One thing I never did like about Manhattan and even a few other areas in New York is the dirtiness. Streets and subways are full of paper, rags, overflowing trash and stuffy smells. I have seen shopkeepers
cleaning the street in front of their shops in the morning. New York would rate pretty low in cleanliness among all the cities that I have been to. The situation was in stark contrast to even Los Angeles which I would not claim to be the cleanest city around.Appu had to help her dad to get to a spiritual retreat in Montvale. He missed one bus so we waited for him to get on the next bus. Appu did upset her father by trying to give him one instruction too many. Then we actually went back to Appu's place in Queens and had some nice idlis her mom had made. I ate double of what Appu did before we took the subway to South Ferry.
It was a weekend day and especially a really nice and warm day which had the ferry to Liberty Island very crowded. There were the usual street performers entertaining the crowd waiting in line. Appu's ear caught a violinist playing the Indian national anthem. I could hardly hear it above the sound of waves against the jetty. There were a lot of Indians just like any other tourist spot in NY. Most people getting on the boat were actually tourists and I could not recognize even half the languages being spoken around me. The ride was not too long, but does present a very flattering view of the Manhattan skyline.
The Statue of Liberty was on the other side. It didn't look too huge to me. In Jerry Springerish style the pedestal below the statue was actually as tall as the statue itself. It was presented by the French in recognition of the mutual cooperation during the French or the American revolution. Seemed a pretty nice place to put it though. A lady called liberty heralding the entrance to the new world! I guess it has already been stereotyped in movies though I can't remember whether it was a Chaplin movie or Scarface or An Affair to Remember. Nearby Ellis Island used to house the immigration authorities where it would herd all the people crowded in leaking tincan boats hoping to make it in the new world.
We spent most of the time sitting at the base of statue and taking the statutory tourist pictures. Appu has been there six times already and she tried desperately to convince me not to go walking up the pedestal of the statue. Luckily for her, I was not really interested in getting a treetop view of all the tourists around. After I gulped down a lemonade and Appu sipped some bottled water to beat the heat, we took the ferry back to Manhattan.
Since she was worried about her dad managing to reach home safely we called up her home and decided to go home for dinner. I thought I usually eat spicy food, but her mom's cooking did manage unscrew if not blow my top. Appu desperately wanted to see Fallen, as she is in love with Denzel Washington and also she happened to see a bit of it before her scared friend made her walkout of a theatre. Since I had nothing else to do we went to rental down the street and spent the night watching it. The movie convincingly gave reasons as to why it was a flop when it came out. I waited for Appu's father to return before I headed back to my hotel.
I got the scare of my life when the subway entrance was closed. How do I get back to the hotel in the middle of the night? A cab from Queens to Greenwich would be too costly. As I walked out of the station I realized that I was on the Queens side of the track. The Manhattan side of the subway gates were still open on the other side of the street (there is a lamp on the top of each station which indicates whether it is open or closed). I heaved a sigh of relief and took the express to hotel.
The short walk from the subway station to hotel on Christopher street was itself very interesting tonight. There was unusually large number of people (couples) on the street. Even Saturday night did not seem to be an excuse for the party atmosphere around and the barricades being set up around the street. I was really surprised at how untouched I was at not being in awe of all the gay couples around me. I seemed to have been prepared to accept anything that NY city tosses out at me including a gay pride street right next to my hotel and NYU. People were handing out the Voice magazine to me while I was walking down the street. All restaurants and pubs were sporting the rainbow colors of the gay pride flag.
