The one with the semi-naked woman and an aircraft carrier
I flew back into Newark that evening and saw why my flight had been delayed previously. Snow had been ploughed into massive piles in various parts of the airport. It reminded me of seeing the Jumbo jets blasting the frozen ice from the lines in the runway at Heathrow all those months ago when I left for Japan.
I checked into my hostel and I was now moving to a different dorm-apartment adjacent to Broadway on 57th Street. I guess it paid off chatting up the Swiss girls behind reception before I left! There were two Norwegians (Krista and Kirsten) and a Swiss guy (Stephan) already in there. We all pretty much had plans to go and do something but we ended up staying in and discussing our various governments and European politics in general.
Did you know that in Switzerland they have 7 different political parties in parliament who all argue different points, then have a referendum and let the people decide? What a great idea, actually having a say in a topic might galvanise the British public out of their usual voting apathy. (More people vote for Big Brother than they do in the General Election.) They were all surprised, they thought we had a strong 'Left' and 'Right' in politics! They thought it strange Great Britain only had 2 center-lefty-righty-wishy-washy parties who take their direction from what the tabloids say that week.
Talking politics wasn't my original plan when I found I had 2 nineteen yr old Norwegians staying in my room but it's what happened none the less!
Next day after picking up a voucher filled guidebook from the Information Center in Times Square (what is it that makes Times Square so photogenic?) I wandered down towards the National Air and Space Museum.
The air was crisp and the sky a winter blue. The snow had been shovelled from the centre of the path to one side. The sounds of Frank Sinatra and other Christmassy crooners hung in the air as I walked passed the cafés and coffee shops between Times Square and the water. It was almost surreal, if you'd have told me I'd been zapped by a magic TV remote and I'd walked into a Family Christmas Movie, I would've believed you.
At the end of the Street, an aircraft carrier suddenly loomed out of nowhere. We have Duxford and Henley for our authentic 'used be operational' aircraft museums... New York has its National Air and Space museum on the USS Intrepid! It was closed unfortunately so I went out and wandered around New York. I got the bus back to the Rockerfeller Centre and had a look around there before attempting to think about Christmas Shopping.
OK, I thought about Christmas shopping and decided to put it off until I really had to. Macy's? It just a fucking department store! Like Bhs! Whoop-dee-doo! I'm surprised you don't see the Sex and the City mob coming to London just itching to get a Debenhams bag. Tiffanies? Mum said to get her Xmas present from there, so I looked around and there was no price tags on anything. Now what does that tell you? Well as a backpacker the end of my trip it tells me tip the fuck out the door and don't come back without a job! Toys 'R' Us and FAO Schwartz are good though, I was planning on getting stuff for both my cousin's kids so that more than justified me spending ages playing in the Star Wars and Lego sections. Forget the rest of it for shopping though, theres WAY too many people. Buy stuff online. Spend your time in New York sightseeing!
The Rockerfeller Centre
Anyway, later that week I did get into the National Air and Space museum which was great. They had a piece of one of the planes which smashed into the World Trade Centre which was morbidly fascinating, also a couple of 'land on an aircraft carrier' simulators.
They had various exhibits about classic jets, future jets (including the new Anglo-American Joint Strike Fighter which will replace the harrier), helicopters, battlegroups, astronauts, shuttles... so much in fact it was easy to forget I was in the hanger-deck of an Aircraft Carrier!
Exploring the ship, there's a McDonalds in the mess hall downstairs which you get to following long corridors the likes of which you generally only ever see in films.
You can also go upstairs and explore the C&C areas as well as (usually) walk on the deck, though it was unfortunately closed because it was too icy.
The best bit though was a simulator pod for an F-18 hornet.
The pod closed down on me like a hand into a fist on the end of an arm. The screens came on around me and I was sitting on the deck of a carrier. I throttled up and was catapulted off the end of the carrier. As I pulled pack on the flight yoke the massive hydraulic arm at the back of the pod lifted to the angle I was at in my virtual plane.
I moved the stick to the left and found myself laying sideways into my harness. I straightened up then tried a loop and sure enough I spun 360! This is the best computer game ever! It really does make you feel like you're flying. It makes you appreciate how delicate a jet is and how quickly things happen when you're flying at 500mph!
Anyway, they also had the USS Growler, an early Guided Missile Submarine which you could have a tour of.
Usually theres a Destroyer there too but that was off having something done to it. They have a newly retired concorde there too, which hitched a ride on a barge from JFK.
The National Air and Space Museum in New York. Not the first place you think of visiting in NYC, but very much worth while! (And you can get Combo tickets for there and the Empire State Building!)