New York; The Beginning (sort of).

Hello again.

Over the last eight years or so I've found myself on several different world travelling adventures.  More than one of them rather spur of the moment.  And given the fact that I'm more than a little opinionated and frequently find myself composing comparisons, food critiques, and wistful reminiscences in my head, I figured I may as well write it down properly somewhere.

The plan I'm working from right now is to do this trip (oh yes, I'm on one of the little adventures right now) to start with, as it's fresh, and then as I constantly go over the above mentioned critiques and reminiscences when I'm bored, I'll do those as they come up at later dates.

This particular trip came to about because of church.  Not the first time that's happened, and probably won't be the last.  Anywho.  

At the end of November 2016 a friend got in touch and asked if I'd be interested in joining a group of women in our Diocese (Anglican in this case) going to the UN Commission on the status of Women in New York.  My response, obviously, was "Hell yes!"  Or something to that effect.  

So It all got sorted and I flew South and East at what I consider an unholy hour of the morning, and here I am.

Now, normally I get quite excited about leaving when I'm going somewhere new, especially if I've wanted to go there for a while anyway.  This particular travelling period what was going through my head most of the time was "I suppose I'll get excited when I'm less exhausted?"  The answer as far as I can tell is "Yes, I think."  I'm certainly enjoying myself, at any rate.

The first thing I did, really, was appreciate the traffic.

I'm no stranger to crazy traffic.  Anyone who's had to navigate a major European city in rush hour, or, God forbid, had a go at the M25 in August (all of which I've done) has been through their share of hell.  And I'm no stranger to American traffic either (a side effect of frequent trips to Seattle and a road trip down to San Diego).  One thing I've had the chance to notice is each country has it's own "traffic flavour pattern", if you will, and each city has its own particular version within that flavour.  New York's is certainly interesting.

I got a shuttle from La Guardia, and within the first five minutes, I'd counted about eight horn honks and we hadn't even left the airport yet.  I was grinning fit to split my face.  I'm not totally sure why.  It might have been New York living up to at least part of the mythos surrounding it (it has got quite a lot built up, you have to admit), it might have been sheer amusement at the drivers, and it might have been the fact that the traffic was making it very obvious that I was, in fact, in New York and not asleep (I have never seen so many yellow taxis in one spot in my life).  Whichever it was, I was already enjoying the drive in when I saw the lights.  

Now, lights in any large city are special.  They highlight things that you miss in the daylight hours, and they create a unique cityscape for each metropolis that explores light as a form of distinction for its buildings.  It is, in a lot of ways, an art form.  Some are fairly obvious, and some are subtle.  Taipei's is fairly obvious.  
So is New York's.  Both involve bright, coloured lights, sometimes blinking in patterns, but they are very different.  New York's older skyscrapers have them set up so they highlight some of the architectural designs.  Climbing up the sides, fanning out to the edges of an artful top spire, and of course, lighting up some of the favourite photo op buildings for tourists.  It creates an impact, and I was in the perfect head space to appreciate it, and my introduction to New York in general.  The whole place was loud, bright, and moving.  

Absolutely awesome as a pick me up for a tired extrovert.