My sister and I decided to take a trip to New York City together before I started university. The year was 1978. Am I really that old? Yes, face the facts girl. As my children love to comment, "You're half a century old mom!" Our other sister lived there with her husband.

Our naïve small city eyes were certainly opened in the Big Apple. Hookers displayed their wares on street corners. I found it entertaining at first to watch them baring their breasts at passing motorists. It was more than a little disconcerting though when I was mistaken for a prostitute the day I wore shorts and a t-shirt in Time’s Square. I was standing on a corner waiting for a friend to join me. I was propositioned several times. The scariest part though was when three working girls thought I was moving in on their territory and threatened to beat me up.

The clubs were fun though, especially the one that catered to queens and transvestites. It was entertaining to try to guess whether the patrons were men or women. The cowboy bar with saw dust on the floor, just in case patrons couldn’t hold their liquor was a good time. We also went to a punk bar, where I’m sure my hearing was permanently damaged and another day we went to a jazz bar, where the band members invited us to a party after. Oh, to be young and hot again. But we made it clear at the party that we wouldn’t be sleeping with them, so they ditched us. No big deal. We met a couple of blokes from England who didn’t believe us when we said we were also visitors, from Canada. We didn't sleep with them either.

We were big city girls now. We learned to take the subway. It was alright as long as you remember where to get off and don’t end up in Harlem or something. I learned to tie my long blond hair back into a pony tail or a braid everyday, so that strange men wouldn’t try to touch it. White people were a minority in some parts of the city.

We saw a restaurant in Little Italy where a member of the Mafia had been gunned down. The bullet holes were still there in the concrete. We visited China Town, which I was surprised to learn had a population of half a million, the same size as our home town of Calgary.

Our various other activities in the city included jogging in Central Park, and visiting museums. The Museum of Natural History was amazing. I spent three days there. We went to the top of the Empire State Building and the World Trade Centre. It was amazing to be up so high. What a great view. It’s gone now of course. The Statue of Liberty was closed for repairs so we could only look at it from a distance.

We applied black lipstick and attended a punk concert one day. What a hoot! I took photographs of the people in their ridiculous costumes. We spent many sweaty nights in the apartment since we went in the heat of summer and my sister and her husband couldn’t afford to run the air conditioner for very long.

There was a trash collector’s strike when we were there. Stinky garbage was heaped six feet high in the streets. The rats were loving it. They were huge with hideous glow-in-the-dark red eyes. We don’t have rats in Alberta. Like they say, a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.