Today, after a late start (I don't think man was meant to eat two Shack Stack Burgers in one day), I finally decided to make my way down to the Financial District as Terry suggested. Getting off the train on Wall Street and ascending from the subway to the surface, I was greeted by the epitome of what I had imagined New York to be when I first thought about visiting: the concrete jungle, or, in layman's terms, a shit-ton of tall-ass buildings. I'd thought places I'd visited so far had tall buildings but that was nothing compared to the view I got just standing on the sidewalk outside the subway station. I feel like, at times, I lost sight of the sky or at least the buildings turned it into a mere blue streak amongst the gray, concrete heaven. Just to get my bearings (as well as stave off what possibly may have been an oncoming attack of claustrophobia) I got to an open area and took a seat at an open table. Just across the street I saw possibly the tallest building I'd ever seen. I was roughly 200ft away (though I am horrible at estimating distance) and I still couldn't fit it all in one shot with my camera. In my naivety, I thought to myself, "That must be the Empire State Building" which was strange since it looked further away on the maps I'd seen. Looking closer, it turns out it was just the Trump Building.
I really didn't think the Financial District would be such a huge tourist mecca but I guess it was due to not only the amount of tourists I saw wandering around and taking pictures, but the numerous maps on every block displaying points of interest to visit. I managed to make it to the outside of a bunch of the places that come to mind when I think about Wall Street.
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| The New York Stock Exchange |
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| The Charging Bull |
I really would have liked a picture with the Bull, or at least a clearer picture, but there were already a ton of tourists crowding around it. Also, I didn't know that it was anatomically correct. I saw a couple of people posing at it's backside with it's balls in their hands. Speaking of tourists, Terry forgot to mention the dress code around Wall Street, or it just never occurred to me the difference in dress between the Financial District and everywhere else I'd been so far. After walking around for a bit, I started to notice I could spot tourists not only by the cameras but by the t-shirts and shorts they wore. Everyone else, i.e. People who actually belonged there, wore business attire suits and dresses. I think I stuck out even more in my Keio hat, hoodie, and Crappy Kids t-shirt
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| Someone doesn't belong here |
From there it was actually a pretty short walk to Battery Park where I got to see the Statue of Liberty. The line to get on the ferry was too long and I didn't really care to waste time riding the ferry. Besides, I'd gotten my dose of patriotism the day before. So I got some pictures from the shore and then headed back to the city.
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| It's just like being there, except further away |
I got lost (again) looking for the train station. Strangely, it always seemed to happen when I was going to meet Terry for lunch. From the ferry terminal, I took the train uptown to as close as I could to where Terry worked. Met up with him and one of his co-workers for lunch at a pizza place they knew of. Once again, the food was excellent as it has been my entire trip. I think at this point I had started to figure out that if I lived in New York I would be teetering on just marginally healthy with the numerous food places being balanced with all the walking I would have to do just to get anywhere. Oh, the pizza. Umm, I remembered getting meatball pizza on a thin crust. And it was actually good thin crust. I've been to a lot of places where thin crust means just serving toppings on what basically amounts to a bland soda cracker. And once again, I have no idea what the place was called. Oh, and I got to talk some writing shop with Terry's co-worker who also happens to write. Unlike me, he's actually got a book going while I'm barely hanging onto some semblance of plot and character (and once again, I need to get my shit together). Oh, and I got this picture.
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| Apparently this is a brand of Mexican liquor... not sure about the rabbits |
After lunch, Terry headed back to work and I headed off to explore more. And there was someplace that was pretty far out of the way and it appeared that I had time to head there today. So I caught a couple trains to Brooklyn to see the Sketchbook Project at the Brooklyn Art Library. If you love seeing what other people can create with just a notebook and some free time, this is definitely a place you need to visit (and once again, thanks to Ben for telling me about it).
All the walls were lined with these books in a filing system there was no way I was going to understand. To keep everything in order, I needed to make an account online, select the books I wanted, and the clerk would look for the particular book and it to me. Also, with an account, it notifies the artist that someone has checked-out their book which probably provides a nice ego boast and encouragement to continue drawing. I probably spent a couple hours in here just looking at different books and I know I could've spent all day if this had been the first place I visited. Luckily, they do close so eventually I was kicked out, though not before I gave in and bought one.
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| I guess I have to start writing again now |
If you've ever seen me draw, you know that it is barely at the caliber of your average elementary school student much less the drawings I saw in those other sketchbooks. However they were running a contest for people to submit their works of fiction so this seems like more my speed.
After a long walk to the train station (I headed to a different one than the one I used to get here) and a train ride, I was back at Terry's place. Oh, I also stopped off at the comic book store that is located right inside the station. I ended up buying a couple comics (did you know there's a FIGHT CLUB 2?!) as well as talking comics with the guy that was manning the store. Back at Terry's place, we ended up playing some Halo 4 (I promise I used to be better at this game) before I passed out for the night.
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