Going around again (Monday)
Even though it’s nine months on I don’t like leaving things unfinished and unsaid. Whereas my previous posts were largely written while I was in New York, the last couple of days were hectic to say the least and I didn’t have much opportunity to write things down. I’ll do my best to finish the story…
The first time I was in New York, a fleeting visit while working for boo.com, I spent the few hours I had spare on the river on the Circle Line cruise. Six years on I felt I needed a reminder.
Monday was a day of New York from different angles. The morning started at Pier 83 for the famous 3 hour Circle Line cruise which aside from affording one of the most interesting views of the city, the variations in architecture and affluence acutely apparent from the shore, provided some ‘me’ time on the water and to scoff a breakfast bagel or two from the insanely cheap carts that had held ground at every street corner on the walk to the pier.
Most people think of Empire State skyscrapers when they think of Manhattan Island and may never visit the harder and industrial-feeling of the North East or the peace and greenery of the North West.
The evening promised to provide a different view altogether. M&C had recommended a helicopter tour and who am I to ignore such a suggestion? The thing is, trying to book such a treat wasn’t as easy as you might think. Offices closed, telephones unanswered, frustrating websites that promised booking confirmations which were far from definitive. As indeed we found out when E & me agreed to meet at the Downtown heliport only for her to receive an email late in the day with ‘Jersey City’ as the departure point.
A harrassed, annoyed, possibly angry E arrived Downtown perilously close to our previously-understood departure time. Due to the lateness of the email I was still none the wiser that our tour had apparently departed nearly an hour earlier from the opposite bank of the Hudson. Honesty now battled ambition, civility combatted frustration.
Luckily I’d already made contact with the (literally) heavy security and so had my place in line… in front of half a dozen or so others. E recommended best policy and I could hardly argue or disagree and explained that someone had obviously mixed up our booking; with time ticking away and tours coming to an end our place in line gave us entry to reception regardless as others were turned away. I could hardly believe our luck: deserved but luck nonetheless.
I can’t disguise my love of helicopters; despite learning to fly planes, nothing beats that take-off feeling, of total freedom in all axes. I’ll learn to fly a helicopter too some day… once finances allow.
I did try and disguise my realisation during the pilot’s briefing that our tour was going to be significantly longer than we’d planned or paid. Helicopters are notoriously expensive to run and companies are very careful about the minutes they give away. The $62 per person 5 minute ‘Taste of New York’ had turned into a $179 per person 17 minute ‘New York, New York’ thanks to a combination of there being only one last flight of the evening, there being a huge cock-up with the booking and that our fellow passengers had paid three times the fare. E and I kept quiet, smirking, grateful that our smirks could be mistook for the awe and wonder of the flight and sights.
