I decided about 4 months ago I wanted to go Stateside again (Duncan went to NYC and he inspired me to want to go back again).
I had a look for flights at a price I wanted to pay. I was lucky and found some. The catch: only a carry on bag was allowed and seat selection was for a fee.
I contacted BA on Twitter and advised of me having IBS and needing a seat next to a toilet and they assigned me a seat on each flight. Result. I was able to change to a window seat on the way out (sadly not for the way back though).
I started in earnest the count down to September 14th and leaving. I had a night shift the day before which turned out to be a good thing as I could sleep on the flight and be on NY time. I finished work and pottered about for a couple of hours before I had to leave for the airport. I was flying out from Gatwick and flying back to Heathrow.
I think I slept on the train from about Huntingdon and I think I woke up near Gatwick. I went straight through security so I could just relax before heading to the gate. I got on the flight and had a row to myself (granted it was just 2 seats) and just relaxed. I forgot what it was like on a huge plane (I usually do Europe and Boeing 737-800’s). This was a Boeing 777-200. 2 aisles with a 3-4-3 combo.
I tried the food they had on offer and it wasn’t too bad. The main meal was chicken tikka and the snack was a chicken tikka wrap. I forgot how nice it was to get fed on the flight and to have as many drinks as you want.
We landed at JFK and this is where the fun (yeah, right) started. There was a long queue to get from the plane to the border. Part way down I needed to powder my nose and by the time it was powdered the queue had shortened quite a bit. I got to where I could see the gates and no wonder the queue was so long. They had 28 gates but only 5 in operation. I finally got to the front of the queue and had my documents checked and quizzed as to why I was in the USA and if I had money. I said I didn’t have any money in my wallet and they wanted to know how I would support myself. I had to explain that I had a debit card I would use. All in all, I was in the queue and across the border in 90-100 minutes. JFK has to be worse than Stansted.
I got the air train to the subway. The air train cost $8.00 one way from the airport to the subway. I got the subway to the stop for the hostel and as soon as I surfaced I found a convenience store so I could get a 3 Musketeers and a root beer. As soon as the root beer was in my bag I knew I had made it to the USA.
I got to the hostel and the owner was waiting for me and was very helpful. I also met some of the other guests and I think this is one of the few times I sat and chatted with them. Kitty was one of them. A pretty cool and funny Aussie lass.
I decided to head to bed so I could get some decent kip ready for a day of exploration and meeting a friend for brunch.
You can read about NYC 2017 here.
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Today I had made plans to see a friend for brunch. This is a guy I have been chatting with for a 2-3 years. We ended up deciding on a pub in Chelsea. It turns out though that it was closed for a private function and we went to a cafe on the corner. It was called Jack’s Wife Freda. The ambiance was ok, food was pretty pretentious and a tad expensive. I got a steak sandwich with scrambled eggs and potatoes. Below is the picture of the meal and, yes, that is one slice of bread that is considered a sandwich.
Once we had gotten done with food, we went for a walk. I didn’t want to keep him out too long as he had to work a night shift that night and still needed some sleep.
He mentioned that there was a park down by the river that was a couple of years old. The park is called Little Island. It was pretty cool and gave some good views across the New Jersey skyline. We walked down 8th Avenue and 14th Street to get there. As we were walking towards it, I got a glimpse of The High Line and it brought back memories of when I was here in 2017.
I was telling him that I didn’t do walk it last time as I was so much bigger and didn’t have the energy to walk very far. The High Line is an old subway track bed that still has some of the old lines there. It’s really cool that that have turned it into a green oasis in the middle of the city.
Once we were done with the park, we got onto The High Line and walked it all the way to Hudson Yards. It was about a mile in distance, but a very pleasant mile to walk especially with good company. The path is lined with some quirky buildings. It was pretty cool to see them. I was mesmerised by them. It’s definitely worth the walk.
We got to the end at Hudson Yards and there is a sculpture called the Vessel. It is 16 stories high and was originally opened to the public. My friend told me it was closed after people would climb to the top and jump off and lives were lost.
I hopped on the subway and got off at Times Square and bid farewell to my friend so he could go home to sleep. I walked around to Times Square and it seemed different to when I was here last. It seemed a bit tough to get my bearings of the way I was standing. It turned out there were some bleachers that weren’t there any more.
As I was sat there looking to see where the souvenir shops were, a Bavarian school band turned up and did an impromptu concert for us. As I was filming, a guy came and sat next to me and was talking as I was trying to record. Grrrrr. I did get some videos of them though. Below are a couple of videos from them.
As I was sat watching, I started to feel unwell so went to look for somewhere with a bathroom and somewhere to sit down. I found a Taco Bell but they wouldn’t allow me to use the bathroom unless I bought something so I bought a drink as it was the cheapest on the menu. I did my nose powdering, got a drink and then headed back across the street to look for souvenirs. I didn’t find anyway so decided to go walk some more but I started to feel unwell again and found a hotel where I could use the bathroom for free. I did what I needed to and then went to find a store to buy a bottle of Sprite. I also opted for some Butterfingers and some Root Beer.
I went back in search of souvenirs and found some and then headed up towards the Port Authority Bus Terminal and I spied an Arby’s. That was going to be my dinner on the way back to the hostel. I had looked up some stuff about New York and I wanted to go see the Radiator Building so headed that way. It took me through the garment district and then I headed to where it was. It was right by Bryant Park. Sadly the building was undergoing construction so didn’t really get to see much of it. Bryant Park is a really quaint green square in the middle of the city. New York City loves green spaces and it was so cool to see.
As I rounded the corner, there was some sort of event going on outside of the New York Public Library. I took a quick video of it and you can see that below.
Once I was done here, I wanted to go to an Apple Store to see if the new iPhone had been put out on display and I remembered there was one at Grand Central Station around the corner. I was as mesmerised this time as I was last time. It’s an awesome store. I was done here and then headed to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I wanted to go in last time but just couldn’t be bothered to walk to it. It’s crazy how much I didn’t do last time because of how unhealthy I was.
I walked back down towards Bryant Park so I could head to Arby’s for some food before heading to the subway to go back to the hostel. As I was walking along the topside of the park, I saw the below matrix board. Only in the USA!
Arby’s was as good as I remember. After I was done, I headed to the subway and back to the hostel so I could sleep as I was still tired from the flight and I was meeting another friend and I wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge before I met her.
Today was a really good day and I thoroughly enjoyed walking around.
Total steps: 24,515
Total miles: 11.66
Below are some pics from today
The last day was an early start. I was up at 06:00 to leave for 06:30 to get to the airport for around 07:30. The trip to JFK went smoothly and I was there in plenty of time. I was annoyed at having to pay another $8.00 for the Air Train to the terminal. I was also annoyed as I had to check in at the airport instead of a mobile boarding pass.
I went to security and it seems they can’t run that properly either. It took around 45 minutes to pass through despite saying the queues were only 15 minutes. I got through and my back was selected for extra screening and the guy behind me barely moved out the way so I could open my bag so I pushed myself back a little and he swore at me. Such an angry wangry for no good reason.
I went to fill my water bottle but the drinking fountain didn’t work and the others in the terminal were closed or broken. It’s like they didn’t care about you. I had to go to a bar and ask them to fill it up and they would only fill a cup and I had to use that to fill the bottle. It took four cups to fill the bottle. The next issue came at boarding when American Airlines wouldn’t allow you to take more than a carry on bag and a backpack. I had to empty the tote into the backpack until I was on the plane and then I split them again.
The flight wasn’t too bad and we landed early and I was through immigration in around 5 minutes and then about a 20 minute walk to the underground. There were problems there and the trains were around every 20 minutes. I got into King’s Cross around 00:20 and managed to get the 00:46 train back to Peterborough. I got in 45 minutes earlier than planned and it was very welcome as I was super tired and started work at 07:00.
Total steps: 67,782
Total miles: 32.77
You can view all of my New York City pics here