My first overseas trip: a year on- New York pt 2

New York   07/07/2010 Pt 2

 My third day in New York saw me awake to more hot weather. I decided to go on a tour of the water. We went under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and I saw the Statue of Liberty.  Afterwards I took a cab to the Guggenheim museum. By this stage I was ready to brave the N.Y. subway and caught a train downtown. Where I went to ‘Shoe mania’ trying to track down some mythical cheap Campers...but they no longer stock them. After settling for some other cheap sneakers, I headed back to the hotel where a message from ‘C’ was waiting for me. I was excited! I did not think he would call. We made plans and met for dinner...
 
Dinner with C was lovely, he is a sweet and handsome man, very deep and a good hearted person. If he was at home in Melbourne, I would ask him on a date every night and would love to get to know him more. We walked after dinner, and then caught a cab to another bar where we talked at length and with great honesty, there was no judgment…after this we ended up at a gay bar which had great indie music playing. I wanted to kiss C, but I didn’t want to spoil the night and have him reject my kiss or me. The Smiths 'A rush and a push' came on... I looked across at C, we were silent and seemed to be taking in each other in, wondering... I sang along to Morrissey ... 

'They said ‘There's too much caffeine In your bloodstream and a lack of real spice In your life’ ....Oh, but don't mention love I'd hate the strain of the pain again.. A rush and a push and the land that we stand on is ours, It has been before, So it shall be again.  And people who are uglier than you and I, they take what they need, and just leave...’.

 I was inspired! I will take what I want.....this was the moment, I leaned in and we kissed. It was as lovely, soft and sensual as he was. It was better than I thought it might be. Our lips lingered, savoring the moment. We separated and then leaned in again to kiss, just to be sure. Yes, he is a lovely kisser and Yes, If he was back home, I would ask him out every night on a date. I wondered if I would ever see him again, if not I will always have the kiss we shared in a bar in New York....

So far i have left a part of myself behind in Como, namely my eco-soap and shampoo, My heart was left in Germany, as was part of my tooth. I left lots of sweat behind as I made my escape from Milan. Paris has my blood thanks to many bed bugs and I have now left behind a lovely man in New York...

The next day was my last in New York. I met with Loretta's cousin M, who is a playwright and also works with school kids assisting and helping them write and have their own plays performed. He is an amazing man, and as generous and kind as his cousin Loretta. I had a great time! M gave me a guided walking tour. He talked of the changing nature of downtown, of China town and the local and modern history. We ate, walked in the heat, stopped for juice and then walked over the Brooklyn Bridge!!! It is one of the most beautiful bridges I have ever seen. The views from it are amazing. M also shared his personal story of 9/11 and it really brought home what happened, so different from just watching the news stories. I became a bit teary hearing it. Soon our day was done and like a gentleman, M saw me back to my hotel. What a great time I had in NY!!! Nothing like I expected and a place I would gladly go back to again...
 

Hawaii is next, via an overnight stop in Los Angeles. On the plane to Los Angeles LCD Soundsystem’s track "New York I love you" came on the discman . Despite their love of NY, it was bringing them down. This was not the case for me, instead N.Y. lifted me up. The track "all my friends" came on... 'I wouldn't change one stupid decision' sang out and it reflected exactly how I felt. Despite a few dramas and problems, it has been a wonderful trip and I wouldn’t have changed anything.
 

Next: Hawaii!!

Images from the river cruise:

Empire State building looms in the background (to the right):

Manhattan Bridge:

For some reason, some of the below pictures kind of look like they were painted:

Brooklyn Bridge:

Fire escapes: 

Walking over the amazing Brooklyn Bridge:

My first overseas trip: a year on- New York Pt 1

05/07/2010  New York  Pt 1

Seven to eight hours after leaving the U.K. I arrive at JFK airport in New York. After a very LONG delay through customs and trying to organise my prepaid transfer from the airport to my hotel... I ended up in bed at 1.30am. Which was about 6.30am UK time (i.e. I had been up for almost 24 hours) so my first visit to New York (and the USA), saw me tired and cranky with New Yorkers!!

I had just come from spending a relaxing and most enjoyable few days with my mate D in Portslade. He booked me in to see a dentist who is an ex-pat from QLD. The dentist looked at my infected tooth and told me that the temp filling had come off sometime in Paris! Funny, because now that he mentions it…. I did notice that my tooth was very sensitive and I could not eat on it. I guess all that was between the outside world and the nerves in my tooth was some cotton wool. Yikes! Anyway, he cleaned it all out and gave me a new stronger temp filling- 75 pounds later!! Still, the temp filling meant that I can eat on the tooth, so D and I promptly went off to celebrate his birthday… with a lovely dinner out and some wine….

But that was days ago and now I am in New York.  Where unfortunately, I have arrived at the start of a heatwave. Still, this has not stopped me from walking about and enjoying Manhattan. I am staying 2 blocks from the Empire State building, which is lit up red, blue and white for 4th of July celebrations. I walked past the Empire State, down 5th Avenue, down Madison Avenue (during which I couldn't help but sing Kirsty MacColl's 'walking down madison'- to myself of course!!  )... to Grand central station, which is huge and beautiful! I realized that New York is full of lovely buildings and it also has heaps of public libraries! Some of them in said beautiful buildings.  Despite New York's many public libraries, it has so many more health clubs! I guess these New Yorkers have a thing about fitness!!! Being inspired by all of this I decided to keep walking!! So I walked over to Rockefeller Plaza, in the Rockefeller building and up to 'Top of the ROCK' (which is a lookout about 70 floors up). The lift takes less than a minute to go up 70 floors and as you go up the lift  roof becomes transparent!

Top of the Rock, what an amazing view!!!  I looked out over Central park and the Manhattan Skyline. I took photos and just soaked it all in. After this I walked off to MOMA (museum of modern art) and OMG !!! I entered a room and saw that they had a piece by Gilbert and George!!! Whilst not a great piece, still!! My first ever Gilbert and George 'in the flesh' experience!!! (I did think about stalking them in the UK, but that might be a holiday for another time). I quickly asked some stranger to  take my photo next to their art. YAY !!! I have since discovered via MOMA’s website that they have a few better pieces by Gilbert and George but for some insane reason, they are not on display!!!!! I also saw some more Vincent van Gogh.. his lovely 'The Starry night'. I think I have now accidentally seen all of Vincents most well known works !! At MOMA there was also a large and brilliant photographic exhibition by female photographers which I spent some time looking at. After all of this art, I took a stroll through the heat to Central park and walked about for a bit, before taking a seat and just watching people pass by..... wow, what a day !!!

Partly because it was a public holiday and partly because it is very hot, the streets were pretty quiet. I popped the walkman on and listed to a new cd I had brought in the UK by a group called 'The Drums', who just happen to be from BROOKLYN!!!! Their rhythms suited my walking the quiet streets of New York and soon I  headed down Lexington, across 59th west street, all the way back to my hotel on East 31st street...

The next day was about 40 degrees (in fact, I think it was about this hot everyday I was New York), but still I pushed on. I walked a lot, shopped at JC Pennys (YAY!!!.. just like 'Target' at home but in N.Y.  LOL). I took a tourist bus down town. I saw wall st, the docks, where the Twin towers once were and we passed Christopher Street, where the tour guide pointed out a significant bar The 'Stonewall Inn'. Some say birthplace of gay politics (where we took a stand against being persecuted). Later that evening I decided to take a cab to the Stonewall Inn for a peek and a drink. I must say I was a bit disappointed, I didn't know what to expect, but it was like most gay bars I have been to...quiet. It was a large-ish place and only had about 10 people in it. However, there was a very cute man that caught my eye as I entered. He was with a friend and unlike others I had seen in N.Y. that seemed fake in their happiness, he talked, gestured and expressed a whole gamit of emotions. In short, he seemed honest. I downed a drink to boost my confidence and after checking him out some more, I  busted some of the famous Matthew Magic moves... The famous moves that make men like putty in my palm (well not quite... now the moves are rusty through lack of use and with encroaching age). Despite my nervousness, I thought- I have nothing to lose, besides I am used to men not being interested.... so I went over and asked some inane question and we chatted, he was lovely. He worked with ill children as a medical practitioner and despite my thinking he was Jewish, was instead of Puerto Rican descent. ‘C’ was interesting and had a quiet deepness...I left him my details and invited him out for dinner the next night...I went back to the hotel and suspected that I wouldn’t hear from C again, but still it was lovely meeting him.

To be continued…….. 

 Amongst it:

The Iconic Library Lion:

Grand Central:

The View From Top of the Rock:

Everywhere you go,  the Empire State looms large:

Something I loved about New York was that everywhere you went there seemed to be a Library!

MOMA:

OMG!!!!  One of my highlights!!!!:

Terrible picture of me in front of Gilbert and George's piece. Even though It is not a great piece of theirs, I just had to get my photo taken in front of it!:

Of course I had to go here:

My first overseas trip: a year on- Paris

01/07/2010 From Paris to Portslade

So much has happened in such a short amount of time!
I have been to Paris, walked the streets and seen the sights. I also met a man on the train on the way to the city of love (Paris of course!) and I am now back in Portslade (U.K.).

In my last update I had just made an emergency Sunday visit to the dentist in Mannheim, Germany and an hour later was to catch a train Paris! At the Mannheim train station I had stood next to a handsome man, who was now sitting in second class. So I decided to brave the elements and leave the comfort and safety of 1st class to say hello. Squeezing my way through the narrow 2^nd class aisles to my man, was well worth it. Not only for conversation, but, he also invited me to sit with him! He had such lovely blue eyes and a very warm smile. I forget his name, but do recall that he was German, about 40 years old, lives in Mannheim and was off to Paris on holidays. He was going to take a 2 week drama course !!! Marvelous!!! Anyway, I left him my number and email details and suggested that if he was free, that perhaps we could meet for a drink. I went back to my seat and contemplated what might lay ahead for me in Paris, the city of love...ahh…

And what did lay ahead, I hear you ask?
Dodgy areas, lots of poor and homeless people (some of them openly sleeping in the street), a man pissing in the train station passage, Africans harassing us to buy things from them, a few escalating verbal arguments, people fighting in the street, bed bugs at the hotel.. oh, and no phone call from my handsome German man. So much for the city of love…

I must say that my mate ‘M’ from Dublin (who had come over and hung out in Berlin) was coming to meet me again! We stayed next to Gare D'lest Station, which we soon found out was in a dodgy area of town. When we took a metro train to the more affluent areas, we heaved a sigh of relief, ahhh this is the Paris we expected !!! We also didn’t expect the 30 plus degree days!!! Despite my prior comments about Paris, so many amazing things happened to me.

Paris:
M and I climbed the steps to the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, dodged the Africans aggressively selling wares and took refuge from them and the heat inside the cool church. We then looked out over the Paris skyline to decide our next step. From Montmartre we walked the streets and tasted life. Found our way to the 7th arrondissement (du Palais-Bourbon) and visited the headquarters of the Daughters of Charity (who I had done some work for back home).

M has a few friends in Paris and we met the lovely Gayle. Gayle, took us to Notre Dame, we walked the Latin Quarter and tracked down a patisserie that Loretta (from back home) had recommended- ‘Gerard Mulot’, and we had a lovely afternoon tea!!! We then walked some more, had drinks and watched people pass. On a bench behind Notre Dame I read Gayle’s Tarot card’s and afterwards we had dinner at a dodgy faux-greek restaurant in the Latin quarter.

I set off alone the next day and went to the amazing Musee D'orsay. I waited about 45 mins in the hot sun to get in, but it was well worth it!!! They had a great Vincent Van Gogh collection. I am not sure why but I felt teary in front of his self portrait. I then walked across the Seine and through the Jardin des Tuleries, past the Obelisque and up Avenue Des Champs towards the Arc de Triomphe. I didn't get all the way, because of the heat. M and I then caught up and did so with another friend of hers- Eva at Invalides. Eva took us to meet her friends where we chatted, had a picnic, drank Ricard and played a game called pétanque. All with the Grand Palace as our backdrop!

Many hours later, M and I drunkenly walked towards the Effiel Tower. All lit up and glorious it seemed to beckon us. At about 12.30am we found it, walked under it and though it had closed, we still had to dodge the Africans selling tourist gear (I guess the early bird gets the worm)! M and I did our own thing again the next day and I spent it with the lovely Gerard and his Australian partner Richard. Gerard took us to Versailles and gave us a detailed tour of the 3 palaces and gardens, simply HUGE and amazing!!! We then went back for dinner where Gerard produced Duck confit and salad, with a lovely red French wine!! Such an amazing day!

Unfortunately, that night M and I discovered bed bugs at the hotel. I woke to them crawling on me!!  Yikes!! M had been bitten and had had a rash for days but we didn't know from what... well, we didn’t know till now.  Poor thing! Though we weren't in a great part of town we stayed at a decent and respectable Hotel...so go figure.

Anyway... Paris, I am not sure about it as a city. I felt a constant tension in the air, people argued and sometimes it escalated into something more physical. Though the city itself has some amazing things to see, I didn't love it, but...the people made it. If I had not met Gerard and Mary's friends (who were all amazing and gave me a glimpse of real French life), I don't think I would have liked Paris, not that I would have disliked it.. but, just not liked it. It is a city, big, concrete and full of tension. There is no love in it. For me it was not the city of love that I was expecting, and not because my handsome German man did not contact me, but because of the tension that sat constantly. There was aggression that sprang up so fast and unexpectedly that it unsettled me. Perhaps it was the heat, I don’t know. I ponder this as I wait for the Eurostar train to take me back to the United Kingdom and to Portslade.

Once on the train, I listened to the walkman and gazed out the window. Billy Bragg played 'St Swithens day' - 'Thanks all the same, but I just can't bring myself to answer your letters. It's not your fault that your honesty touches me like a fire.. the Polaroid’s that hold us together, will surely fade away, like the love that we spoke of forever on St Swithens day'… Ahh Billy !!!  The honesty, the fragileness of human hearts, the hurt that fills where once was love.....I sit with these thoughts as the train passes Calais, signaling that we are soon to leave France. Paris is far behind me now. I think of the hearts we break, instead of keeping safe. I wonder if Paris' heart is now filled with hurt and anger instead of love. Maybe another revolution is needed, but this time a peaceful one, a change of emotion, out with the old and in with love and tolerance.

Arriving at London St Pancras, I change trains and head off to Portslade. Simon and Garfunkle play the ‘Leaves that are green’. The lyrics 'and the leaves that are green turn to brown.. they wither in the wind and crumble in your hand' sing out as wildflowers by the side of the train tracks pass me by, like spectators they stand and wave us on... they are wild, unwanted weeds, but today I see their beauty. They make me feel more connected to everything, to the fleetingness of life. 'I stand alone without beliefs, all I have is you' (Kathy's song- simon and Garfunkle). I can't help but think that we only have each other and to deny one is to deny ourselves... Finally, the 'sounds of silence' plays out - 'the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls', again my thoughts return to Paris and to the homeless man pissing against the wall in the subway station.... I think of how we all pass him by and choose to ignore his message. I don't know what any of this means... they are just thoughts and feelings. We are all connected and yet we seem to live life in a manner which ignores this fact.

Soon I arrive in Portslade for a few days rest before I head off to New York

Next stop: New York!  Did I say that already??

Breakfast:

Versailles:

Gerard's for dinner: