First impressions of a massive place.

Well, that was a journey. Quite literally. We transited halfway across the face of the earth, which is pretty much the textbook definition of a journey.

Its fair to say that i went into my first ever trans-hemispheric flight with the sort of cocky-excitement that can only come from complete naivety. Even after the first 11hr stint, whilst drearily wandering Doha airport, I was remarkably cavalier about the ease of this long haul stuff. That confidence evaporated with the brutal second leg - 14 hours of sustained discomfort, enforced artificial darkness, and seats reclining towards our heads at an alarming speed and frequency. 

It wasn't all bad, though; although we weren't allowed to open our window shades, we snuck to the back of the plane and huddled at the window in front of the toilet door, where we got an incredible view of Greenland from 10km up . Twisted shoulders of rock sticking through the snow, and glaciers flowing in iceberg filled fjords, with a backdrop of pure white stretching back until merging into the sky. I've never been so mesmerised in such proximity to a public toilet.

 

Also, the fast and the furious 6 was on the inflight.

So, anyway, we made it to JFK, waded through the lines for border control, and have now clocked up 2 full days in New York City. They say you need at-least two weeks in NYC, and you'll still need to come back later for the rest of it, so we were a little concerned about only having 8 days in this massive town. However, we've already accomplished the following:

• been to a rock show at a classic Manhattan concert hall
• mistakenly accused one of our host's neighbours of trying to sell us narcotics disguised as a laundry tablet.
• got lost when walking down a straight road (the trick is to walk down the wrong straight road, at least one block over)
• waddled home clutching our full stomachs, despite eating a only half of the served portions

Jokes aside, aside, the day disappears fast here. I expected to be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the city, chock-full with locals and tourists, but it seems to work in its own way and make sense. It's a cool city.

We've ticked a few of the boxes on our list, including some of the obligatories, but there's plenty yet to be done.  Today, we tackle Chelsea markets, the high-line, west village and the alt-j concert at Central Park. Tomorrow, back to Brooklyn and Williamsburg for round 2.

Parting notes and observations:

• Brooklyn Bridge looks better from the bottom.
• The subway looks grimy and smelly in the movies. That depiction is accurate.
• The New Zealand accent is not travel friendly, especially if you're staying on suxth street.
• It remains difficult to resist yelling "NYPD, FREEZE!" every time I see police officers, which is frequently.
• The toilets have an alarmingly high waterline. No further comment.
• A soy flat what?
• The puported second best pizza shop in America makes pretty good pizza. 

...hey, look; I've woffled. Who's surprised? Not this guy.

Until the next update,

Alex