Manky Monkey Motors

I'm on my holibobs next week, but should still be able to log in on my phone while I'm gone, so should be business as usual. However, the servers have emailed me to say they're doing some overnight service work next weekend. So just in case there's a problem, I'll sort it when I get back.

Oh -where am I going? New York! Yeah, baby!
Completely spur of the moment decision this afternoon. 2 weeks off work & nothing arranged. Walked into a travel agents a couple of hours ago, I fly out on Monday morning :) 7 days in Noo Yawk. I'm not a regular flier, never done the airport thing on my own before. Excited & terrified at the same time :)

have fun, we'll behave. lol
do you need a visa?

Never mind the Visa, will they let you in, anyway!!.......................... :o

Haha enjoy.

Just got to fill in an online "ESTA" form.
I'm more worried they might not let me back out again.
As I was saying to CopperSmith earlier, I'm not convinced anywhere as crazy as America really exists, so I'm going to see what's really behind the curtain.  :P

That sounds great Andy. I went for my 50th birthday. Only thing about going on your own (assuming you are  ;)) is that you have to ask strangers to take photos or otherwise you haven't got any pics to look back on. You should consider the New York Pass which is currently $299 if purchased before the 20/6. You get access to about 90 attractions and hop on buses. The link is:

https://www.newyorkpass.com (https://www.newyorkpass.com)

I was getting up at 6:30am and going to bed at 2am. I covered loads of stuff inc. a helicopter flight over NY. Definitely worth the extra money. No point lying in when there is so much going on. Transport is good but taxis are everwhere. Anyway, check out the link and see what you think. Have a great time.
JJ  8)

http://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-york

Thanks for those.
The travel agent suggested that pass Jay Jay, but I'm not really a tourist attraction type. Not that bothered about the Empire State building or the Statue of Liberty or Times Square -I just want to soak up the lifestyle really. Didn't want to drive so it had to be a city break & this seemed the obvious choice. :)
Some of those places look interesting though Archie :)

Well at least:

take a walk in Central Park, where you can also see Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon dedication which is in the park by the Dakota building;

go to the Guggenheim Museum, if just for the architecture;

sit on the steps of the NY Public Library and watch the world go by;

do the same at Grand Central Station which is brilliant to take in New Yorkers in a fantastic setting;

cross the Brooklyn Bridge;

try and take a ride over to Hoboken New Jersey (home of Sinatra) at night so you can just gaze at the Manhatten skyline you see so much of on TV.

And finally, if you don't do Times Square I think you will regret it. It really is an experience but only once it gets dark.

Whatever you do, I hope you have fun doing it and you make it a holiday to really remember.

When you goooo will you send back a letter frommm America?

And let us no what you don't see much of on the streets of NY too ? :)

Have a great time Andy. we went a few years ago and had an incredible time. Loads to watch and do there. The memorial of the trade towers, with the new freedom tower next to it...also just round the corner from there is the new transport hub which was being built when we was there, which is finished now I believe. Its a very modern striking building. Grand central terminal. Empire state building. Rockafeller center. Times square, you need to try and do them all. We took a twighlight cruise of the bay taking in the statue of liberty.
Also, if your interested in such things, take a tour of the aircraft carrier intrepid thats a floating museum. If you have seen the film I am legend with will Smith in it...he is on the deck of it whacking golf balls right at the start. 

 :) Thanks for the suggestions chaps. I'd planned to just turn up & mooch about for a while, soaking up the lifestyle without really doing much -but I guess it'd be a shame not to do certain things. Chatted to my neighbour this afternoon. Seems just about everyone's been there before except me. He stayed in the same area as me & said he walked from there to the "bottom" of the island in a day, but stopped in several bars on the way. So hopefully in a week I can cover a fair bit of it, but there's no real itinerary -if I like one area there's no reason I can't stay there all day. We'll see.
So alarm goes off at 3.30 in the morning, taxi arrives at 4.30, Heathrow by 5.30, flight leaves at 8.40 -I'd better get some sleep.
See you next week guys :) 

Hope you have a great time. We'll try not to break anything. Honest.

Scrambled egg & hash browns for breakfast, The Blues Brothers in-flight movie, New York 6 hours away. Monday mornings ain't so bad :)

Hey, I can see your house from up here!

Nuthin' but blue skies from now on :)

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Well, I've survived a whole day in New York.
Very, very busy, noisy, chaotic, but interesting. Everyone's very chatty & keep telling me how easy it is to find your way about, but I've been utterly lost so far. No sense of direction at all.
Seen the Chrysler building & Grand Central station, which were on my list, but lots more to find yet.
Typically, as I waited at the passport desk in Newark airport, their computer system crashed & they had to wait for it to be rebooted. I was literally the last person to leave the airport this afternoon, with my one suitcase going forlornly round & round on the baggage carousel, all on it's own. Why is it always me?!

Get yourself out to the Meatpacking district and have a walk along the park in the Sky.

The High Line -yeah, it's on my list.
Just aimlessly wandering today, trying to get my bearings but still hopelessly lost. Times Square's a bit tacky & touristy, as you'd expect -like London's Oxford Street, but taller. It's been 87 degrees here today & very, very humid. Then bang on 4.30, as forcast, there was a huge thunderstorm, complete with lightning bolts. Made the skies above the sky scrapers look very dramatic, but it was nice to stand in it for a moment & cool down.
Some random snapshots.

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I glanced down a side street & found an aircraft carrier.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Ridley Scott got the idea for the Blade Runner city scenes from Times Square in the rain.

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Only half nine in the evening here, (2.30 in the morning for you lot), but I'm off to bed. More tomorrow. :)

Excellent pics Andy, really give a flavour of the place.

Great pics Andy...the aircraft carrier is the intrepid...the museum. We took about 400 photos in 5 days when we was there, just loads to see and do.

Think of a grid.

In Manhattan the east-west roads are called "streets". They are numbered in order from south to north, beginning with 1st Street.

Roads intersecting these "streets" at right angles are the "avenues". The "avenues" run north-south.

Signs usually include the road they are intersecting with.

That said, there are plenty of exceptions!  ???

Glad you're having fun.  :)

Yes Times Square is tacky but its tackiness especially in the dark is its draw. Loved the rainy T■ pics.

Must visit the M & M store in T■. Open late. The colours are great.

Great assortment of pics so far ...  8)

Yeah, I know the whole grid thing Jay -it just doesn't translate in my head to what's in front of me!
A blazingly hot day here today. Spent most of it in Central Park. Sat & watched a game at the softball pitches -how cliche am I! Listened to someone busking Beatles tunes at the Strawberry Fields, Lennon memorial, went to the zoo, then to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was vast & absolutely stunning. Taken hundreds of photos, so I'll post just a handful here in the morning -it's gone midnight here & I've walked for 12 hours in the heat today. I'm knackered!  :)