Gratuities are a fact of life...live with it.
by Odinnthor
Like it, don't like it, but learn to live with it. Gratuities are a way of life. Save money on the big stuff, not the small stuff. Tips are small stuff. Generally tip more than average, but not extravagantly. Yes, budget hotel maids only do the basics, but I have always found that when you take care of them, they will take care of you. Consider that they are lucky if they earn minimum wage. Most amateur travellers simply do not tip maids, - so when you do, you become special to them. If you stay for any length of time you will really feel their additional services, - such as fresh new bedcover etc. = not to mention genuine smiles of recognition. Consider the overall savings in the long run with cabdrivers. If I need a cab more than once I always give a nice tip and ask for his card, and ask him if I can call him first. Yes, even in New York, they just might surprise you. I tought this to my now ex-wife (but good friend). She and her sister went to Washington D.C. for Obama's inauguration. Imagine the chaos. Following my advice, she had a personal cab driver/guide for the entire stay. He even invited them to share dinner with his family. Oh, and the cost was overall less than seperate cabs at full price, and minus the exasperation of attempting to secure any cabs in D.C. at that time. As my page tagline says: "Don't sweat the small stuff" New Yourk has great diversity and great food.
Save time. Buy Empire State tix on the internet!
by pchamlis
Bonnie and I actually enjoyed our visit to the Empire State Building. Observing the Big Apple from atop the 86th floor observatory at the Empire State Building is awe-inspiring.
But, you will not be alone. Quite a few people are interested in enjoying this classic NYC tourist stop. The line(s) to purchase tickets can be astronomically long. We were LUCKY to only be in line some 90 minutes to GET tickets. (Remember, there are two steps leading to the 86th floor....getting tickets and then getting to the elevator.) There is, happily, a way to speed the process.
BUY YOUR EMPIRE STATE BUILDING ADMISSION TICKETS ONLINE! This can be accomplished easily at
www.esbnyc.com
They will either send your tickets to your doorstep, or you can print them out yourself, assuming you don't have a Canon printer. (Sorry, just me attacking Canon....I had a bad experience with my former printer) Actually, it isn't really a FOND memory. We stood in line for almost 90 minutes just buying our tickets for the ESB observatory. It was stuffy and uncomfortable for most of the time. If we hadn't been in line with some very funny people (who enjoyed making fun of the audio tour sales goons as much as we did), it might have been insufferable.
Save your time. Get tickets online.
www.esbnyc.com
1) Go to Brooklyn bridge, &...
by gulliver67
1) Go to Brooklyn bridge, & take in the wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline.
2) Catch a game (if you can get tickets) for any sports event at Madison square garden
3) Get to the Apollo theatre in Harlem for amateur night-fantastic entertainment with audience participation Watching the New York Knicks at Madison Sq. Garden - a dream come true for me, as I'm a basketball junkie, & always wanted to visit one of the most famous sports arenas in the world. Seats are steeply banked, making for excellent views & closeness to the action, & the atmosphere has to be experienced to be believed.
Long island ore with helly...
by onassia
Long island ore with helly obove statue of liberty.
Great vieuw seeing all these tall and huge buildings!
Also go and viset sitcome! Ore is it *** come? Everything is BIG
Not like in europe!
People are realy nice - friendley and BIG themselves!
Was realy my favourite place in the whole world!
Like to go and visit it again sometime....
One of the best travel book I've ever read....
by sourbugger
was called "A walk up Fifth Avenue" by Bernard Levin, an English columnist and writer.
The book does exactly what it says on the cover, and although quite celebral in nature it is also witty and vividly descriptive.
It was written in 1989, and so some of the references will be a little out of date, and some of the places he mentions may well have gone. Even so, if you can get hold of a copy (it is now out of print) it will provide a fascinating insight into one persons take on not just a road, but through it's pages on America itself.
To give you a flavour of his writing, this is Levin talking about modern architecture :
"What has happened to architecture since the second world war that the only passers-by who can contemplate it without pain are those equipped with a white stick and a dog?"
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