Always Take The Weather With You

My family seems to have had a bad run of luck as far as flooding goes this year. One member found himself in Hull when the drains overflowed, and found ten minute car journeys turning into two-hour odysseys. On my part, TV cameras had set up shop pretty much at the end of the road when heavy rain hit Oxford and the Thames started to burst its banks. Yet surely going to New York in the summer would mean I was free from such adverse conditions?

Think again. I'd arranged to meet a friend for breakfast on Wednesday morning. A simple plan in theory, but on reaching the subway there was a fifteen-minute wait before the first train appeared. Not only that, but it was too crowded to afford any room to get on. The next train was the same. Eventually I managed to cram myself into a carriage, but given the heat and capacity, it was far from a comfortable journey.

The reason for this was that thunderstorms overnight had flooded parts of the subway lines, and so services were intermittent at best. Indeed, reading the papers the next morning, it seemed as if I was lucky just to have had access to a functioning train at all. The more general problem is that the subway is not an especially comfortable means of travel - it seems to suck in the heat that the rest of the city is pumping out through its air conditioning system. That said, it encourages me to walk whenever possible. Given the size of American portions, this is almost certainly a good thing!

Of course, the eating opportunities in NYC are a major bonus about being here. Richard and I have sampled a number of different establishments, ranging from stereotypical diners to more eclectic restaurants. The undoubted highlight was a Chinese/Mexican fusion food restuarant. We received a glowing recommendation from a family leaving the restaurant as we entered, and it lived up to its billing. Any institution that serves prawn crackers and tortilla chips as its free snacks has to be worth visiting! Our other regular haunt has been Tom's Restaurant, which for those of you in the know is the diner that featured in Seinfeld. One of the benefits of being around for a somewhat extended period of time is that you can visit somewhere often enough to be recognised, and sure enough last night we found ourselves in conversation with the manager being offered free drinks!

The first few days of my trip here have mostly been concentrated on research, however. (I have to include this in case my supervisor finds his way here). Thankfully, this week has been so productive that my fears of struggling to get through the papers I was reading before the archive closed for its long weekend proved unfounded, and I now have the luxury of three days unadulterated sightseeing in the Big Apple. Admittedly, the evenings are likely to be spent at a variety of baseball games. But I'm certainly looking forward to getting to explore some of the more famous sights here at a slightly more leisurely pace than my previously 30-hour dash.

My one act as a tourist so far was a trip to the Empire State Building. The building itself is actually surprisingly easy to miss, for it is so tall that the main structure is set back from the base, and thus inconspicuous from ground level (skyscrapers that run straight up and adjacent to the pavement, sorry, sidewalk are far more foreboding). The views from the top are every bit as good as advertising - and I feel justified in saying this despite the fact that visibility was only 5 miles when we were at the top! The downside to the poorer weather, of course, was the fact that the pictures are nowhere near as impressive as they might be. "That grey blob in the distance is the Statue of Liberty" isn't that impressive, I fear.

The other problem with the trip is that the staff were very surly. The building is so tall you need to go through two elevators, but they don't actually inform you which floor you need to get off on the second time round. Nevertheless, even on a less than clear day, the views were quite spectacular. It isn't for the faint-hearted, though - the height of the building is quite terrifying, especially when you get hit by really strong gusts of wind! My pictures will doubtless be characterised by a morbid fear of stepping any closer to the edge. Despite the huge safety cages in place.

Anyway, the lure of sightseeing is calling once again, so I will leave this missive now. Expect updates on the quality of New York baseball stadia soon!