First Impressions

My red eye delivered me to La Guardia at 8 AM EDT. It was already 76-degrees and the air hung heavy as a blanket as I walked across the tarmac from the scary, headache-inducing, propeller-powered regional jet that took us the last leg from Philly. (Admittedly, it was cool to have seat 1A, though.) A very kind woman at the transport desk scheduled me a van service to Manhattan (only $14, but I would later regret this decision). While I waited for the van, I had my first NY moment. This super friendly, Italian-looking guy walked up to the counter and started giving everyone crap (in jest). He was totally from the Bronx. It was awesome and the only NY accent I really encountered!

Not much later, once I was in the van, there was a work crew unloading dry wall & scaffolding at one of our stops. One of the dudes was a total dreamboat, sporting a nice tan, toned arms, wife beater, jeans, & work boots. I channeled my friend Ryan and admired his “skill set,” working out under the blazing sun. (Am I in an episode of Sex & the City right now?). In the van with me was a European guy headed to the UN with only a briefcase, an older mother/daughter duo straight from the South (by their drawwwwwal) who were going to the Waldorf, some girl from Columbia (the country), and our driver (also from Columbia) who insisted on giving a weak handshake to everyone who joined the van. We had all the makings of an urban Gilligan’s Island (err Van?).

We’d been on the expressway for about 100 ft when everything went downhill. Our driver honked at a car in front of us and while swerving over, nearly took out another driver who, in turn, honked at us and shook his fist, enraged. Our driver gestured back, expressing his helplessness in the moment. I was frozen with anxiety and decided right then that I would never ever drive here. My body never loosened from that tense state for the remaining 45 minutes of the drive, as cabs honked at us, doormen shooed us from their curbs, and the UN dude kept asking, “Do you even know where you’re going?”. Oh, not to mention the older of the two Southern women giving (screaming?) a family update on her cellphone, while the younger kept repeating, “Quiet, Mom!”. It would turn out to be the most stressful experience of the entire trip. I ended up getting a complete tour before arriving to my building: Queens, United Nations, Times Square, Waldorf Astoria, a trip through Central Park, and right past Katharine Hepburn Place. I couldn’t get over how many cabs were around us. Looking down some of the streets, they looked solid yellow.

Three hours after my arrival to La Guardia, I finally arrived to my stop. I made a mental note: “never used shared van service in NY” and checked out my building for the next few days, located in the Upper East side, right at the corner of 78th & Madison Ave, a block from Central Park. It was tree-lined and surrounded by high-end shops. A doorman greeted me at the door and called up to announce my arrival to my host. I was met at the apartment door by a thin, blond woman, maybe 55-60, who welcomed me in and gave me a tour. She was lovely. The place looked like it was decorated 30 years ago, and I later found out she’s been in the states (from Sweden) for 35 years, so that may well have been the case. It was a great place with lots of sunlight and my room was perfect: double bed, closet, loveseat, sitting chair, TV, dresser, big window, and most importantly, A/C. I had my own bathroom just across the hall. It felt like I had my own apartment. Since I arrived so early, she wasn’t finished prepping the room after the last guest’s departure, so I gathered a few things and set off for the metro to do some exploring. So began my first day in Manhattan.

Day 1 (August 4)

• Visited Katharine Hepburn Pl (49th & 2nd) and looked up at her Brownstone (244 E 49th). The author of the biography I read had first met her here. I thought back to his description of pacing the street, waiting until the exact time of the appointment to ring the bell, his nerves a wreck, and how he entered and heard her distinctive voice from upstairs telling him to use the bathroom before he came up. Great to have some visuals to the story.

• Walked by the United Nations where I joined up with a group of Global Youth Leadership Council kids as we walked by the plaza and I looked for George Kaplan.
• Looked up on the Chrysler Building (one of my favorites)

• Stepped inside Grand Central and was immediately awe struck by the interior. I sat along the wall and watched the people bustling about before going down to the concourse for a prosciutto panini at Pepe Rosso.

• Walked around St. Bart’s. It was so dark that I could barely decipher the ceiling but it made the Notre Dame-style rose window even more amazing.

• Visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was unfortunately half-covered in scaffolding. The interior was breathtaking, though. It feels weird to be so non-religious but love walking around cathedrals so much.

• Met up with Matthew & Christina at their hotel before venturing to Rockafellar Center. I hadn’t seen Matthew in at least 4 years and it was my first meeting of his fiancée, Christina! Crazy timing that they would be in NY from Sweden right when I wanted to go. We climbed to the Top of the Rock and took in the panoramic views. The heat index was 103+, though, and being that much closer to the sun nearly broke me. The humidity also left a heavy haze limiting our view of much beyond Manhattan. However, I found this great aerial view explorer of New York, which I definitely recommend checking out.
• We were ready for a break from the heat and took a cab (which had the glass divider, video screen with GPS, and credit card swipe all in the back seat) down to East Village for some NY-style cheesecake at Veniero’s. Yum! The interior was gorgeous, too, with stained glass ceilings (Yelp photo). The lemonade was frozen lemon ice, which was so refreshing. I could have stayed all day.
• We walked over to Forbidden Planet so Christina could get her sci-fi fix. I pretended to have a clue about the different books I flipped through :) Also, I got a text from Ryan informing me that Prop 8 was overturned! That was exciting news from back home. We also stopped in Trader Joe’s since apparently it was something new to Christina and we marveled at 2 lines which wrapped around the store, warranting two guys to stand with signs marking which line was which.

• We met up with Matthew’s mom, Eva, who was coincidentally also in town for the week. We traveled up to Grand Army Plaza, where we went down to the Apple store (against Matthew’s will) and I introduced his mom to the iPad. We took in the views of The Plaza Hotel & the south end of Central Park at dusk before walking to Midtown East for dinner at Darbar Grill (video on their yelp page shows the cool interior). I got to sample a few more Indian dishes. They were all very good!
• I got home around 11 PM. I was beat. Almost no sleep the night before and a full day of walking in crazy heat. I’ve never in my life been so excited about a shower, let alone a cold one. It was light’s out for me. One of the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages.

All the photos from Day 1 are up on Flickr.