Back home!

[motorollin]

Just got back to England from 5 days in New York. I really love it there! The people are (generally) really friendly and the atmosphere is like nowhere else I've ever been. It's really nice to go to a coffee shop and be able to have a conversation with the people who work there, rather than being grunted at, and for "have a nice day" to sound genuine rather than seeming like a thinly-veiled threat of a stabbing if you look at them the wrong way, as it so often does in England.

I do have two suggestions though. Please, please America, sort your bloody tea out. Tea leaves should remain separate when wet in the bag, not turn to pulp which refuses to brew. Also, please start importing Cadbury's chocolate. Much appreciated.

Apart from those two misdemeanours, I had a fantastic time  in NY. And all the complements from locals about my bleach blonde mohican and Union Jack DMs more than made up for the lack of decent tea and chocolate ;-)

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moto

[motorollin]

Union Jack DMs:


As for the mohican, you know I can pull of that look ;-) I don't care much about British coffee. Real Brits don't drink the foul stuff :-P

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moto

[motorollin]

@Speel
Nah, Irn Bru is more (stereo)typically associated with the Scots. English people drink tea from floral bone-china cups and saucers with a doily on the table.

@bloodline
The problem with Costa is that they make their tea using the coffee steamer. The water is far too hot and not only spoils the taste of the tea, but makes it too hot to drink. Then they serve it in a ridiculously shaped cup which is only about 3" deep but with a massive rim. This has the result of a massive surface area, meaning that the tea goes from boiling hot to luke warm within about 2 minutes.

Given the choice of sitting in a crowded coffee shop gulping down scorching hot and then room temperature water mildly flavoured with cheap tea, or a nice hot mug of PG in the comfort of my own home, I would choose the PG any day...

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moto

[motorollin]

@bloodline
Well I actually do like Costa's muffins, so I will take you up on that (and chuck the latte in a plant when your back is turned).

@cecilia
I did think of you actually as we were travelling from JFK to Manhattan and saw Brooklyn on the map. I was thinking of popping in to see you :-) You could see my tattoo in person then! I haven't been to the gym for ages so don't really have the body for vests at the moment, but I was wearing rather snug t-shirts which let the tatt poke out :-D A few heads turned in the hotel (it was very posh, and I'm not...) but that could have been anything - the hair, the boots, the tattoo... ;-)

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moto

[motorollin]

I don't know what the requirements are if you're travelling from the Netherlands, but from the UK you don't need a visa to enter the US as long as you have a British biometric passport they will let you in. A visa waiver is issued during the flight, which entitles you to stay for 90 days as long as you don't breach any of the requirements listed on the waiver. I suspect the rules are the same for the Netherlands as they are for Britain since they are both EU countries.

[EDIT]
Here is a link to the Wikipedia page on the Visa Waiver programme. It lists the Netherlands as one of the entitled countries.
[/EDIT]

[EDIT 2]
Here is the official document which states what is required of you, and also states that the Netherlands participates in the Waiver programme.
[/EDIT 2]

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moto

[motorollin]

@speel
:lol: Your knowledge of British culture is amazing! Even I had forgotten about that sketch, and I'm one of those really annoying people who is *still* doing impressions of characters from that show... ;-)

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
And that's the reason why I want to go to NY, to see the free, weird side of life.

Actually I did think you might feel like that. Apart from in the hotel I never once cared what anybody thought of me while I was in NY. And actually after several members of the restaurant staff and the concierge complemented me on my hair, I even felt like I fitted in in a place like that :-) Back home I feel very self-conscious all the time. There's something about NY which makes you feel like you will fit in no matter who you are.

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moto

[motorollin]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
Well, I just love humour...

Maybe you would also enjoy Cheesoid :-D

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moto

[motorollin]

bloodline wrote:
I love Mitchell and Webb... the last series isn't so good though :-(

I agree. But I think Cheesoid was awesome :lol:

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moto

[motorollin]

@cecilia
We never found Greenwich Village. But the Meatpacking District sounded quite appealing ;-) And I never saw any Cadbury's chocolate. Believe me I would have snapped it up if I had seen it. Maybe American chocolate is an acquired taste, but it still tastes like dog chocolate to me - no offence! :-P

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moto

[motorollin]

cecilia wrote:
you really can find ANYTHING in NY. But it's all about knowing where to look.

Perhaps I need to look harder next time. I don't think I could face another week without any PG or chocolate :-)

By the way I've just remembered a really funny story. Well I thought it was funny, but you might have had to be there. We were walking across Times Square to get to tkts and the lights changed to allow the traffic to go. There was this guy standing in the middle of the road not moving, and within a New York Minute the taxis started beeping him. He turned round to face them, threw his arms up in the air, and in an extremely gruff and broad Brooklyn accent he shouted "Hey! Dis is Noo Yowk Ciddy!" before swaggering off. It was so stereotyped I had to laugh! I just wish the camera had been rolling :-)

[EDIT]
Mr Brooklyn's speech transcribed more phonetically ;-)
[/EDIT]

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moto