The lights of New York

We leave on the morning of December 27, 2007 with a Delta AirLine flight from Malpensa to JFK in New York, where we arrive after about 9 hours of flight.

The first stop according to the plan was to spend the first night at Selene’s aunt’s house in Bethlehem, a small town in Pennsylvania about a couple of hours from New York. A first difficulty is encountered in the vastness of New York’s main airport, namely JFK.

Just consider that it has 8 terminals! You heard right, 8 terminals, and we had to go to terminal 4 because only from there would the bus for Bethlehem depart. This one, with Swiss precision, departs from the airport at 5 p.m. We are very tired, but we cover the first stretch entirely within the Big Apple, so it is impossible to sleep in front of the city of a thousand lights, immense skyscrapers and the immense human crowd around the streets of Manhattan. Once out of New York, the lights end and our “light” also goes out; we fall into a deep sleep and wake up just in time to get off at our destination.

Ready waiting for us are Selene’s relatives, who emigrated from Calabria to the States many years ago now. The evening passes talking, talking, talking about Italy, about the other relatives, until our strength held out.

Made in Italy by Luca & Selene

The next morning – 28 DECEMBER 2007 – after a nice get-together for lunch with other relatives from the area, we returned to New York on the same bus that had taken us there.

The only difference is that from JFK airport, the end of the line, we had to go to another New York airport, La Guardia (actually there are three, there's also Newark).

Just 5 minutes by bus from La Guardia airport is our hotel, the "Marriott La Guardia". Endless luxury, but then again it was the only possible solution given the period and especially considering that on 30 December at 8 in the morning we had our flight from La Guardia that would take us to the Bahamas, so given the proximity, better not to risk it.

Once we'd settled our luggage in the room, a healthy freshening up and straight out of the hotel. A Marriott-branded bus shuttles 24 hours a day from the hotel to the airport and back. We got on the bus and had ourselves dropped off at the bus stop. From here there's a bus, the number M60, that takes you to the first New York subway stop (Subway, in American).

Impressive, within 15 minutes and without any effort at all from the hotel we were on the subway tracks. Another important factor of the vacation in New York is obviously the value of the dollar, which has fallen quite a bit compared to our euro…how lovely when you find yourself shopping, shopping, eating or whatever…nothing like in Italy!!!

On the subway you travel with the "metrocard", a card that can have the value of a single ride, daily, weekly or monthly at very advantageous prices if you also consider that with the same card, as long as it's still valid, you can also travel on all types of buses that circulate in New York.

We decide to buy the daily metrocard, cost $7 (about €5…) and our journey of discovery through New York begins. Getting around New York by subway is the most preferred method also because besides being convenient it's very easy…I don't remember exactly how many lines there are but I guarantee you there are really a lot of them, blue, green, yellow, orange, 1,2,3,4,5,N,P etc… the first obligatory stop could only be Manhattan, the beating heart of the city. 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue are the 2 most "IN" streets of the city thanks to the numerous brand-name stores you can find there, Times Square really seems like a video game, you stay for more than 10 minutes with your head looking up to see all those mega videos, advertisements, electronic billboards imprinted on the buildings that tower over it.

You can see the weather forecast or read the stock market trends in giant letters. It's about 10 in the evening but it feels like being in Milan at 9 in the morning with how many people you can meet on the street. The temperature is cold, it's raining lightly, but despite everything you don't perceive anything, the thousand lights of Manhattan and the immense skyscrapers "block" both the cold and the rain. The stores stay open even until late just to do business with tourists (especially Europeans) who with the euro really get golden deals; Playstation3, Apple, Ipod, Nike, iPhone…on everything that is American you get an impressive saving, you'll even meet tourists wandering around the city with trolleys and duffel bags full of gifts.

The beauty of New York is also that, urbanistically speaking, it's laid out like a grid, straight streets that intersect with equally straight streets, which makes things considerably easier for the tourist.

Not far from Times Square we visit the Rockefeller Center, with two of the many characteristic features of Christmas New York, the big tree in front of the skyscraper and the beautiful ice-skating rink next to it, a few meters below street level, symbols that have been made famous over the years also thanks to numerous films set right in Christmas New York. On the street we take to return to the subway we also see the Lincoln Center and the majestic Empire State Building which, illuminated at night, truly gives a more evocative image of its grandeur. It's late at night when we head back toward the hotel, with a bit of neck pain…after all, you visit New York almost always looking up…everything is big and everything is immense

The next morning – 29 DECEMBER 2007 – we get up early and after a delicious and substantial breakfast good for recharging our batteries, we return to discovering New York. We decide to go a bit further down to the part called Down Town. We get off at Ground Zero.

Tears were almost ready to fall at feeling such a surreal silence, the composure and respect are still alive today in tourists and especially in the Americans themselves. Stars and stripes flags hung everywhere. The only noise you can hear is that of the construction work coming from inside the "gashes" left by the 2 towers at the moment of the collapse on that terrible 11 September 2001. You look up at the sky and remain perplexed at seeing a tiny space surrounded by skyscrapers and your mind immediately goes back to that day and to how 2 planes managed to crash into the towers in such a narrow space. Around the perimeter where the work is underway for the construction of two new towers, there are the plaques with all the names of the people who died, there's also a store dedicated entirely to the firefighters who unfortunately remained trapped in the rubble of the collapse.

I repeat, the silence gives you goosebumps. We eat in a small pizzeria nearby where the photos from that day are still kept, the pizzeria's broken sign, dust everywhere, shattered glass, people seeking shelter. Today this pizzeria has been completely renovated but those photos, no one will ever erase them from people's minds. Right in front of Ground Zero there's Century21, a big clothing store where it's possible to shop and feel firsthand the price differences on items of clothing, shoes and whatever else you can find. In the early afternoon, back in Manhattan, we decide to take the open-top bus that takes you around the city. $25 to visit Down Town, Up Town, passing of course through Central Park, the Museum of Modern Art, Times Square, Madison Square Garden, Little Italy, Soho, Broadway etc…all the way to the Statue of Liberty.

The quality/price ratio is exceptional, the only problem is that in December staying for more than 3 hours in the open part of the bus isn't exactly ideal, after a while you start freezing. The sun has gone, the lights begin to come on over the city, when we realize something. We've talked so much about the convenience of shopping in New York due to the weak dollar but we still hadn't bought a single thing.

We fling ourselves into "Macy's", a "thing" that calling it a clothing store is offensive…3000 sqm per floor for a good 8 floors…get out your calculator and do the math. We decide, also given the little time we had available, to limit our shopping to just the Ralph Lauren department. Many stores even, just for tourists who present their passport, provide an additional 11% discount on the final purchase. We practically clean out Ralph Lauren, two big bags full of polos, shirts, sweaters, swim trunks etc…what do you say to €35 for a Ralph polo? In practically pitiful condition we return to the hotel.

Our experience in New York concludes like this, tired but happy to have visited one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the most chaotic I believe. One thing is certain, the organization and the sense of patriotism that Americans have should serve as an example to quite a few nations – Italy first and foremost – mind you, not all that glitters is gold, but we had a wonderful time, on the subway at 2 in the morning you travel around calmly without any fear. Obviously there will certainly be dangerous places, you just don't go there, very simple…one thing is certain…we will definitely return to New York.