Murthy's Blog

During the drive we crossed a number of small towns and villages, which are only small in area, but are fully equipped with all infrastructure facilities. We stopped for lunch/coffee at a small town (Hagerstown) in a cafe called 'The square cup'. As the saying goes here, people coming out of this in cafe saying, "Thanks a Latte!" (In fact there is a board with this expression outside the café).

As we continued on our drive to New York City, we unfortunately got stuck in a traffic jam, about 100 miles out of the city. It took us almost 3 hours to drive about 12 miles. All of us were fairly uncomfortable with heavy bladders but we had to hold on for quite some time :). Hundred of motorists/vehicles ahead and behind our car were perhaps in a similar predicament. (Compare this scenario in an Indian highway). We were finally able to relieve ourselves at a wayside village restaurant as the traffic got cleared. It was an ohm…. and an ash! Effect being experienced.

We reached Secaucus (New Jersey) around 9PM, after a marathon drive by Uma (about 9.5 hours approx 520 miles) For most part of the drive, the road was hilly, and through valleys with green meadows all around. We checked at a hotel called Homestead Suites and had some ready-to-eat stuff for dinner. We were all quite tired.

After a quick breakfast the next morning (12^th May 2005), we headed for Secaucus station in a taxi. Our son-in-law, Srikanth, joined us here. We then took a train to the Liberty Park, a good experience on Jersey trains. Tickets are dispensed automatically through machines. The good part is that there are a lot of information pamphlets/brochures available all over the place (which we kept collecting for whatever it was worth!).

We took a ferry to Ellis Islands and the Statue of Liberty. There were zillion tourists at both these places! It was a great experience on the ferry, over the Hudson River with excellent views of New Jersey and New York City. The weather was quite chilly. From the ferry, Manhattan Island looks quiet and peaceful. However the moment we landed at the jetty, there was a huge surge of humanity (like you see at VT station in Mumbai during peak hours!). Aerial cover security checks are the order of the day in the US, post 9/11.

We walked around narrow streets, surrounded by huge skyscrapers on both sides - absolutely parallel to each other - a fantastic feat of architecture! We crossed Wall Street, the NYSE (all areas of high security); saw remains of the World Trade Centre (which was barricaded completely). “Ground zero” as it is called was a sad sight. Buildings, shops, malls are awesome and the city has a very cosmopolitan nature - you see people of all Nationalities, religions, in various levels of clothing (:-)), moving around comfortably. The beauty of the place is that despite massive road reconstruction work, there was no disruption of traffic. Public transport is very good we took a direct bus from Manhattan to our hotel. Traffic/ticketing is very well regulated on these excellent bus services.

People are friendly and helpful. Americans, particularly, use expressions like, “you are welcome” (when you thank) "have a good day", "how're you doing this morning?", "appreciate your help", etc (which might sound common, but when you hear them used by everyone, all the time, its quite different).

We had lunch in a Lebanese/Syrian restaurant. It is quite close to Indian food and we enjoyed it. Talking about food, Americans love eating. From the smallest baby to the oldest man, they eat a lot. They expect their guests also to eat well.

Later that evening we saw a Broadway show - The Phantom of the Opera - at Majestic theatre. This show has been running every day to a full house for the past 17 years and it certainly lived up to its reputation. The entire Broadway area has a number of such theatres, (staging plays/musicals) every evening. Visit to New York City is incomplete without such shows being watched in Broadway. When we got out at 10.30PM, it was biting cold.

Overall, it was an excellent day, well spent in New York City. A great experience indeed walking through Wall street/Broadway.

After breakfast next morning, we did our laundry at the hotel Laundromat - a fully automatic affair and enjoyed the process for nearly 60 minutes. All our soiled clothes were ‘clean’ in a matter of minutes.

We took the bus to Manhattan and visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It has some old and ornate artifacts, which we found very interesting the museum (for that matter all such museums as we later found out) has a sprawling food court, which caters for the palates of people of all nationalities.

Post that, we spent quite a bit of time at Central Park, which is the lung space of New York (around 800 acres). This was, as were told, created to facilitate socializing among people of all nationalities. It’s a lovely place. One sees people jogging, sunbathing, playing baseball and pram-riding their children, with no inhibition on the type of clothes they wear. Everyone is busy in his/her activity. We also lazed round on the lawns. A great place indeed. As we came out of the park we saw hawkers by the plenty, selling all kinds of wares (like you see in almost all metros in India).

Later in the evening we drove up to the UN building (but only from outside, as they had closed for the day) and spent some time enjoying the beauty, the environment. We are disappointed in not being allowed to go inside. Perhaps next time! We reached the Empire State building basement at around 6.30PM. We queued up and our turn came to get inside elevator. The elevator reached the 80th floor in a matter of seconds. The observatory (circular) was on the 86th floor, and it was extremely cold (with a high wind chill factor). The wind cuts you like a blade, but despite this, there were a number of tourists (all ages, nationalities, etc). The view is breathtaking and an experience of a lifetime. We thoroughly enjoyed this. The tower itself is an architectural and an engineering marvel.

There are a total of 12 avenues and over 300 streets on Manhattan Island. The roads are at right angles to one another and it is all quite orderly. The city itself is very alive and at night you can see fast-changing neon lights, which emulate the pace of the city. It seemed like the city celebrates Diwali everyday!

During a casual talk with an American-African taxi driver, he commented on the eating habits of American. He said they are generally overweight due to their fascination for fast food/junk food. They have, he said, no time for ‘slow’ food. This statement ‘corroborated the survey in the Economist’ magazine on the obesity syndrome in US.