did I tell you?

about my trip to New York City?
Wow! Hailing from college station, Texas, NYC was universe different from my little land. I had a good day completely to myself. My cousin drove me up to the city and then went to win his daily bread :). I couldn't contain myself when I saw my favorite "Au Bon Pain" in the city. Sat through a good breakfast and sipped some delicious cappucino planning my rest of the day.
Then my time began. Now, whenever I was touring, I had the traits of a typical tourist. Had a camera around my neck, map in my hand, excitment in my eyes. I take the tours on those double decker buses, pick up all the guides, enter souvenir shops. Well, I was a damned tourist!
But heck no!Not in NYC. NYC was a city of business people, of capitalists, opportunities. Life in the city runs so fast that you can hear the buzz in your ears as you trudge through it. NYC gives you just a glimpse of faces, of people. I was running, jumping subways as if I had a destination and I had an urgent and important travail at the end of my journey. I carried my book (thanks to its hard bound, it was a grisham, for heaven's sake!). I walked through the streets, looked at my watch now and then to check on time from running away too fast. With all this tensed look and impatience, I somehow landed in WTC. And oh my god! It just stopped everything around me for couple of seconds. People were visiting the spot to see the WTC or now, the lack of it. There was some construction work going on. I found it difficult to imagine how it would have looked and felt like with those two tall structures admist all this humming and droning, murmurs that weren't caught, and yet the life that moved on.
There was this unsaid code in the city. Black coats, shawls, mufflers, some head cover, grim looks, worried looks, serious looks, black briefcase in one hand, something to read in the other, some jingling change in one pocket, silence in the subway. And then there were tourists, crowding near the maps, clicking every tall building, fumbling at the subway ticket reader, wondering which direction to go, always looking for something exciting, and spending hours in the souvenir shops. My God! do those shops mint money!?
Well, at the end of the day, I had to meet my brother near his office. To say that I got one of the best views of the city would be an understatement. It was beautiful, calming, and so quiet and peaceful. Here I was, standing on one edge of a city, filled with contradictions and controversies, enjoying every minute of existence.