New York City, Times Square
Went up to NYC this weekend for a short day trip. Kind of a last minute whim, reminded me a lot of the random trips I used to take to various cities. This time was another experience in itself. Running around Times Square with all of the last minute Xmas shoppers was pretty crazy, it was so crowded I felt like I was at a carnival in the middle of a city. For the most part it was a bit of sensory overload, granted it was a busy time of year, I couldn’t help but think that that it is this crowded all the time. Even early in the morning the streets were relatively busy, people walking to work, or bums hanging out in the street. One observation on the differences between NYC and DC is that there is no spare change to be found on the ground. Either the bums or the street cleaners probably take care of any money dropped and pick it up.
Overall I have to say that the city reminds me most like Tokyo, except its a lot more tense, and dirty. There is also a certain swagger of confidence of people walking around, a sense of purpose maybe, its hard to tell if its just the “city face” or “game face” that people put on in big cities, or whether it is a true confidence. Or maybe its just something else. More than a few times I got stopped in the street by another tourist asking me for directions to which I responded by pulling out my map and pointing them in the right direction.