No sleep in Brooklyn (well, Manhattan Island anyway)

They call NYC the city that never sleeps, and there's a bloody good reason for that. It's not because there's always somewhere open to do something, although this does seem to be true. No, it's because of the fact the every driver in the city is constantly honking the car / passenger / rickshaw / cyclist / NYPD patrol car / air in front of them.

New York is just crazy when it comes to traffic; I'd never seen a taxi wedged under a truck until a few days ago in Times Square. The fact that no-one seems to give a monkeys about red lights, pedestrians crossing the road, turning right from the fourth lane on the left on a red light or getting out of the way of fire engines doesn't really help, and that combined with the temperament of your average New Yorker is just a nightmare.

New Yorkers aren't as bad as they're sometimes portrayed. Yes, they are all in a hurry all the time, and yes, some of them can be slightly abrupt (in the case of the staff employed on the Subway just downright bloody rude), but when they try they can be genuinely nice people. Of course they're nicer to you if you tip them, something that soon becomes a pain in the arse if you're not used to it. Oh, you've served me at the bar; you'll need a tip then. You've driven me five blocks in your cab, tip for you sir. Cleaned my hotel room? Well, you are the bloody cleaner but no no, of course, a tip for you too. I don't have a problem with tipping people like waitresses if they've given good service or whatever, but seriously, tipping a barman for serving you a beer? Americans are crazy...

Speaking of crazy Americans, I saw some crazy dudes whilst I was in New York. My favourite has to be the guy on home-made roller skates barrelling through Central Park wearing a Santa hat. I liked the randomness of that one