First Night in New York
Trip Start
Feb 26, 2009
1
3
8
Trip End
Jan 20, 2010
New York City, New York, United States
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Arriving in New York you have to go through the typical border control, which was easier and quicker then I thought. I was a bit frightened they would let me in because they would suspect I might stay here to work or something, but no problem.
Out on the streets I suddenly realised I was in New York, I always promised myself that arriving in NYC I would sing out loud "New York, New York" from Sinatra. I would have but I'm really a lazy singer, so I withheld myself from that.
It was freezing cold, there had been falling several inches of snow and everything was amazingly white. New York in the snow, what a better way to start could I want.
So onto the bus to Grand Central Station and from there a taxi to the hotel I picked out from the lonely planet.
Arriving there the desk manager tells me he has a room for free, he needs my passport and a creditcard. A creditcard? I don't have a creditcard, why would I need that. Big problem, since 9/11 all the hotels in New York and in most parts of the US require a creditcard.
Uhu, then I've got a big problem on my hands.
He sends me to another hostel which might accept clients without a CC. I wander whats that gonna be like, a cockroach infested place with a big sweaty annoying receptionist where guys rent a room for a few weeks when they get out of jail (you know like the ones you see in the movies)
Well lucky it wasnt any of that, a neat hostel in chelsea with friendly staff, clean rooms, cheap (80$ a night)
I go to eat something at a chinese take out nearby, probably the filtiest place I have ever seen in my life (in a modern country at least, I've seen worse in India) but the food was amazingly good.
Across the street I see a black, sleaky looking facade of a bar with a rainbow flag hangin out. Uhu, I have to see that one.
Ok imagine yourself in my place, tired, excited, confused, cold and entering a Coyote Ugly kind of place, but a gay version of it. Complete with the coyote ugly behind the bar, and a young hispanic cowboy in string dancing on the bar with dollarbills between his tanga. Wouha, welcome to America, I don't know if this kind of place exists in Europe but I've never seen it.
I always wandered what a vodka martini tastes like, so I order one, well let me tell you, like pure vodka, but then with olives on a stick in it. After that and sticking a dollar bill in the cowboy's underwear (always wanted to do that as well) I head back to the hotel to enjoy a very good night sleep.
