Silence? What can New York-noisy, roaring, rumbling, tumbling, bustling, story, turbulent New York-have to do with silence? Amid the universal clatter, the incessant din of business, the all swallowing vortex of the great money whirlpool-who has any, even distant, idea of the profound repose......of silence?” Walt Whitman
New York was a late addition to our trip. But when you discover you will be driving more or less directly past this great city you just have to stop, don't you? Times Square, Empire State Building, yellow cabs, skyscrapers, people everywhere, roaring, rumbling, New-freaking-YORK...!
We have been to Manhattan a few times before and loved it every time. The captivating vibe of the place, the fantastic food, and the shopping..... oh the shopping. Being in the US always seemed to be a bit of a half price sale to me, but this time things have changed. I haven't had a chance for a trip to Bloomingdale's yet, but $15 for an hours parking, $11 for two coffees, $5 for ONE icecream, $20 for a pizza, a sort of quiet inflation seems to have occurred. Damn you quantitative easing.
New York had been excluded for another reason - baby-gistics. Even the teeny weeny strollers are folded for public transport in Manhattan, so our hefty double Uppa Baby didn't stand a chance. It wasn't really designed to be a quick fold operation, nor were my arms designed to lift my two toddlers at the same time. But we made it work and met up with an old friend along the way (love you Caz!) with a great trip up the Rockerfeller, down memory lane over lunch, and an afternoon in Central Park.
The boys also enjoyed seeing the Space Shuttle on the USS Intrepid, the cool playgrounds around Hell's Kitchen, and the amazing Toys-R-US in Times Square - a toy store so gigantic it has a ferris wheel as it's center piece.
Budgets being what they are we traded the option of a Manhattan shoe-box for a spacious three bedroom apartment in Union City, which is over the Hudson in New Jersey. I explain the location because ask a New Yorker and they have no IDEA where Union City is, even tho it's closer than the Bronx, and, as we discovered, just 15 mins by bus (when the bus decides to arrive!), to Times Square.
So less than 5 miles away via the Lincoln tunnel, Union City, known as "Havana on the Hudson", seems virtually NOTHING like New York, and I have to admit that my first impressions were on the unfavourable side. The high street is crowded and a bit tacky with swathes of 99c stores, a $5 shoe warehouse, and a lot of signage promoting "butt boostin' jeans".
However after settling in we discovered something really lovely about being on this side of the river. Families were sitting together on the 'stoop' (don't you love a stoop...!?!) and laughing with their kids. People were constantly offering to help carry our heavy stroller, or giving up their seats on the bus. Waitresses were smiling and chatting away to the boys as we ordered lunch in what was clearly the wrong language in restaurants (sadly our Spanish is not up to scratch!). And in the water play parks and playgrounds crowds of children were running and splashing like mad to cool off from the hot August summer days.
I look forward to being wrong again about first impressions. And to seeing other old friends we might meet along the way.
