Bedazzled in the Big Apple

Boarding the train at Hicksville Station, we rumbled along to Penn Station. Bored commuters uncrumpled newspapers and tapped on Ipads, adjusted their glasses and rummaged around in their laptop cases. As we rattled over the tracks, the Manhattan skyline came into view, even on a sober grey day, we were all popping with excitement.We were clutching a map, drawn with Suzala style with arrows and odd shaped boxes depicting the must-sees on the Manhattan skyline. Central Park was a manic blob and the Empire State a tiny deranged polygon.


Whether real or imagined, Manhattan is tall, noisy and FABULOUS!

Tourists clamour for their postcard shots as harassed office workers negotiate paths around them (well ... ahem ... us). Tourists are easy to spot, walking in front of cabs and bikes as they take in the wonder of the tallness ... Chrysler Building ... Flatiron ... Empire State ... all big tall buildings. Sometimes, we had time to glimpse a gargoyle or some other delightful art deco artifice. But at full throttle, it was a little difficult to take in the bigness, the tallness, the fabulousness that is New York in a mere couple of days.

Reminders of the parts of the city that had fallen, are scattered throughout the city. Tiny plaques and memorials, for souls that were lost.  We were ill-prepared for the massive, sorrowful site that was where the buildings had actually fallen.The sense of loss is still palpable, but there was also a feeling of hope.

So we hot-dogged ... and walked ... and looked up ... and walked.

Eyes in the top of our head would have been invaluable. For starters, if we had invisible eyes in our scalps, we would not have to fend off the glare of real New Yorkers having to go about their day-to-day business, with huffs and puffs as we loitered or lingered in irritating spots, taking in all that was Manhattan while all the while getting under the feet of real-lifer New Yorkers. They were oblivious to our excitement and our very big adventure.It may have been because we were three out of thousands having their great big adventure in the Christmas city.

It's fair to say that we can't add to the many tombes and nifty guides which cram the internet and bookshop shelves. And we had one or two ourselves weighing down our bags.

However, one of the treats ... were the stuffed animals at the American Museum of Natural History. After walking through Central Park, and walking more big blocks with weary feet, we found ourselves in front of animals which had wandered cheerfully on faraway plains, over a century ago. Little did they know, that their eternal dignity was soon to be  at the mercy of a taxidermist who might be having a bad hair day. A perpetually perplexed leopard, and an purgatorially pointing jackal are testament to this. The Victorian cases which now entomb these once proud beasts, are really quite a treat.

My favourite resident at the museum, is a grinning turtle. I don't even think many New Yorkers could outshine this reptilian welcome.

And as we plodded around the city, bedazzled ... but alas, no smile was more dazzling than our favourite museum friend.