'Rocky' run
Only I more day in New York city. I fly out of Newark airport in New Jersey at 7:30am on the 14th so I'm going to stay in New Jersey tomorrow night to make sure I don't bugger up the subway and miss the plane (the subway has caused me a bit of grief this week: I got a little lost a few times; last night a woman came onto me who I'm pretty sure was a hooker so I just smiled politely and burried my head in my book). Jersey is famous for its countless churches and bars. I may get acquainted with the some of the later on my last night in the US.
The other night I was bailed up in the kitchen by two Dutch girls who firstly droned on about why their country is so great and secondly picked my brains for where to go in NY since I'd been here for a week. I agreed to check out Harlem with them on Sunday. Harlem is going through a renaissance and it stood in stark contrast to the more chaotic Brooklyn I'd visited earlier in the week. The sidewalks were crowded with well-heeled and proud-looking folk and going from church services. We found this very famous Baptist (or Methodist(?)) church that's apparently a must-see because it has an amazing choir. The line to go on in was ridiculous so I said goodbye to the gals and wandered off into Central Park to pour through the massive tree-trunk weekend edition of the New York Times. I've learned so much about Amercia by reading the paper each day. Central Park was simply stunning on that sunny Sunday.
I explored slick SOHO in the afternoon and then onto Chinatown which is massive and more like a China city. Little Italy was adjacent and full of people watching the World Cup in the bars. I was determined to find the famous CBGBs club where New York's punk first kicked around in the 70s and I finally found it down the end of the Bowery. Sonic Youth are playing there tonight. It's amazing to think they were making a racket at that little bar way back in 1983. I emailed the club a month ago to try to get a ticket and then emailed back saying no chance because the gig sold out in 5 seconds flat!
So today I did a took the bus up to Philadelphia. Philly is only a couple of hours away. It's a beautiful city and super historical. It's where the Declaration of Independence was signed, where the Liberty Bell is located and where the Colonial Congress sat for the first time in 1779. I hoped on one of those hop-on and hop-off bus tour things to see the sights. The highlight of course was running up the steps of the Museum the Stallone ran up in Rocky 1! My hearty American breakfast of coffee and donuts gave me all the energy I needed tp power up the steps. Rocky's a damn good movie. I remember watching it on the plane back from Canada last time and being instantly inspired to do something big (which I quickly forgot in my jet-lagged state). After a cheese steak and root beer on uber-cool South street in the early afternoon I jumped on the bus back to NY.
And here I am, back at the hostel wandering what do on my last day here. I've been totally engrossed in a copy of Jack Keroauc's journals I picked up the other day and I'm thinking of making the pilgrimage out to Queens where he pumped out 'On the Road' and drank himself to death a couple of decades later at age 47. It's tragic to read in the journals how as a 26yr old he was convinced that he was through with drinking when infact the drink got a serious hold on him in later years when fame messed with everything.
MG
On the Ipod: Lou Reed, 'Transformer'
The other night I was bailed up in the kitchen by two Dutch girls who firstly droned on about why their country is so great and secondly picked my brains for where to go in NY since I'd been here for a week. I agreed to check out Harlem with them on Sunday. Harlem is going through a renaissance and it stood in stark contrast to the more chaotic Brooklyn I'd visited earlier in the week. The sidewalks were crowded with well-heeled and proud-looking folk and going from church services. We found this very famous Baptist (or Methodist(?)) church that's apparently a must-see because it has an amazing choir. The line to go on in was ridiculous so I said goodbye to the gals and wandered off into Central Park to pour through the massive tree-trunk weekend edition of the New York Times. I've learned so much about Amercia by reading the paper each day. Central Park was simply stunning on that sunny Sunday.
I explored slick SOHO in the afternoon and then onto Chinatown which is massive and more like a China city. Little Italy was adjacent and full of people watching the World Cup in the bars. I was determined to find the famous CBGBs club where New York's punk first kicked around in the 70s and I finally found it down the end of the Bowery. Sonic Youth are playing there tonight. It's amazing to think they were making a racket at that little bar way back in 1983. I emailed the club a month ago to try to get a ticket and then emailed back saying no chance because the gig sold out in 5 seconds flat!
So today I did a took the bus up to Philadelphia. Philly is only a couple of hours away. It's a beautiful city and super historical. It's where the Declaration of Independence was signed, where the Liberty Bell is located and where the Colonial Congress sat for the first time in 1779. I hoped on one of those hop-on and hop-off bus tour things to see the sights. The highlight of course was running up the steps of the Museum the Stallone ran up in Rocky 1! My hearty American breakfast of coffee and donuts gave me all the energy I needed tp power up the steps. Rocky's a damn good movie. I remember watching it on the plane back from Canada last time and being instantly inspired to do something big (which I quickly forgot in my jet-lagged state). After a cheese steak and root beer on uber-cool South street in the early afternoon I jumped on the bus back to NY.
And here I am, back at the hostel wandering what do on my last day here. I've been totally engrossed in a copy of Jack Keroauc's journals I picked up the other day and I'm thinking of making the pilgrimage out to Queens where he pumped out 'On the Road' and drank himself to death a couple of decades later at age 47. It's tragic to read in the journals how as a 26yr old he was convinced that he was through with drinking when infact the drink got a serious hold on him in later years when fame messed with everything.
MG
On the Ipod: Lou Reed, 'Transformer'
posted by Matt G at 7:05 PM
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