Date: August 5- 15 2001
"Typical" East Coast tour: NYC, Washingyon DC and Niagara Falls.

PART I. day 1

My wife and I depart from Madrid-Barajas, clear skies and 80F. Took AirEuropa flight. I had never gone over the ocean, this was my longest flight.
I found the flight more bearable than I thought it would be. Time flies when you are entretained...well, I LOVE flying.
A meal, a decent movie (Taylor of Panama), filling the inmigration forms (that's some entretainment!) and before I realized, I was trying to have a glimpse of Manhattan from the window. Mission impossible, due to the strong haze.

USA: First Impressions.
It was 6PM at NYC. Kennedy International looked grim and gritty to me. It was nearly an hour waiting inside the plane before it could park in the terminal. Then we caught up with a flight from Tel-Aviv, so the customs row was endless!
What a first impression! then we get out of the terminal and... OUCH!!!! HOT!!!! the hottest place I have ever been to! And I DO know Seville in summer. The air was almost unbreathable, we landed in the middle of one of the worst heat waves, it still was over 100F at 8PM!
So, we take our Colombian guide's van and we start another hour night ride trough Queens. Talk about bad impressions!

Arrival at... THE CITY
BUT...then we have a glimpse of an Illuminated Empire State Building. Let the magic begin! as we get closer to Manhattan, we see the thousands of city lights. We cross the river and land in the middle of an avenue traffic jam. That was expected! The streets look darker than I expected. Then we run into Times Square. WHAT A PLACE! That got me excited again. Exhausted (it's early AM in Madrid) we arrive at our hotel (Milford Plaza, 8th ave - 45th st). It's a good old fashioned hotel, old but comfortable (AC! thank God), with great views. I could picture some classic movie taking place here.

PART II. day 2

At Manhattan...
First day in NY: we learned the hard way that the Big Apple is not cheap, of course. We had our breakfast in a classic cafe at Times Square. It was like $20 plus tip. It was delicious, but soon we decided to keep things low cost, and turned next days to the nearest 24h shop near the hotel.
Of course we had some good pizza, burguer BUT, in front of the hotel we found a REAL classic American cafe where I tried the most fabulous and REAL sandwiches I ever had.

Enough of food!. The city is SUPERB if you look upwards, the skyscrapers are breathtaking. The streets, however, are another thing. I found them dirty, with all the rubbish bags stinking under the summer sun. It was fairly cool early in the morning, but soon turned to unbearable again.

The subway...well ... I thought it was hot UP...then we headed underground AARRRRGHHHH!!!
BTW, I like a lot public transport so the subway was a must go. Besides the heat, I like it a lot, the idea of the express trains is fabulous and I found the system usefull, fairly clean and efficient. Not very easy to use, but you can manage it with a couple of rides.

The first day we walked a lot, from Theater District to Central Park, then Science Museum. It was exhausting (and HOT, did you guess?) and I found some interesting highlights. Central Park is huge, refreshing and great, 5th avenue and Park Avenue are as fancy as any european avenues and FAO Schwartz was a true delight. I hope someday I can bring my children there.

But the BEST highlights of NYC for me are the MUSEUMS, unlike any of their kind in Europe. El Prado is the best painting museum, true, but nowhere you can find a better Science Museum, and the Metropolitan surprised me a lot, what a complete compilation of art from all centuries!

to be continued...

PART III. days 3 and 4

Oh, that statue...
Yes, we HAD to do it. Early in the morning took the subway downtown, got our tickets at Clinton Castle....what a surprise! it was nice to learn that the modern NYC has such ancient places.
Well, and we took the ferry to Statue of Liberty. A great monument, great place to 'do tourist things'. Then we continued our ferry to Ellis Island a great tribute to the inmigrants that made New York what it is today. The museum is veri instructive and fun.

Downtown
Remembering this afternoon makes me feel SOO sad. because that's when we visited the WTC, that would be sadly destroyed barely a month later. Seeing what happened brought tears to my eyes. Just thinking that I was up there, on top of that human being's triumph, just a month before...it was so painful!
First we had a walk on top of the Brooklyn Bridge, took some great photos. Then we headed downtown and got to the WTC.
The WTC was just breathtaking, powerful. it had probably the best views of the City, and of course, it was full of life.
We had a nice sunset by the Hudson River, just relaxing and enjoying the panorama. Remembering that peaceful scenes, I still can't believe that such a horrible thing happened there.

Greenwich Village, SOHO, Canal Street...
The next day we headed to the 'picturesque' New York, a place that we realized that exists when we checked our guidebooks. And it's a nice find...interesting architecture (not of the kind people thinks when talking about NY), small parks, bohemian ambience. We had a great meal at an Italian restaurant in Little Italy. Then it was just doing some shopping around Canal Street, it's not that great for me, but women tend to like this sort of place.

Midtown
That evening was the Empire State Building time. Getting to the top of this fabulous skycraper gave me a great treat. Knowing the number of great movies that took place here (a feeling so common in the whole city), the might of the building. The absolutely great views with the sun setting. It was perfect.
At night we used to walk around the Theater District, and into Times Square. We never got tired of it. I somewhat regret not having seen any play, we have done so in London and Madrid. It's great!

some of the museums in NY can be a lot cheaper. The Museum of Natural History (and I believe the Museum of Art on 5th, great mummies!)is only a SUGGESTED admission price. My grandfather would roll over in his grave if I ever paid more than a quarter to go there. He always told me as to how when they constructed it, it was supposed to be paid for and maintained by taxes (HIS taxes. I heard the same about some of the toll-bridges in NY as well). When I bring friends and family from out of town for a tour, I pay a dollar for everyone included. MOMA is a full charge but, the Smithsonian on 5th is a penny on Fridays after....4?...5?

True! It was strange to see that 'Suggested' price. Now it makes sense to me.

Deibid, while your journal is very interesting and
well written, I hope you saw more of the US than just NYC!

There is so much more to this country than just Manhattan.

Comming soon, don't be impatient

Ok, here we go again!
PART IV. day 5
To Washington DC

It was the day of our first excursion outside NYC, so I finally got a glimpse of 'the rest' of USA. They say that Paris is not France, London is not the UK...and NYC is not USA. In a way is very true, big cities are big cities everywhere, and even in THE city 'by excelence' it keeps true.
The first impresion was ...well, the countryside is GORGEOUS! I love the lush green trees, it reminds me my homeland. That's why I loved northern Italy. I didn't expect this luxurious landscape just outside New York, I thought that the Northeast was heavily urbanized...and IT IS, but the precious woodlands inbetween are really well kept. THIS is what is missing in most of Europe, except in a few places like my own place of birth. It shows that USA is a young and still wild country!

The highway was wide, crowded but surpisingly easy to drive in. (I didn't drive, our guide did, but I got the impression that it wouldn't be difficult to do it). And it's true, americans use as many lanes as available! The speed is constant and moderate. I can't imagine Madrid drivers here! they would go nuts!

Arrival at DC: the architecture is a BIG contrast after NY. It looks & feels absolutely european. Wide tree lined avenues, classic buildings and monumental perspectives. It's clearly a purpose-designed city, and very well indeed.
First stop: The Capitol, of course. Really impressive building, even after having seen it in a dozen movies or so.
Next: the Air and Space museum. WHAT A THRILL!! Did I say something about museums? well, THIS one is MY PARADISE. I am really a frustrated astrophysic, so you know why I loved this!
Then the White House ...Hi, George W! are you there? I love you!

The restaurant was recommended by our guide, and it was a good one, with standard food (i.e salads, steak...) and situated in front of the White House. I can tell you that this city felt really comfortable after NY.

In the afternoon we crossed the Potomac, just by the Pentagon to see Arlington cementery. We gave our respect to JFK and rushed to see the Lincoln Memorial...BEFORE THE STORM CAUGHT US!
I didn't mention it was hot as hell (did I need to?) but after lunch black clouds closed on us, and before we could see Lincoln Memorial, all heavens broke loose upon us! It's one of the strongest storms I have witnessed (And I have seen a lot!)

Sightseeing had no point,so we soon got back to the road, to NY. And it was a long and scary trip, heavy rain all the way. At some point all the traffic almost stoped due to the rain.
It improved a lot near New York, and we still could see some spectacular lightning over the city.

Hi deibid:
I'm very happy you're enjoying our country.
I'm just smiling because you keep saying it was hot
NY just had over 40 inches of snow over the past few months and the warmer weather was a treat to us
Wait till you go to upstate New York and Niagra, you will see the great diversity that NY state has to offer. I lived in Buffalo for 8 months and I considered it a treat.
Park Avenue as you said has a very European feel to it, make sure you check out the UN and Grand Central Station. and theres a lovely place called the boat basin on 79th and west end avenue!
If you have time also check out Philadelphia, it's only two hours away ( one by express train from Penn station) with tons of historic places regarding the revolutionary war

Hi, Joe!
Of course, I know it's cold and snowing now, just see that I'm reporting an August 2001 trip! LOL!

Well... PART V. days 6 and 7
Bye bye, heat!

The next two days after the storm the weather became cool and misty. And I LOVE THAT, another reminder of my home town. Unlike Madrid, which is hot and clear all summer in spite of the storms, NY is one of these places where it rains in summertime. GOOD.

It was a good weather for city tourism. A rainy morning that allowed us to go to Central Park again (paying another visit to FAO Schwartz in the way :p ). What splendid views of the skyscrapers into the mist! As it began to rain, we decided to enter the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spend the morning in there. As I said before...WHAT A GREAT MUSEUM! a complete surprise. If the dinosaurs of the Natural History the first day were great, what to say about the mummies and the Egyptian temple here! A huge collection of art from all centuries that kept us going more than I thought. At midday we had a REAL New York hot dog...it was...disappointing! too small for my taste.

After spending a couple of hours in the Metropolitan we continued to the Guggenheim. Being from Bilbao, it was an important visit for me. And there was a temporary exhibition about Frank O Ghery that focused prominently on...THE GUGGENHEIM BILBAO MUSEUM! (Big proud face, here )
The Guggenheim was great, and there was a jazz concert in the hall. How nice! A good way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Still cool!
The next day was even cooler, which I liked a lot! We decided to head to the northwest, Upper West Side and Harlem. The Metropolitan Opera House was good to see, I like modern architecture.
Then we took the subway to see the University of Columbia, a great campus. We visited also the dark neogothic catholic cathedral (ooops , don't remember the name) that is really DARK and unfinished. Not that great. I liked a lot more St. Patrick's the first day. Then we had one of the two TENSE moments in the city: a beggar asking for money. It was not a great deal, it happens everyday back home, but having heard so many things about NYC and Harlem, well, it was somewhat scary.

That afternoon my wife decided it was time to pay a visit to the famous Macy's. On the way it was cool to see the Empire State Building into the mist and the famous Madison Square Garden.
Macy's is not bad, but well...we have 'El Corte Ingles' here, that is much more spectacular.