USA Day 2: Arrived at Grand Central and an eerie silence (& lack of traffic) was upon 5th Avenue… what could be going on?

USA 2016 part 3: 12th November @ New York

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My wife’s mother died when she was young, too young for her to have any memory of her. From a very young age she grew up in a suburb of Georgetown, Guyana and thought of ‘Auntie Sachee’ as her surrogate mother. My wife passed away in July 2015 and on this trip I was looking forward to meeting up with old friends and relatives.

I was staying with Auntie Sachee in Queens; Rena and I last stayed here in 1994, and it was good to be back. Having settled in for a short night’s sleep after a long days travel I was glad to be getting right to the heart of things – Manhattan.

We were on the ‘J’ train at 111th St and, with a couple of changes, were at Grand Central Station pretty quickly. Why Grand Central? Well, it is central and it is certainly grand – and I’d never been before. Out came my new Sony camera for the first time and before long I was snap-happy.

From Grand Central we set off for our walk around Manhattan. Six hours later we were still walking; and still enjoying it.

Me at Grand Central. I must revisit one day and get on a train; I almost don’t care where to – anywhere would be an adventure for me.

Something weird is going on…

5th Avenue was eerily devoid of traffic. the further we walked from the station the more obvious it became that something was not quite right. It was too quiet; there was something going on. But what? It could be good, or it could be bad; a car-free oasis in midtown. Well, that’s a good thing isn’t it? By the time we got to 5th Avenue it dawned on me that there were a lot of people walking in the middle of the road… on 5th Avenue… in the middle of the day… now that is odd!

Hundreds of people were walking – mostly silently and at a relaxed but purposeful pace. I noticed some had placards, very small and hand made for the most part. The most prominent word on many of them was “pussy” – and being an avid Radio 4 listener I straight away knew what this meant. This was enlightened Americans expressing their contempt for their President-elect, the viperous buffoon that is Donald ‘I like to grab women by the pussy’ Trump. This was history and I was here to see it.

Not My President was the mantra of the day. Not mine either, I am not American after all. But I have no doubt that us folks on the other side of the Atlantic will feel the icy gusts of hate blasting on the jet stream from the US in the years to come. America will catch a cold, but us Brits will be sneezing too. Well, that is my prediction for the day. I felt a powerful sense of relief at seeing so many decent Americans on the march.

Au Bon Pain at Macy’s

After quite a long walk from Grand Central Station we decided to stop off at one of the more promising-looking cafes at Macy’s, only to find it was not up to the standard I was expecting. We were in need of coffee and sustenance. It was lunchtime, and we elected to give Au Bon Pain a go. The cappuccino is nothing to write home about but is okay. One good thing: they have got the frothed and stretched milk right. The service is very poor, with a peculiar way of working that is not only confusing but also has a tendency to make you feel guilty: having to fetch your own coffee…. I felt like I was stealing – with about 20 or so witnesses present!

I ordered an Angus beef and cheese sandwich. Not sure what the bread is but it’s quite nice. The beef is good and the cheese – sadly processed and what in France they might refer to as ‘factory cheese’ – was vaguely acceptable.

Much to my surprise Apple Pay did not seem to be very much in evidence. I use it back home for just about everything – shopping, newsagent, train, café, pub – but here it is not exactly ubiquitous. I found that very odd. No Apple in the Big Apple so to speak.