It's funny this thread was made. On Tuesday I returned from a seven-day vacation to NYC; a kind of celebration for my and my friends' graduating this summer. We've had it booked since about January, and I can't believe it's already over.

"He adored New York City. He idolised it all out of proportion..." - Woody Allen

NYC is indeed an amazing place to visit, and the sort of place I'd love to live; I've already got a vague optimism about applying to its film school next year, though I doubt I'll pursue that with any deep interest. Physically, it was surprisingly flat (which makes walking easy), though architecturally it's astonishing. To a tourist, it's energetic, welcoming, efficient, eclectic, vibrant, modern.

STAYING

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt on Park Avenue and 42nd Street, between Grand Central and the Chrysler building. Pretty sweet, pretty grand. As it happens, though we'd planned on visiting the Bronx Zoo and its neighbouring Botanical Gardens, and also planned on visiting Staten Island and Brooklyn, we didn't roam further than Manhattan itself, which pays testament to its attractions and appeal for first-time visitors. (I had wanted to get the subway to Coney Island, in order to ride the subway through Bensonhurst and see the famous elevated track as seen in The French Connection. But, practically, we were wise to cross off these outer areas very early. As it happens, we ventured into Brooklyn at night as part of a tour-bus.)

ATTRACTIONS

Before we travelled, we each purchased a week-long New York Pass, which made us even more eager to fit in the stuff we wanted to see. It's $155 for the seven days, and we more than made our money back from that. You can see what you get free entry to on the site, but we used it for the following: Empire State Building, New York Skyride (within the ESB; shit and overpriced but we got it for free, so what the heck), The Museum of Sex, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex, The Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park Zoo, Madame Tussaud's, the Guggenheim, the MoMA, Madison Square Garden, Top of the Rock Observation Deck (Rockefeller Center), Liberty/Ellis Island Museum and ferry. For most of these, too, the pass got a line jump; very well worth it.

GETTING ABOUT

In terms of transport, we walked most places. I found Manhattan both walkable and navigable; its grid system is sensible, and even south of 1st Street, Broadway remains a good 'guide line'. You probably spend most time waiting to cross the roads at each junction, though this is easily mastered, as the traffic for most streets and avenues is one-way; if like me you're a fast walker, you can time it right and walk two blocks before having to stop - sometimes more. We used the subway once, from Spring Street to Grand Central; and on the first and second days we saw the city via the Gray Line hop-on-hop-off bus tours. The guides on these buses have an enthusiasm, knowledge and energy that make me recommend the buses in an instant, if you're a first time visitor staying for more than three days.

FOOD AND DRINK

For breakfast, we ate mostly at the Café Metro on East 42nd Street - eggs on French toast with coffee and orange juice went down very well.

For lunch and dinner, here's where I ate and what I had:
Heartland Brewery (5th Avenue, next door to the Empire State Building) - wild mushroom ravioli; Ellis Island Museum café - veggie burger with chips; Naturally Tasty (5th Avenue & 28th Street, opposite the Museum of Sex) - mixed vegetables and cheese on jacket potato; Marriott Hotel: View Lounge rooftop revolving restaurant (Times Square) - buffet; Metropolitan Museum of Art café - rigatoni with sauce; Stout (33rd Street between 6th & 7th Avenue) - veggie burger with (amazing) chips; Planet Hollywood (Times Square) - spaghetti pomodoro; Grand Central - here I combined two different stalls, getting a slice of pizza from one and then dipping into a vegetable curry from the Indian stall next door. Yummy.

(As a vegetarian, I found it no worse than any other city - you can find stuff quite easily, though some places seem to assume that since you don't eat meat, you don't eat much. Planet Hollywood was the exception, here; and I guess ordering a full cheese pizza ('pie') is going to get you full whatever your dietary needs.)

Places I drank:
Bar Stuzzichini (Broadway, just south of the Flatiron); Tavern on the Green (Central Park); Annie Moore's and Patrick Conway's - just off Vanderbilt Avenue opposite Grand Central; Oldcastle Pub (near the Wellington hotel?); Papillon Bar & Bistro (55th Street and 6th Avenue?); Stout (see above).

I learned very quick that the draught beer can be very weak and/or badly kept. In general, Guinness is a safe route, and I instantly embraced Brooklyn Brown Ale and Nut Brown Lager. I was also drinking many gin and tonics, warming to the idea of bartenders pouring stronger drinks the more you tipped. I also liked receiving seemingly customary free rounds every now and then, as a result of said tipping.

TIPPING

I must say, I found the whole tipping business kind of fun; though two of us weren't so keen, I loved embracing this new culture. And, if I'm honest, it results in unsurpassed customer service; you can't visit New York City and not be polite. Friendliness is contagious here.

Beware of being seduced, though; my waitress in Planet Hollywood met my eyes more times than I've ever experienced, and was looking at me like some sort of over-friendly stripper when recommending certain meals. She even talked me into getting a chocolate cake dessert, even though I was full from the main course. Needless to say, once she'd taken our bill, we never saw her again. I was quite literally left with my dick in my hand.

NOO YAWKERS

Conversation with the people in Manhattan came very easy. I'm not sure how many of them were actually from New York, but to me it didn't really matter. My first impression, from spending a week there, is that they're almost naturally outgoing, never intimidatingly so, very welcomingly so. I found the Americans I conversed with in Manhattan very articulate and very opinionated; I surmise that verbal presentation and interaction is a huge part of the education system over there. In comparison - and very much in general - the English are very reserved, and almost ashamedly humble.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

We visited the World Trade Center, or Ground Zero. The memorial 'shop' is at first glance very moving, and just by being there you realise just how little you 'understand' 9/11 as an actual experience that was lived through. I also found it frustrating: it's a nice, peaceful vicinity, but when reading the chronology of the event on the walls, you can't help but note the way in which the attacks are immediately absorbed as a way of self-righteous and -justifying identity-making. 9/11 has affected the city in more ways than are first noticeable: the security checks at JFK, of course, but also the security checks for the museums and the Empire State Building, and the many references made by tour guides, etc. There seems every effort not to forget 9/11 - a very legitimate stance - but very little effort to use it as a means of further understanding the complexities of terrorism and its social and historical implications. The "Us vs Them" attitude hasn't got us anywhere, nor will it.

Elsewhere, I found it fascinating and telling that residents proudly embrace such nicknames as 'The Finest' for the police department, 'The Bravest' for the fire department and 'The Strongest' for the garbage workers. These should be taken with a pinch of salt, but I fear they're actually genuinely taken seriously by many. As an example, one of the Gray Line tour guides talked very briefly about the private jet that recently crashed into one of the tourist helicopters, and then used this only to counteract it with the proud anecdote about the plane 'heroically' crashing into the Hudson, and how the 'whole of New York City came together' as a community effort to rescue the passengers and crew. I'm sure such heroism would be on display in any other city; this just happens to have happened in New York. And so there's an obvious collective un-self-conscious pride here, but it inevitably goes hand-in-hand with naivety. Perhaps New York is so 'big' - both literally and conceptually/culturally - that it's difficult to see things in a broader context.

Also obvious - and fascinating, alarming - was the divide in wealth. Not only this, but the seeming naturalness with which the divide is accepted. There's little awareness of the divide, and if there is an awareness, there's a lot of resignation on display. Doing the Gray Line 'Uptown Loop', we drove up the west side of Central Park, passing the Dakota building and 'seeing' Yoko Ono's apartment, hearing about Donald Trump's buildings and whatnot, etc., etc. Then we hit Harlem, and there's an obvious social gap there, but very little is said about it. Class divide is accepted as 'natural' - the misconception that the many homeless beggars that approach you on the subway or on the streets surrounding Penn Station are an unavoidable and quite natural by-product of the skyscrapers and office blocks that make the Manhattan skyline so visually impressive and culturally rich. It's revealing that these opposite ends of the spectrum are literally blocks away from each other.

There's more I could talk about, and not just this kind of stuff, but other stuff, like the comparative density of Central Park, and the ease with which you can get lost in it. But I think I'll leave it for now. I'd prefer to answer specific questions rather than ramble on.

All I will say is that I did the Sopranos tour, met Joe Gannascoli (Vito!!!), and had a great day in New Jersey - or part of it.

Pics to come.