Small world, isn't it?

Small world, isn't it? We have so much in common, it's a phenomenon.

Small world, isn’t it
Our train arrived back into NYC and Simon and I grabbed a cab down to Tribeca. The gay that I had been due to stay with had accidentally double booked himself so his place was going to be a little too cosy with all the people staying there. Luckily Greg, Gay Number 1, said that I could stay at his place. Greg was out of town but my London acquaintance Simon was staying there so he had keys. In the end it was probably a good thing being “hostless” as it gave me a chance to chill and recharge my batteries. After dropping off my suitcase I headed to the nearest store to grab some food. I had picked up a basket and put some apples and salad into it when I heard a voice across the aisle shout “Mr Tune”. Well, actually it shouted “Mr Toon” as Americans always pronounce my name that way. I pronounce it "Mr Tyoon".

The voice belonged to Carlos, the boyf of Gay Number 1. He was on his lunch break and getting some food too. I had been back in NYC for less than an hour and already I had bumped into someone I knew. I figured by the time this trip was through I would be the gay Kevin Bacon and it would be possible to link me with any gay in the world using only six degrees of separation. Carlos told me that a few of his friends were headed for drinks the following day and I should join them. I told him I would pencil it in. After I had got the provisions I needed I headed back, fixed myself a healthy lunch and spent the rest of the day snoozing and listening to the radio. Carlos sent me a message to let me know that he was off to a rooftop bar that evening for some drinks with colleagues if I wanted to join. I passed on the offer. Yes, I do sometimes decline the offer of alcohol!

The next day was a lazy one but I finally got showered and dressed in time to get to the Upper West Side for dinner with Carlos and another friend Angharad. Angharad is a straight man’s dream – stunningly beautiful, funny, intelligent, blonde & she works for a lingerie company. She even has a bra named after her. We sat outside for dinner at a place called Gina La Forina and shared a big pitcher of sangria which went down rather quickly in the heat of the evening. Carlos & I both went for salads, Angharad had a huge pizza. I have no idea how she maintains her petite figure. Bitch ;-)

After dinner we headed to the Kimberley Hotel where Carlos’s friend was having his birthday drinks. I was dressed in shorts & they wouldn’t let me in. Angharad was wearing flip flops so they wouldn’t let her in although she said she did have heels in her bag. I told Carlos & Angharad to go ahead without me & I would head home for an early night but they wouldn’t take that as an answer. Instead Carlos went up to see his friends and gave me & Angharad directions to the nearest gay bar, a bar called The Townhouse. As we entered The Townhouse we both noticed that the average age of the clientele was somewhat high. We were in a minority as most people had grey (or no) hair. I told Angharad that I felt a little uncomfortable and that I was worried that people would mistake me for a rent boy. Angharad found my discomfort amusing. We stayed for one drink before making our way back to the hotel to meet Carlos.  As we waited outside for him we saw the state of some of the people they were letting in to the venue. I think the people of Manhattan refer to them as Bridge & Tunnel people. Angharad & I stood open mouthed as the bouncer ushered in several rather large girls in garishly coloured, overly tight “greyhound skirts”.

The three of us jumped in a cab to Hell's Kitchen & had a quick drink at the Ritz. We didn’t stay long. The music was fine although they were randomly playing The Labyrinth film on the video screens with subtitles. Very strange. After there we headed to Bar-tini which was very busy. We had several drinks there. Angharad told the DJ he had to play some Kylie for us. He obliged within two songs, such is Angharad’s charm/cleavage. A very drunk short, camp guy tried to chat to me but he was slurring so much and the music was so loud that the conversation didn’t really go anywhere. I was pulling faces at Carlos as the guy chatted to me. Carlos watched & laughed. After the guy left, Carlos and I had a very in depth (albeit slightly inebriated) conversation about the types of men that I found attractive and the types of men that seemed attracted to me. We came to the conclusion that my looks and build were not necessarily conducive for me attracting the type of men that I wanted to attract or that I would be compatible with. We had identified the problem but couldn’t come up with a solution. Such is life. It was fairly late (or fairly early, depending on which way you look at it) by the time I got into bed.

We have so much in common

The following day I had a lazy day before I headed uptown to meet up with Kellen, the guy I had met a few weeks before in P’Town. We caught up on what we had both done since we last saw each other, me filling him in with details of my adventures in Boston & Long Island. We discussed future travel plans and found that we both might be in Key West around the same time so we might get to catch up again. It was a pleasant way to spend the evening and to get to chat to him without all the craziness of P'Town surrounding us. The late night of the previous day caught up with me though so I eventually headed back downtown for an early night.

Camp David...

The next day I met up with Simon at Penn Station (he had been back out to Long Island) and then the two of us met with another mutual friend, David. David had been the guy who had introduced me to Keith & Sean, my Philly gays. We walked from there into Chelsea and went to a little diner called the Trailer Park Lounge for some lunch. It was a hilarious place, kitsch decoration, tattooed (but lovely) waitress & great burgers. The three of us walked & chatted for a while before I headed back & Simon went to get a haircut. After Simon got back we freshened up & headed to Splash for Musical Mondays. It was only the second time that Simon had ever been to Musical Mondays. It was the second time on my trip…

Liza Le Blanc?

We were joined by Bill and soon the three of us were singing along to the showtunes along with the rest of the people crammed into the venue. We got chatting to the guys at the next table. One of them said to Simon “Has anyone ever told you that you look someone famous?” As Simon went to say yes, I said to the guy who asked the question that we told Simon constantly that he had a look of Liza Minnelli about him. The guy looked at Simon for a while & then said he could see the resemblance but had actually been thinking Simon looked like Matt Le Blanc. I think Simon was rather pleased with the comparison (more so than the comparison to Liza). We spent the rest of the evening chatting with the same guys, watched the live show (yet another one of Bill’s friends was performing – he seems to know everyone!) and then grabbed a snack on the way home. Simon & I both had fun on our last night together.

The following morning I said goodbye to Simon as I was off to Nashville. Simon still had a couple more days of his holiday left. I gave him a bundle of postcards to take back to England. One each for Mother & my sister from each place I had visited on my trip so far. He said he would post them for me on his return. Just before I left I suddenly realised that I wasn’t sure which New York airport I was flying out of so I double checked my booking & made a note (La Guardia). It is a wonder I have made it this far in my trip without getting hideously lost, ending up at the wrong airport, or worse, ending up in the wrong city.

It’s a phenomenon

I made my way the half block to Broadway and had soon flagged down a cab. I loaded my suitcase in the back & got in beside it. The driver was on his phone but stopped his conversation long enough to ask where I was headed. He set off for La Guardia. We hadn’t gone five minutes down the road, all the time him being on his phone, when the engine cut out & we slowly came to a halt. Much tooting from the traffic behind us & a couple of attempts to restart the engine and we were on our way again. The driver finally finished his call just as we started over Brooklyn Bridge. As I said goodbye once again to Manhattan the engine cut out again. The driver moved over to the inside lane & put his hazard warning lights on as we slowly ground to a halt right in the middle of the bridge. Once again horns blared in our direction & I had to force myself not to look out of the back window as cars hurtled towards us.

After what seemed like an eternity the cab got going again and we thankfully made it to La Guardia without any further issues. I was so pleased to have made it in one piece I was tempted to do an impression of the Pope and kiss the ground as I got out of the cab. I checked in for the flight, went through security and got myself some lunch. We boarded on time, pulled away from the gate on time and then proceeded to sit on a taxiway for nearly two hours. I texted my next host, Rhett in Nashville to let him know that I would be later than planned. We finally took off. I was on my way to the South.

“Small world, isn't it? We have so much in common, it's a phenomenon.” 
Lyrics from Small World from the musical Gypsy