NYC 2024/Happy birthday to me

[GORDON]

Empire State Building. There's a whole production if you're going to the observation deck. First you wind through tons of lore and shit, then finally the elevator.

The ceiling of the elevator is part of the show. There's a screen, and as you ascend, through the ceiling, you get a quick thing like... "The builders are building the building, just fast enough that the elevator can keep going up.". You see workers and girders and shit going into place, just ahead of the elevator.

You hear a hundred voices of the builders, all overlapping.

But for some reason my ear caught a specific sentence:

"I don't even speak German."

I thought that was funny.

[TheCatt]

We went to NYC twice last year, and everyone was fine. Same with Paris.

I think the rude ones are the ones who live there and have $$$

[Leisher]

So yeah, maybe it's different out in the borroughs, but my image of the rude new Yorker is shot.

Nobody was rude to me either.

[GORDON]

So to close it out..... here's what I just put on FB:

On the last morning I took the subway to the WTC, and the WTC Memorial, and that was pretty emotional. Reflected on where I was that day in 2001, and what was going on right where I was standing. I happened upon a family who knew one of the names on the wall, and were remembering him to kids who weren't alive when it happened. That was rough. I'm not crying, you're crying.

So it was after I hiked a mile-ish to the Ghostbusters HQ, to make the day a little lighter.
Then it was two-ish miles back to the hostel, I was checked out but they were keeping my heavy pack for me until I needed it that afternoon. About half way there I stopped in a Starbucks for some iced tea, and had plenty of time so just chilled there for a while and watched the city go by on the sidewalk outside. It was from there I made the "urban hiker" post.

Got back to the hostel, "New York Spirit Retreats," to get my pack. I was sweaty and asked if I could use the restroom real quick before I went to the train station.... And of course, and I was welcome, and I could rest as long as I needed, and was I hungry? Five stars for them. Super nice people. I got "thank you for staying," and the little prayer hands/head nod thing.

Which leads me to an observation.... Every single person in that city with whom I communicated was super polite, if not nice, if not kind. From the workers in the Empire State Building, to the taxi driver, to the pretty lady on the subway who helped me get off at the correct station, all just incredibly nice. Really blows away my preconceived notion that all new yorkers are rude. So there's that.

And the Moynahan Train Station, next to Madison Square Garden and three blocks from the hostel, is super modern and clean and nice.

Everything I ate in the city, from bars, restaurants, or street vendors, was delicious. I think no one can get away with mediocre food there, because they have a dozen places in competition on the same block.

It took a little bravery to get on that train, in Toledo. In my mind NYC was this big, fast, dangerous mystery that would eat up people not up to the challenge. And stepping out of the train station and onto the street was a sensory overload. It really was noise and street vendors and traffic and yellow cabs and people and honking horns.

But my fears were unrealized, I was only offered salicious things a few times, heh, and ultimately the trip was something I needed, and even though I've been home a couple days now, my mind is still there.
It was an entirely different kind of adventure than what I usually do, but just as enriching as any other.

5 stars, would NYC again.

It really was a great couple days. I liked not having to worry about a car, I'm grateful I'm healthy enough to walk a few miles without pain or any real fatigue, and I'm grateful I have enough of a spirit of adventure to attempt it.

It was a really great birthday.

"Do something crazy on your birthday" should be a thing everyone does.

[TheCatt]

Love it