The Hangover. No, not the recent comedy film set in Las Vegas which I still have not seen. My hangover. Or jet lag or laziness. I woke up at 8.30am in line with my usual jet lag from UK to US routine. However, after effects of alcohol meant I went straight back to sleep until 12.30. Having been to New York once before for a total of 1.5 days, I knew that John's Pizza on Bleeker's Street was a must. Ed and I eventually dragged our weary bodies out of bed and trudged to Bleeker's Street in the Manhattan heat. After wandering up and down the wrong way on Bleeker's St we get there. The pizza is very good. And very filling.
We ate a fairly late lunch, but we had also been invited over for a lovely meal right by the UN building. Feeling very bloated, we got on the subway to head over to somewhere around 62ndstreet so that we could go through a little of Central Park before heading down to 42nd street. Now on the NY Subway there are trains that go locally and express, often it seems, on the same platform with the same number. Unfamiliar with this, we got on an express train. We got off on 125th Street, Harlem.
As a taxi driver in Texas later said to us, "anything north of 110th is spade city". Ed and I being white boys were certainly in a significant minority. I want to point out though that Ed's pasty British skin makes him much more of a whiteboy than me, with my slightly darker somewhat ethnic but still very white skin. Other than feeling slightly out of place, the area itself felt fine, kids playing, people just out going about their business. I found relief in being in a non-touristic area of the city. This was the daytime however, I have no idea what the area is like at night. It's reputation would have you believe that you were in a war-torn zone controlled by the gangs. It didn't feel like that at all, but like I said, we were only there in the daytime and not really there for that long.
We walked south. Through Central Park, top to bottom. It really is a lovely park, lots of trees, grass, a couple of lakes. In the middle of such a crowded city it is amazing that there is so much space giving to a place of nature. They must have some devoted and influential people protecting it otherwise I'm sure most of it would have been converted into high-rise buildings long ago. After the long walk through harlem, the park, the streets beneath the park, we get to our destination. An hour late.
Our late arrival was probably the first of many inconsiderate acts we forced our various hosts across the country to endure. As a reward we were treated to a dinner consisting of both steak and sushi with a penthouse with a view. Further more, I was given a goodie bag, consisting of various chocolates, magazines to suit my tastes (rolling stone, travel mags), a book about a poker player.
On a sidenote for those that don't know me, I am a keen poker player. Once letting my interest develop into obsession and pure degeneracy, though I never risked more than I could afford to lose. And in the long term I am a winning player. Just. The idea of making easy money while engaging in an intellectual battle just appeals to my sensibilites. It has triggered a recent interest in the stock market, a game in which I am heavily down but have not played for about eleven years. My only purchases being at the age of roughly ten-eleven, with my parents money. Making it all their fault.
After that lovely meal we returned home and had a nice, relaxing end to the day that contrasted heavily with the night before.
