Taking the pizza

Published on Mon 21 Jun 2010

I wolfed down my hot dog (see what I did there?), headed north to Central Park (one of the good things about the grid system is that you know which direction you're heading in at all times) and spent a nice hour or so wandering round. It's a very relaxing place - even the streetlights seemed comfortingly familiar from the films. There are some slightly wild bits too and it's quite hilly - I ended up having to scramble up a bramble strewn slope at one point having followed a guy who looked like he knew where he was going.

I'm not sure how the radio controlled yachts work - there was a sign by the lake saying that no powered boats were allowed, but that implies that people were controlling them simply by moving the rudder and sails about which seems incredible to me.

After a while I stumbled on this tower which I think I read is some kind of weather research facility.

Whatever it is, it has a nice view of some terrapins sunning themselves.

The last thing I saw in the park was Strawberry Fields, Yoko Ono's tribute to John Lennon who was shot not far away. I have a suspicion that the hippy guy who sat watching it the whole time I was there was helping himself to the wishing hat money. I suppose it has to go somewhere though.

I left the park and had my first go on the New York subway, heading down to lower Manhattan. As I got out of the station without particularly realising where I was, this church caught my eye.

It turned out to be right next to Ground Zero and was the place that the volunteers had used as a base. It was one of the more devastating places I've been in my life. This table was particularly upsetting. I'm not sure I should've taken a picture of it really. Things are sadder when you consider the individual real people involved instead of the numbers.

As hard as it was to not burst into tears with every thing you read, there was actually a real hopefulness about the place - loads of stories of people pulling together and putting themselves in danger to help each other.

The museum round the corner about what they're going to do with the space was also pretty moving. I came out quite affected by it all, so I did what anyone would do and got a large tub of chocolate ice cream and sat in a park for a while. I don't know why every other country does better ice cream than we do. Maybe stuff just tastes better on holiday.

I then took a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, which had been the reason for going to that area of the city in the first place. It's quite impressive, and was the first time that I got to see the breathtaking skyline from a bit of a distance.

A couple saw me trying to take a picture of myself with Manhattan in the background and took pity on me, which was very nice of them. It turned out the guy was going to London the day before I flew back.

That is a rare photo of me having been away from work for long enough to actually be happy. When I'd made it all the way across the bridge I had a walk round Brooklyn and was generally impressed by the size of things

but really I was looking for a pizza place that someone at the wedding in Chicago had told me about. "I can't remember what it's called, but it's just under the bridge and there's always a line of people" they told me. Fortunately as I was coming out of a small park which contained some interesting facts about a battle that was fought there at the start of the War of Independence, I overheard some other people ask a local where it was, and what the directions were. It's called Grimaldi's, and even at 3.30pm on a Monday afternoon I had to wait for 45 minutes to get in.

I ordered a small pepperoni pizza and sat quietly with a glass of wine watching the cooks expertly throwing dough around the kitchen, until I noticed that the people sitting next to me were the couple from the bridge and, taking into account the lesson I'd been taught on the plane, started up a really nice chat with them. They finished the small pepperoni pizza they were sharing just as mine turned up.

I don't know for sure if it was the best pizza I've ever had, because I remember having some pretty incredible ones in Italy, but it might well have been. It certainly beat the Chicago one, though I guess we didn't go to the absolute best Chicago pizza place. Soon enough another couple sat down, ordered a small pepperoni pizza between them, and I had a nice chat with them too while I got to within the crust of one slice of finishing mine. The guys next to me, sharing a small pepperoni pizza, were very impressed.

I staggered out and walked back across the Manhattan bridge, which was deserted in comparison to, but offers some great views of, the Brooklyn Bridge.

The bridge ends in Chinatown which is good for a quick look around but, to be honest, is a little bit intimidating. The McDonald's is done up in a fun way.

I sat in a nearby park for a while and watched a game of football, then set off for the famous Bleeker Street, making sure to go via Spring Street so I could see the place that the Dar Williams song is about. It was just a road with some trinket stalls on the pavement. After a while I came across a series of bars which had music on, so I picked a likely looking one, got a beer and watched a showcase type thing where everyone got 3 or 4 songs. The standard was about what I'd have expected in London - i.e. a bit disappointing - I don't know why I assumed New York would be better. I'd have assumed London would be good if I'd not been there I suppose. The guy running it seemed like a bit of a tool as well, so I went on my way when the beer was gone and had a walk around Greenwich Village. I think I'd become overly used to all the roads being at right angles though, because I kept on getting turned around and ending up at exactly the same junction on 6th Avenue. I decided I was tired so resolved to go back another time (though it'll have to actually be another time) and then walked the 30 or so blocks back to Times Square. I popped in to one of the other Irish pubs near the hotel and ended up having a few drinks with a guy called Cory from Philadelphia who was in town for a conference on innovation. Neither of us were sure how you can teach people to be innovative, though the college students next to us were certainly being innovative in weird stuff to do when you're drunk. Drinking ketchup is neither big nor clever kids. It was a really brilliant day.