I'm pleased to report that Noo Yoik
is just like it is in all the films.
You do see steam rising from gratings in the
street; the subway does look dodgy; when you tell
a cab driver you want to go to 'Thirty-four East Thirty-second',
then (providing they speak English) they won't think you're speaking
some bizarre code, they will just drive you there
at madcap speed showing scant regard for other road users; when
a traffic light turns green, if you don't start driving within
0.1 nanoseconds, then the cab driver behind you will starting
hooting his horn; if you go into a deli and order a ham sandwich,
they will stuff it full of more ham then you'd
get in a family pack in Tesco and then they will cram
in the whole of the salad bar from the local Pizza Hut.
In fact you can't simply order a ham and cheese sandwich as you
would in Britain, as they would get confused because you haven't
told them what type of cheese you want, whether or not you want
mayonnaise and exactly which parts of the entire Pizza Hut salad
bar you want stuffed into your sandwich!
Looking for a bar near Times Square on my first night, the nearest
two were both Irish bars. So I decided to treat myself to
a Guinness or two. It felt very odd, sitting in a bar in
New York chatting to a barmaid from Ennis, Co. Clare, drinking
a pint of Guinness and reading a copy of the Irish
Independent. Or at least drinking what they call a pint;
I didn't realise before that an American pint is only 473ml, whilst
a British/Irish one is 568ml - I felt I was being short-changed...
so I ordered another one just to make up!
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