Thursday, August 25, 2011

Lots of People Live Here: A Collection of Obvious Observations

So far, we haven’t ventured very far out of the Upper West Side/Morningside Heights, which is the area from 59th Street to 110th to the west of Central Park. While wandering around (the other day we walked 120 blocks up and down Broadway, from Columbia to Julliard and back), we have noticed a few things that many people before us have also noticed. But since we’re noticing it ourselves for the first time, they seem pretty interesting and important. Enjoy!

1. Buildings Here are Tall

And we thought San Francisco was impressive. Nope! I guess with little fear of earthquakes comes little fear of heights. Though the other day, there was an earthquake here! At first I thought for sure that it must be a giant, lumbering truck, but no, a real earthquake! Things swayed back and forth for a while, and then everything was fine. Silly New York, just trying to make us feel at home.

Devin is a pretty tall guy. I present him here next to some buildings, which, as you can see, are considerably taller than he is. Impressive!


Despite the height, there is sky!


Pretty bricks and branches.


2. People Are Everywhere

Take a look at these windows. How many different people do you think live behind them? The answer: a lot. But most of them are walking down on the street with you.

Which brings us to number three:
3. Babies in Strollers and Dogs on Leashes Coat the Sidewalks

People don’t seem too keen on having their dogs pet by strangers, which is antithetical to the purpose of dogs.

4. Don’t Eat the Chinese Food

It is bad. I had some of the worst pork and shrimp dumplings ever the other day, which left me longing for the Bay Area’s ethnic food staples. The Upper West Side is not a place to go if you are looking for numerous and delicious eats. The eats that are edible (and affordable) are few and far-flung. Soon, we will venture to Chinatown.

5. The Subway Takes You Places

So far the Subway has been absolutely awesome. It’s much less confounding (and much cooler) than the Metro in Paris or the Tube in London. It’s that lovely grid system. It runs fast and frequently, and the other day we even made a successful transfer to a line other than the 1 (which we use the most as it delivers us practically to our apartment door).


Tomorrow (if it isn’t raining. It does that a lot here.) we’re going way down south to see some Big Deal Things, including the Statue of Liberty, which I hear is supposed to be ... fairly impressive.

5 comments:

  1. Boo earthquake :( But yay subway! But boo selfish dog owners :|

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  2. It's okay--They're still fun to look at. And they are EVERYWHERE. Propagating exponentially.

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  3. I"m looking forward to hearing about your further sight-seeing adventures. Too bad about the ethnic food. It must be around there some place.

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  4. It's not ethnic, but it;s fantastic! Have a cherry muffin. This is why I'm coming to NY to visit, and to see you, of course.
    Kitchenette Uptown
    Categories: Desserts, Breakfast & Brunch, American (Traditional) [Edit]
    1272 Amsterdam Ave
    (between 122nd St & 123rd St)
    New York, NY 10027
    Neighborhood: Morningside Heights

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  5. We were planning on trying that place soon! And we will, as soon as this whole hurricane thing blows over...

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