Not much anyway.
When I first moved to LA I was constantly being surprised. My eyebrows were raised at every corner. I had no idea the beaches would be so wide and so clean, or the mountains so green and so beautiful and so close, or the gardens of old Hollywood so lush.
New York, by contrast, is mostly unsurprising. The fleet of yellow cabs, the puffs of steam escaping the pavement, the pretzel stands, they're just as one imagines. It really looks just like it does in the movies. Which is nice, as it made me feel at home straight away. Last night TLOML and I passed a lovely building I thought I knew. After wondering for a moment, I confirmed it was the Public Library. I recognised it from Breakfast at Tiffany's, you see.
I walked to the office* at Madison Square today, and on my way I passed the Flat Iron building and had a great view of the Empire State building. I glanced at them without even really seeing them, so familiar were they to me. New York really is just as one would expect.
There are a couple of exceptions though. These are the aspects of New York that truly surprise me:
1. The sheer number of dogs. The ratio of dogs to people. The ratio of dogs to open spaces, for that matter. Surprises me every time I leave the building.
2. People are not rude**, spiky or crazy like they are in the movies. Who knew?! Someone should send a memo to Hollywood telling them so.
3. No garbage disposal. Apparently they were banned for a while. Shame, as I think garbage disposals is one of the top ten brilliant things America has given the world. They are the height of kitchen luxury in my view. I miss mine already.
If I learn anything surprising about New York I will be sure to post immediately. Otherwise I'm afraid there's a risk that this blog will just be me confirming a series of well worn cliches about New York. I can't help it if they're all true!
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*The rabbit hutch really is too small for two people to work all day together. Yesterday TLOML told me the sound of me typing was 'bouncing back at him'. So I gave him a break from the clatter of my keyboard and the chatter of my calls, and went into the office.
**Except the other people who live in our building who, judging by what I've seen in the lift, are a bunch of exercise fanatics and dog-crazy loners. But that's just my first impression...
When I first moved to LA I was constantly being surprised. My eyebrows were raised at every corner. I had no idea the beaches would be so wide and so clean, or the mountains so green and so beautiful and so close, or the gardens of old Hollywood so lush.
New York, by contrast, is mostly unsurprising. The fleet of yellow cabs, the puffs of steam escaping the pavement, the pretzel stands, they're just as one imagines. It really looks just like it does in the movies. Which is nice, as it made me feel at home straight away. Last night TLOML and I passed a lovely building I thought I knew. After wondering for a moment, I confirmed it was the Public Library. I recognised it from Breakfast at Tiffany's, you see.
 |
| Feel like you know this building, even if you never been there in person? Me too. |
I walked to the office* at Madison Square today, and on my way I passed the Flat Iron building and had a great view of the Empire State building. I glanced at them without even really seeing them, so familiar were they to me. New York really is just as one would expect.
 |
| Every intersection looks like this. No surprises. |
There are a couple of exceptions though. These are the aspects of New York that truly surprise me:
1. The sheer number of dogs. The ratio of dogs to people. The ratio of dogs to open spaces, for that matter. Surprises me every time I leave the building.
2. People are not rude**, spiky or crazy like they are in the movies. Who knew?! Someone should send a memo to Hollywood telling them so.
3. No garbage disposal. Apparently they were banned for a while. Shame, as I think garbage disposals is one of the top ten brilliant things America has given the world. They are the height of kitchen luxury in my view. I miss mine already.
If I learn anything surprising about New York I will be sure to post immediately. Otherwise I'm afraid there's a risk that this blog will just be me confirming a series of well worn cliches about New York. I can't help it if they're all true!
--------
*The rabbit hutch really is too small for two people to work all day together. Yesterday TLOML told me the sound of me typing was 'bouncing back at him'. So I gave him a break from the clatter of my keyboard and the chatter of my calls, and went into the office.
**Except the other people who live in our building who, judging by what I've seen in the lift, are a bunch of exercise fanatics and dog-crazy loners. But that's just my first impression...
Wise words from Steena: "The only thing in new york that doesn't look like the movies are the apartments - even millionaires live in studios." True that, which explains why I'm still surprised by the size of our rabbit hutch.
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