First we take Manhattan...

...and, truth be told, apart from brief sojourn over the Brooklyn bridge, Manhattan was about all we managed to take during our two days in New York en route to South America.

After a surprisingly pleasant flight over, we arrived at our Park Avenue hotel just before ten, utterly knackered and starving hungry. The ensuing  
trip to an all-night deli convinced me of three things. One, these guys make the best burritos I've ever tasted. Two, I want to live in New York. Three, if I did actually live in New York with easy access to said burritos, I'd catch fat and die within a month. All of these thoughts receded from my mind pretty quickly, though, as we ate our take-out dinner on the bed and chanced upon the headline news showing the Ecuadorian President crawling through the middle of a gun fight as streets burned around him. Never a good thing when Quito is your next stop...

After ascertaining that the kidnapping of a president, closure of an airport and declaration of a state of emergency is nothing to worry about in Quito (in the words of our presumptive Spanish teacher, “there was a little trouble yesterday, but now all is good and happy again”), we dived into New York, New York for the next two days, walking mile after mile and drinking in every sight, sound and smell that this majestic city had to offer.

We crammed a huge amount in, thanks mainly to Lou's unerring ability to read maps, plan routes and indulge my whims. Times Square enthralled by day, but truly dazzled by night as caricaturists and food vendors hustled for sidewalk space with the hustlers, ticket vendors and other 'tradesmen' who seemed to operate with impunity inside a ring of New York City Cops.

A stroll down Fifth Avenue, meanwhile, throws you in a million different directions all at once. Beautiful churches, designer stores, public libraries – it's like a city-in-a-street, with the pretty impressive money shot that is Central Park at the top. It also has the the unspeakably glamorous, beautifully Art Deco narcissistic ego-trip through architecture that is the Rockefeller Centre. The whole complex has to be experienced to be believed, with black marble poured like liquid night over walls and floors, and a mezzanine area so damn glam it makes the Starbucks look good.

Shopping wise, Macy's was everything you'd expect of the world's largest department store and more, while Wall Street merits a mention mainly thanks to the cherry-dip ice-cream cone bought from a vintage van at the top of the world famous paean to all that is greedy, mercenary and downright bad about the world of finance.

Chinatown put its London cousin firmly in the shade; we felt as though we were back in Shanghai, with the enchanting street stalls, constant hum of deals being made and laws being flouted and some of the best Shanghai cuisine we've ever eaten. Little Italy, meanwhile, was certainly little, just not hugely Italian. Almost a polar opposite of Chinatown's gauche authenticity, it seemed full of out of towners paying top whack for average fayre. The red, white and green colour scheme in the kids park was a nice touch, though. 

The East Side and Lower East Side were tantalisingly brilliant – we just didn't have the time to eat, drink and pseud our way through the cafés, bars, galleries and poetry slams as we wanted to. We did, however, find an hour to immerse ourselves in The Strand second hand book store. It's a bit like all of Hay-on-Wye, but in a strip-light lit downtown building in New York. Magic.

The return trip on the Staten Island ferry, with up close and personal views of the Statue of Liberty and NYC skyline shots to die for, was a real highlight, and must surely rank in any Top Ten of amazing free things to do while arseing about the world for a year. The geek in me loved our time in Grand Central Station more than anything else during our New York Stay. Lovingly restored and without a sodding Upper Crust in sight, it's a truly beautiful reminder of days gone by when New York was all old school glamour and when the railways really did rule the world. Though we couldn't quite stretch to the Oyster Bar (next time, next time), the Mexican we had there was pretty fine, as were the two pints of Samuel Adams served - without irony – with lime.

But even the train lover in me couldn't really deny that the real highlight was a late-night trip to the top of the Empire State Building. The Grande Dame of New York skyscrapers proved that the old ones really are the best, from the achingly elegant lines of the building itself to the unsurpassable view from up top. Kissing Louise is always a pleasure, but doing it with Manhattan twinkling in the distance seemed  just that little bit sweeter.

And that was about that. With the lights of New Jersey still sparkling in my eyes, we slept for a few hours then jumped in a cab for JFK for our morning flight to Colombia.

And if you're wondering, yes we did have a McDonald's (or two) during our stay. And yes, they taste a whole lot better.

Luke and Louise

(Posted by Luke)