"Apple of My Eye"

The New York skyline from the decks of Arcadia

I must say a bit about breakfast in the Belvedere on board the Arcadia. You really could have whatever you want there on a serve yourself basis, from cooked to continental, cereals, fruits, breads, buns, waffles, yoghurt and my particular favourite, porridge. It could be a bit of a "scrum" at times, but I must admit it was a delight. Three of us liked to breakfast together to plan our days and our port visits. For the outward journey across the Atlantic, I was reading Helene Hanff's "Apple of My Eye" Helene, who wrote 84 Charing Cross Road, lived in an apartment on the East Side of Central Park. She and a friend from the more "select" West Side decided to explore Manhattan from the point of view of a tourist. I also had a Baedeker, which my youngest son had used for his trip to New York with the college he was at in the early 1990s. Fortunately the friends I was with had been to New York before and we were able to plan our two days there carefully to include everything we wanted to do. We made a list. Arcadia, docked next to a huge air-craft carrier and museum, so there was plenty to look at from the ship. We had been warned customs at New York might take some time, especially as the staff on the ship were preparing coffee and doughnuts for them, we had to give them time to enjoy these freshly prepared delicacies. Having been warned we might have a frosty reception from them, we were pleasantly surprised. All our finger prints were taken before we were allowed in. My customs officer was chatty and asked me if I was going to see a show on Broadway. I told him it was my first time in New York and I just wanted to see it. And after we cleared customs, I did. What a wonderful city New York is. It is teeming with life. Every step we took to the nearest Subway station was a new revelation. Those iconic fire hydrants were in abundance. The lamp standards are high and ornate. There are great bunches of street furniture on street corners. The huge concrete slabs of pavement, sorry, sidewalks, ended in worn granite curbs often with worn metal shaping the corners, where I saw a collection of fag ends in the road. In some places there were still huge cobble stones. There were diners, lots of "Subway" snack places, surprisingly we only saw three "McDonalds" the entire two days we were there and one of those was in Macy's childrens wear department. As Helene Hanff had related, there are delicatessens in every street and every district claims theirs to be the best. I saw limousine valeting and hire places, drivers call to each other over the noise of the traffic. There seems to be new building and refurbishments going on everywhere. We got used to waiting for the little man to appear on the side of the traffic lights to cross roads. We saw people hailing yellow cabs. Every so often there are little bits of garden and also 'garden centres' selling plants to fill them. This time of year the pom-pom chrysanthemums are deep yellows and oranges, reds and purples. So many people in such a short space, so many businesses, so many people calling out to each other from cars, from taxis and from garages, from windows. We passed one limousine garage from which a rich scent of Havana cigars wafted and we hadn't gone far before I saw the end of one cigar with several puffs left in it, partially unfurled and discarded on the street. Not far from this a delicatessen wafted an odour of garlic, sausages, spices and baking, and then past a hotel where there was a smell of laundry in the basement... the sounds, smells and activity on the streets was ever-changing and never-ending. Although we bought tickets to use the Subway, I wore the heels and soles of a pair of shoes out in those two days in New York.