a New Yorker I’d be proud to shout it from the rooftops.

That’s more or less it really. The Hospitality House staff arranged for a car to take us back to JFK and the only other incident of note was when the girl at check in took my passport away to be photo-copied. I’ve no idea why - she didn’t take anyone else’s. Maybe Au Bon Pain had put out an APB (pity it’s not called an ABP) for the deranged and extremely dangerous customer who had been in their café a couple of days earlier.

The flight home was uneventful and this time we only had a short 1 hour change over in Iceland before we arrived back in Glasgow.

We’ve been having a family discussion over the last couple of days & there are tentative plans to go back to New York in October, this time with our boys, although the bank manager may have something to say about that.

I’ll finish off by saying that the title of this report is a bit tongue in cheek – how can you know if New York is the greatest city in the world unless you’ve visited all of the others? Tell you what, though – if there is a greater city I really hope I get to go there some day.

Thanks for reading,

Jim

Wonderful, Jim! Thoroughly enjoyed it, and thank you so much! After reading this, DH and I are planning a trip to NYC. We're overdue. Sure wish you, Liz, Eddie and Anne Marie were going with us!

As a former New Yorker, Jim, I applaud your hearty enjoyment of one of the world's greatest cities. It is! Great report. Why don't you visit Tokyo? I'd LOVE to read your report on that city!

Ah Jim. So glad you came back to finish your report. Now you really do have to go back to NY so you can write another, equally entertaining report!

How interesting that a bunch of New York editors at Readers Digest declared NYC the most friendly city in the World. I think they need to get out more often. LOL

thank you Jim... i SO enjoyed your honest and entertaining report. I have been wanting to go to Ellis Island for a long while, to see where my grandfather first saw the US. No one seems to want to go with me.. I just purchased tickets tonight for our NY trip in Sept. I will stand firm in getting my way this time, and go by myself if need be.
I'm thinking next summer, Scotland for me..

JJBhoy - Well done. Agree 100% about Ellis Island.

Look forward to reading about your next trip with your boys.

Sandy

Jim, I appreciate your efforts to finish this report. You truly have given a thoughtful and honest sense of your reactions to what you saw - while retaining humor and informative detail. This is not an easy balance, nor one often achieved.

I know what you mean about the list of things you didn't get to do. I have a similar list for London, and, in fact, for the entire country of Scotland!

I agree that Ellis Island is an amazing place. The day we went, we took the first or second ferry to the Statue of Liberty. After waiting in the line and climbing to the top (which took a few hours, I guess), we took a ferry to Ellis Island. We had several hours there, but we still caught the last ferry off the island. I do have ancestors who came through Ellis Island, and we got to see the names engraved on the wall. My children had studied Ellis Island in some degree of detail in school, but even with what I thought I knew about the place, I wasn't prepared for its power. My husband felt the same way, and his people didn't come through Ellis.

Bravo!

Thanks for finishing your report; I think it's one of the best NYC reports on this forum.

A wee update - we've just booked our flights for a return visit to NYC in October. The original "four musketeers" will all be travelling plus my two teenage sons.

All police leave is hereby cancelled.

Jim

Great news JJBhoy, for you four and for us. I can hardly wait for your next trip report!! And hopefully some civicminded New Yorker will warn the city fathers, lol. Take care and have fun planning the damage you will do!!

Jim, I just came across your report. Very entertaining! I'm so glad that you enjoyed your visit to my hometown, and that you're coming back with your sons!

Just to say that we will be arriving in New York this Saturday, October 14. I'll try to start work on a fresh trip report as soon as possible after we return.

My thoughts go out to everone caught up in today's events in Manhattan.

Jim

Looking forward to it! Have a great time in NY.

Have another excellent adventure in New York! I can't wait to hear all about it.

Yay!! Wonderful trip report! I think you definately have a good talent for travel writing!!

I can write, but travel writing seems to be sooo difficult for me...and add to the fact that I don't keep remember too many details, but rather just the experience.

Jim -

You've brought me to tears three times.

First, choosing Olive Garden, Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood to eat at while in such a great restaurant town. (I understand, though, because I also have friends that prefer chains for their predictability.)

Second, with laughter at your wonderful descriptions of your family and their activities.

Third, for your love for this great city. (I have got to get to Ellis Island.)

Thanks!

For those who wondered what Eddie sounds like (kind of...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TawVFObYjpY

Jim

LOL...I understood 2 things...Holocaust and Donald Duck.

No wonder you've got that pic of the Dalai Lama.
Did you take your sons to NYC? I'm taking my daughters in 4 weeks.

If your party numbers 6 in October, how many bags from Bloomies can you get?

LLindaC,

Yes, we did take the boys to NYC last October. I've actually posted part of a trip report for that visit, although I'm afraid I've let it slip rather - I'm trying to get back to it though.
Here's a link;

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=1&tid=34894494

E_M, we did get more Bloomies bags in October, but I can't recall how many - I let Liz do the talking this time so she probably picked up 30 or 40

Jim