Sunday 4 March – New York

I’d have to say that NY really feels different from how TV and movies make it feel. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s certainly different.

Myself and Libe took in the more southern areas of Manhattan today. First stop was Christopher Street – a world-famous gay area. I don’t think it was as ‘out there’ as I’d led to believe it would be. There was certainly a number of adult stores about, but these appeared fairly heterosexual in nature. I’m sure there’s more seedy areas in the world.

Double parking is allowed in some streets in NY. Parking is certainly at a premium (as one of these pictures will attest to), and I’m sure would prevent many residents from otherwise owning a car.

Believe it or not, there are signs with $350 penalties for honking – like the rule in Oz that makes the practice of recording shows to video tapes, this is clearly not enforced! Horns go off all through the day here, and quite often with little provocation.

We walked along Broadway through the Soho / Greenwich Village area of NY – this just might be my favorite area of NY. There are so many diffferent areas and districts of NY, with so many different feels, that it’s amazing. I’d say it’s this quality more than any other that makes the city so fun. This area of the city is really busy, with a huge shopping crowd. It has a great atmosphere to it, very cosmpolitan – it’s the area where you can picture the Carrie Bradshaws of the world living.

The south end of Broadway runs into Chinatown. Here there are a huge number of streetside stalls here selling a large range of souvenirs, t-shirts, jumpers etc, generally at super low prices. Darryl Kerrigan would love this area – plenty of opportunity for a bargain, although the quality might be lacking. Like the Kangaroos playing list really... not quite up to scratch, but cheaper than everything else.