martes, 9 de octubre de 2012

The 101st floor

The Empire State Building was the first thing I saw in New York City, a week ago when I arrived (after The Times Square Museum & Visitor Center, where i went to pick a map from the city - actually several maps because I keep spoiling them with so much usage). It was actually the best I've done, because it was a lovely warm and sunny day - the best so far - and I was able to see a lot from up there. Also, because it was a perfect way to start interpreting the map I had in my hands. Meaning, that was a perfect opportunity to "organize" the things from and in the city. Before I came I did a list of 70 things I wanted to see, do, buy, etc. but, even knowing the names and number of the streets where all my 70 wanna-does are, if I haven't gone up there it would have taken me ages figuring out where all of them actually ARE in the city. From the 101st floor of the Empire State Building, with Manhattan under my feet, I started knowing the city a little bit better. Now, one week later, I already know pretty well my ways: but I will never forget that first impression. 

Let me tell you a quick story that illustrates my feelings even better. Have you ever seen the movie L'Auberge Espagnole? The scene when Xavier comes out of the tube in Plaza de Urquinaona in Barcelona is very dear to me, because I remember having that exact some feeling when I came out of that same exit in my first visit to Barcelona (in 2006 - one year before I moved there and far from imagining that I would live in that city for almost 5 years). But, as a matter of fact, I have that feeling all the time when I travel, when I see a city for the first time. Nevertheless, in the movie, after a while you see Xavier passing by that same square moving quickly, confidently and being perfectly sure of his ways. The same happens to me as well... to all of us. After a while in a city the place where we "landed", that square, is not frightening anymore, it is just another square. But still, there is always something special about that place, something that never quite takes the first impression way, never quite erases that first feeling from our hearts. To me, the first place I ever visited in New York (no matter how many times I will come here, no matter if one day I even move here) will always be the 101st floor of the Empire State Building.








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