I�ve been in New York City for a couple of days, staying at Staten Island and going across on the ferry. Though I�ve lived in cities most of my life, and though I�ve visited Chicago, New York has been a treat!

First, riding over on the ferry is a blast. You�re on this boat that can carry over four thousand people. On the top deck standing outside, the wind in your teeth, it�s like � well, it�s rather cold, really. But exhilarating. Approaching the city � watching the skyline grow bigger and realizing that you can�t even see buildings like the Empire State Building, that the two Tallest of Them All are gone now, and yet getting that sense of bigness built all the way up to Manhattan Island�s edges � it�s like seeing another world. Very nice indeed!

And then you descend down into the steel and rock and glass canyons of the city. In parts, it�s a wind tunnel, the worst being the World Trade Center remains where the two towers are no longer there to break the gales coming off the water nearby. In other parts, it�s still, but so very smelly you wish a good wind would break out!

The people aren�t as beautiful as I had expected � women are either older, or way too skinny, or can�t speak your language. And they tend to look away � you can�t make eye contact with many people. Still, it�s a wonderful place.

The people who are friendly are absolutely fantastic. I figured out after a while that the ones who don�t speak my language weren�t ignoring me, but trying to not be embarrassed due to their lack of English. While I wasn�t fond of the art, the architecture of the buildings is positively amazing, though the buildings are built so close it�s hard to appreciate it properly.

All in all, I think I wouldn�t mind living there for a while.

[tags]new york, world trade center, september 11,staten island,city life[/tags]