If you went into the Burnie Park on any random day, you would be hard-pressed to find a soul. Perhaps the odd tourist using it as a spot to pull up for lunch, or school kids walking through it into town. Tasmanians, and to a lesser extent, Australians, are terrible at making the most of their public spaces. Not so in New York. Prospect Park was a great example yesterday, however there is no bigger or more used public space than Central Park.
Kathryn had to work today and Vanessa loves Central Park, so she took me into the city. We caught the subway to Times Square, a place I'd actually forgotten about until Vanessa mentioned it. The subway is an interesting place. We get on in Brooklyn, which has a large black population. At one stage I was the only white person in the carriage. The streets near Kathryn and Vanessa certainly cater for that demographic. The stores offering African hair weaving probably aren't aimed at white people.
Central New York is exactly what I pictured, no thanks to the endless US tv shows and movies I watch. The smoke from the subway spewing out of drains in the sidewalk, yellow cabs clogging up the road and flashing billboards everywhere. Vanessa had warned that Times Square could be fairly full on, mainly because of the tourists. She mentioned that people seemed to gather outside the store Forever 21 to take photos. Sure enough when we walked past Forever 21, there was a crowd. Although the attraction wasn't Times Square. It was a young blonde girl who is apparently a star on Youtube for her beauty advice. Clearly I am out of the loop.
From Times Square and it's flashing billboards (and Bubba Gump Shrimp) we walk to the Rockefeller Centre. There's a farmers' market set up so we walk through that. It's not quite the farmers' market I'm used to though. This is surrounded my high-rises. In Burnie, I'm best off wearing my gumboots. Up the road from the Rockefeller Centre I discover the best shop in the world. FAO Schwarz. The best toy store in the world. Everything is priced way out of reach of the average parent, but that doesn't stop it being a whole lot of fun. There are stuffed ponies selling for $1000, or perhaps you'd prefer a Barbie Fooseball Table (one of only 10 in the world) for $25,000? The store is amazing. There is a section for doll houses, willy wonka, lego, puzzles, action figures etc. One of the assistants, Carlos, stops and has a chat with us for a little bit. A kid came up and asked the price of something and was told "$80, but for you $29.95", so they do like to have a bit of a laugh.
Central Park was right across the road so we ducked in there and waited for Kathryn to finish work. It was a beautiful day, again despite the forecast for thunderstorms. People were rolling out their yoga mats, walking through in their suits after work, walking their dog and sleeping on the grass. We met Kathryn back at FAO Schwarz and ducked into the Apple Store. If there is one place that could warrant a 24-hour Apple Store, it would be New York. The store is underground and insanely busy. They are building a giant glass cube at street level so it will be quite a sight when it's done.
We walk through Central Park and catch the subway back home. Back in Brooklyn, the locals are again making the most of their city. Three men sit on the corner on up-turned buckets just watching the world go by. Up from them is a chess game in play. We are barely in the door two minutes when the rain starts coming. Vanessa had to go pick up Thor, the dog that got hit by a car, from the vet, but every taxi is booked so she has to wait for nearly an hour. I act like a true New Yorker and order dinner to be delivered. I'm still battling with remembering to tip and knowing how much, but I'm sticking with about 10% to 15%. We had planned to go out but I'm exhausted and after getting ready, change back into my pjs and go to bed while the others go to the pub.
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