United
States
: New York & New England
[This section is in the earliest stages of development: 26 December 2006 ]
New York City
Like many people, I am bewitched by Manhattan. I love the vibrancy, the intensity and the diversity. I love that it is big and bold, and that it is polite and accepting. I love the brashness of Times Square and Broadway, and the contrasting tranquillity of Central Park. I love the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim, and can barely wait, finally, to get inside the MoMA. I love the pompous grandiosity of the Empire State Building (romantically featured in chick-flick Sleepless in Seattle), and the grandiose bustle of Grand Central Station. I love the descent into history on Ellis and Liberty Islands, and the Statue of Liberty. I have photographs similar to the views of and from the Staten Island Ferry featured in the film Working Girl. I have walked from Battery Park to 50th, and from 50th both to the Guggenheim and the Museum of Natural History, and from 50th / 1st over the Queensboro’ Bridge (59th Street Bridge, immortalised by Simon & Garfunkel) deep into Queens, where MoMA relocated temporarily. I have my favourite vegan-friendly restaurants, and know where to buy good, vegan picnic foods.
During that first visit to Manhattan in 2002, I met up with my uncle, aunt, cousin and nieces who flew in from Ottawa. In 2004, I met up with my brother and his family who flew in from a holiday in the Caribbean, and my sister, who flew in from London to join us. New York feels like that sort of place.
Boston (and New England)
I visited Boston , for its history, architecture and ambience. I wish that I had not bothered..
I should like to visit parts of New England, including the coast, especially during the fall. Bill Bryson makes the area sound ruggedly attractive.
