Snow Angels on 34th street part 2

America is exactly as you imagine it and, at the same time, completely different to what you thought it would be like. It’s bigger for a start, from the ground you are dwarfed and even though every instinct is telling you otherwise you still can’t help but walk round staring upwards.

But the real scale of New York was shown to me this trip when I visited the Empire State building. Those of you that know me will know how I overuse the word “awesome” I blame Bill and Ted, so when I say the view from the 86th observatory was awesome, please know that I don’t mean cup of tea awesome or didn’t miss the bus awesome I mean awesome in the original sense of the word, knee trembling, lack of words Awesome with a capital fucking A. I genuinely wish that I was a better writer to convey how affected I was by the sight.

The only thing to mar the experience was how on the way up we was guided through what must have been 3 different gift shops, hocking expensive but tacky baubles and other assorted shit, I get the feeling that if the Empire State building had been somewhere else (and lets face it, it would have never been built somewhere else) you would probley have to ask the cleaners nicely to unlock a door and walk up1,860 steps to have a look round. And because of the recent Kong movie someone had gone to the trouble to glue badly made monkeys to everything and add an extra twenty bucks.

Interesting fact: the original budget for the building was $50 million and it actually came in under budget by $9 million, which goes to show what a complete shower of prats the people that built the millennium dome are.

part 3 soon

photo; veiw from the Empire State Building (thanks bobs)