In New York, boy, money really talks – I’m not kidding
The Catcher in The Rye
When I moved to Vancouver, one of the places high on my list to visit during my time here was New York City. I first saw New York in July 2011 and it was everything everyone had hyped it to be, and more. To top it off, back then the Aussie dollar was worth more than the greenback so I was able to spend a good 5-6 weeks in the US , including 10 in NYC, without burning a hole in my pocket.
But that was an exceptional time. For someone in Australia, New York straddles the inconvenient circumstances of being at least two flights and 20 hours away, as well as enormously expensive. And since it’s so far away you can’t just spend a few days there.
From Vancouver it’s only 5 hours away, and with plans to return to Australia in 2020, as well as a week off over Christmas – it seemed the obvious time to tick ‘Christmas in New York’ off the list. To top it off The Strokes were playing a New Years Eve show.
It didn’t disappoint. Returning to a location 100 months later is a fascinating experience. It highlights the differences of the location as well as the differences within yourself. Last time around I was hitting all the tourist spots, museums, galleries. I was splashing cash at every bar in town until the early hours of the morning (with perhaps a touch too much confidence), meeting all sorts of wonderful people.
This time around was more about restaurants (including hitting every Aussie cafe in town), areas I hadn’t ventured last time, and finding new and interesting spots to photograph. And I still met a bunch of friendly folks. It really is an incredible place. Bizarrely I still knew my way around as though no time had passed at all.
But Summer in New York still wins easily over Christmas in New York.
The year began in the greatest city on Earth, and it will end in my favourite city of all, Sydney.