Friday evening.  7.30.  Getting ready to go to see “Watchmen”.

Like many people, I check my mobile phone periodically to see if I’ve missed any calls.  At 7.32 I saw that I’d missed two from a friend who I knew was in Spain on holiday.  Weird.  Surely something serious has happened if he’s ringing me while he’s on holiday, so I called him back.

Me: Hi mate.  What’s up?
Him: Aaah, Jenkins.  I have a favour to ask.
Me: Sure.  [Expecting to hear of a leak or a break-in at his house.]
Him: It’s a big favour, and “No” is a perfectly fine answer.
Me: Well, you tell me what it is and I’ll see what I can do.
Him: You know I’m over in Spain for Pete’s wedding?
Me: Yes.
Him: What are you doing this weekend?
Me: Off to see “Watchmen” in a minute, but nothing after that.
Him: The photographer that we’ve hired has broken his leg.  He ‘phoned about two hours ago to tell us, and we haven’t got anyone to replace him.
Me: Eeek!
Him: Pete’s stressing over it, and Edna is in tears.  Any chance you could come out and do it?
Me: Eeek!  I thought you were going to ask me to pop around to the house to sort out a leak or something.
Him: Unfortunately, no.  And the wedding is at 12pm tomorrow.
Me: OK.  Let me find out what flight options are and I’ll call you back.

After about ten minutes on Expedia, EasyJet, and so on I had prices & times for the flights, so I called back to break the news of the expense.  Flights came in at £420, and I’d need a lift, at 10am Saturday, from Malaga to Alameda, then a return lift to get me back to Malaga for 8.30am on Sunday.

A few minutes after the call ended I headed off to see the film.  It’s quite a long film at nearly three hours long, so I figured my camera & speedlight batteries would be charged by the time I got back.  In six hours I’d be heading to Bristol airport to get a 6.50am flight to Malaga for a 12pm wedding.

To make it through immigration in time I knew I’d have to pack light.  That meant camera rucksack (with a few lenses, a couple of bodies, some speedlights, cards, batteries, etc) and another rucksack with a change of clothes.  It’s surprising how little you need for an over-nighter, specially if you set off suited & booted, but I had no idea what sort of weather to expect.  Metcheck suggested temperatures of about 17 celcius, which is not particularly warm but, as I’d be working, I should be OK.

Bristol Airport is surprisingly busy at 4.30am on a Saturday.  People heading to Spain for golfing breaks, France/Italy for skiing, and so on.  I was the only person there in a suit, carrying little more than a change of clothes and a bag of camera gear.  Still, it made check-in and immigration easy, though I did have everything removed from my camera bag, swabbed and then x-rayed a second time.

Arriving in Malaga bang on time I was whisked away to Alameda, about 45 minutes from the airport.  The weather was good.  Superb, in fact.  The skies were clear, deep blue, and the 10am temperature about 22 celcius, and it was getting warmer.  There’s nothing better than wearing a dark suit in hot weather. Brilliant.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people looking so relieved to see me as I did during the course of the day.  Everyone from the groom to the officials of Alameda’s regional council spoke, in Brazlian Portuguese or Spanish, with great enthusiasm about my arrival.  I was just a guy doing a friend a favour, nothing more.

Less than 48 hours after making the call, I was back in the UK.  Seven hours’ non-continuous sleep in fifty five hours has left me tired and aching, but excited nonetheless, with five gigabytes of images to process.

Special thanks to

• Mike for a great rickshaw ride from Times Square-ish to Greenwich Village via Empire State - you looked knackered, mate, but thanks for the entertainment.
• Everyone at Smalls Jazz Club, especially for the continual top-ups of water and excellently strong, black coffee. The musicians were superb, and I can’t wait to come back.
• New York’s Finest for helping with directions and posing for photos. All the officers we spoke with were incredibly friendly people - you’re great, guys & dolls!
• Apple Store 5th Avenue for letting us “just hang out to enjoy the store” at 5am.
• Mike & Rachel for all the suggestions and crazy enthusiasm for this dumb-ass idea of mine.

Photos and a full trip report to follow some time this week. I’m shattered, having just 7 hours sleep during the 71 hours from 7am (BST) Friday to 6am (BST) Monday.

08.55 Leave LHR
11.20 Arrive JFK (get Time Out NY)
12.30 Leave airport (Taxi)

14.00 Central Park - Bicycle Hire at Loeb Boathouse
16.00 5th Ave, Tiffanys, FAO Schwarz
18.00 Rockefeller Centre for sunset (18.30)
19.00 Broadway
20.00 Comedy Club
22.00 Times Square
23.00 Marriott View Lounge
00.00 Empire State Building
01.00 This is where I need to get off my arse and
02.00 figure out what to do for the next two hours.
03.00 Small’s Jazz Club
04.00 It’s New York, Baby! There must
05.00 be something worth doing, right!?
06.00 Staten Island Ferry (06.30-07.30)
08.00 Brooklyn Bridge (subway to Brooklyn and walk back across bridge)
09.00 Helicopter Flight - Pier 6
10.00 Wall St to WTC
11.00 WTC
12.00 Flat Iron Building
13.00 I need to plan something for this hour, too.
14.00 Grand Central Station - lunch at Oyster Bar
15.00 Head to airport
16.00 Check in at JFK and hit the bar
18.15 Fly home

I can’t wait to see what my 24hCB Buddy wants to bring.

• Empire State Building: it might look as though there are no queues, but the queue after the cashier snakes a hell of a long way. The whole visit, including queuing took about 2.5 hours. Went to the top of the Rockerfeller Centre in the evening - takes about an hour and fab for seeing NYC lit up - and you get a better view of the Chrysler Building and see the top of the Empire State lit up.
• Helicopter Flight: best 1st thing in the morning (you will be awake anyway). Recommend Liberty.
• Statue of Liberty: If you want to visit then fine, but allow plenty of time for queuing/travel ont he ferry. If you just want to see, then helicopter is the way.
• Abercrombie & Fitch: (if you have to buy for teenagers), best 3/4 hour before closing, otherwise queue to get in
• Metropolitan Museum: Target what you want to see and don’t be tempted to stray - you’ll be in there all day.
• Grand Cental Station: Just to see it.
• The subway is your friend; yellow cabs are your friend if you hail a cab going in the right direction.
• If you go to Macy’s, Bloomingdales etc go directly to customer services for your 11% discount card (no sales tax on clothing in NYC)
• Radio City Music Hall backstage tour if you like Art Deco
• Get “On the Town” out on DVD
• What about renting bikes in Central Park? That’s what we plan to do and I see they rent them out from one hour at $20
• …have lunch in the Oyster Bar in GC Station and take the Staten Island ferry (and come back on it); gives you a great view of Manhattan as well as the SofL. Agree about the helicopter flight; we took one at dusk, whcih seemed like a good time.

To answer your question, I’d stay away from the tourist traps (Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc). They’ll suck up your time, they’re really not much to see up close, and you’ll only be hanging out with other tourists. I’d stick to the stuff you don’t need a ticket for - Times Square, Central Park, Washington Square Park*, walk the Brooklyn Bridge. What really defines NYC is the unique culture and diversity, and those are the kinds of places you’ll find the natives. The only exception I’d make to that is for the museums, of which there are many well worth experiencing. But eat the pizza (I recommend Grimaldi’s, under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side), stop in bars, and check out anything that catches your eye.

Have fun!

I’m keen to see some off-the-beaten-track sights, not just the tourist hotspots, get a feel of what a true 24 hour city has to offer. What things can we do through the night other than clubbing? I can’t wait to find out. Would love suggestions on what we really shouldn’t miss out on – please share and help us make this the best 24 hrs we’ll ever have.

We’ve not planned the day yet - there’s plenty of time for that - but I figure the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, and the Statue of Liberty will be on the cards. Hopefully we’ll have time for a bit of Frizbee in Central Park at some point.