Le Grand Détour

First day in New York

10 June 2017

Consider, if you please, a list of vehicle types, in the order of those to which you pay attention. Particularly in the context of New York streets. Because even if you have never been here, you must be familiar with the images of said streets.

I first noticed this myself, that people tend to ignore buses quite effectively, when they do not need them. Of all the imagery I could think of before coming to this city, buses were seldom - if at all - included in my understanding of this city.

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Some buses making their way down fifth avenue.

But of course there are buses. Most US cities have them, we just do not think about them, because most people actually do not use them around here. There is a lot of talk about the Subway, but not so much about the buses.

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Another bus making its way in the distance.

However, there is more of an eye opener to visiting New York City and discovering they have buses. There is something neat about its grid layout. It may lack the fun flowing nature of a European city, but at the very least they are not trying to be that. They are their own.

I like how most streets are one way, effectively creating dual carriageways with an entire block of buildings in the middle. Sure, you cannot use the layout of the city - besides in Lower Manhattan - as an indicator of where you are, but Americans are generally good at signage when it comes to street names. Something we Europeans do not do terribly well.

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It is not just buses dotting the scenery in New York.

Beyond looking at streets, I got to walk around for a good nine hours, and I must admit I was exhausted at the end. Again, coming back to my hotel room and immediately falling asleep.

We visited several stores around Times Square and the Nintendo store near Rockefeller Plaza.

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State flags dotting the outline at Rockefeller Plaza, putting even a local citizen to the test in naming them all.

Then we went to a most excellent burger joint called Five Guys. My friends had been recommending it, but I was still pleasantly suprised by the quality. Sure, it turned out that a 'regular burger' was what we would call a double burger, as it contained two slices of meat. But I still managed to eat it.

I cannot say the same for the fries, because their regular size was very generous. I am also beginning to understand why Americans do not really care for mayonaise. Their mayonaise is incredibly plain and uninteresting. While having the choice of mayonaise and ketchup before me for my fries, I, for the first time in my life, was uncertain for which dip to pick.

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Water silos hiding in plain sight near Rockefeller Plaza. Must be hard getting water to run up all those floors.

Then we walked several blocks to see The Met, that is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Actually we saw both, the new one and the old one. While the Breuer had an interesting enough exhibition of Lygia Pape, the 5th Avenue one remains the highlight of the institution.

A bit unfortunate at the end, that I was so exhausted that I worried about knocking over exhibits simply from falling asleep. That did not happen and we made our way back - taking a taxi - and I first fell asleep in my bed.

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A dump truck moving quickly through the streets of New York.

Oh, one more thing, before I leave. Where is my car you might ask? I checked with MarineTraffic, and it should be arriving today.

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Its location as of this morning. Although, according to its own schedule, it should have arrived one and half hour ago.

Then it will go through customs tomorrow, and then - hopefully - I shall be able to pick it up come Tuesday.