A city of strangers

A city of strangers, some come to stare, some to stay

A city of strangers

My first proper touristy efforts in NYC. I head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  There is an exhibition of costumes by Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty; I’ve been told I shouldn’t miss it. Because of the jetlag I am up early and at the Met for when it opens. I’ve texted a couple of friends but they clearly are having a lie in until a respectable time so don’t respond in time to join me.  The McQueen exhibition is stunning. His gothic inspired creations are set in surroundings that remind of the haunted house fairground rides from when I was young. It is probably best that I am there on my own as I have a massive urge to hide and jump out at someone to scare them. I’m finally relaxing into my travels as I leave the exhibition. It is at this point that I run straight into an ex from back home, together with his mother, who are here on holiday and seeing the same exhibit. The world truly is a small, and cruel, place. There is some stilted conversation about travels plans and the exhibition. I figured I was bound to bump into someone I knew while I was travelling I just didn’t expect it to be on my second full day. The random meeting puts me in a funny mood for the rest of the day.

Some come to stare

Dean & the bartender at Vynl

After a couple of hours at the Met I wander through Central Park, getting some photos of Dean, spending a few minutes listening to a group of schoolchildren singing show tunes in the park as I make my way to Hell’s Kitchen to meet a friend for lunch. We meet up and go to a great little Mexican place called Arriba Arriba. Lunch is mostly frozen margaritas with a side of some nachos and a taco salad. We sit outside, a great spot to people watch from. As we are sitting I ponder on whether we should be holding up scores for the people passing by, like in ice-skating, giving the men scores for technical merit and presentation. My friend who I’m dining with, Thompson, checks to see if there is an app for that on his iPhone. There is. We continue rating the people who pass us, but I note that he is a lot more generous with his scores than I am. Perhaps I am very choosy? A guy walking towards us is rated an eight by Thompson. As if the guy has heard his mark and wasn’t happy with it, he lifts up his t-shirt to use the corner of it to wipe his eye, revealing a rather well defined midriff. Thompson upgrades him to a nine. Dean makes friends with various bartenders and the afternoon slips into evening. I’m a creature of habit so once I am finally back home for the evening I sit & listen to the News Quiz on the radio.

Some to stay

Saturday is a typical New York day. A lazy morning allows me to chat to my sister over Skype and, after ironing out some technical difficulties, I also speak to mother. The technical difficulty being that she hadn’t actually logged into Skype…

The day is filled with wandering around the shops in Tribeca with Greg and Carlos before having brunch. More walking, this time over to the Christopher Street pier where we stop for a sit down. In the height of summer I can see that the small strip of grass on the pier would be head to toe gays sunbathing. Today, a slightly overcast day, there are a few guys with not much on working on their tans.

The Calle Ocho gang

Cocktails and dinner at Calle Ocho is the plan for the evening. There are five of us for dinner – me, Greg & Carlos and Craig and Ryan.  I get to sit at the head of the table as the guest/single person. I show Craig my notebook, filled out exactly as he suggested which pleases him immensely. There are birthday drinks after dinner making it a rather late, but thoroughly enjoyable, night. I feel like I am spending most of my time drinking and eating. I tell myself that it’s just because it is New York and I’ve done the touristy things before and that when I get to places I haven’t been before I will spend more time being cultured and less time with a gin in my hand. We’ll see.

“It’s a city of strangers, some come to stare, some to stay” 
Lyrics from Another Hundred People from the musical Company