Dear Gareth
Taxis in Times Square
Originally uploaded by KT BellWell here's your New York virtual postcard.
I have a story for you, it's one I would tell you over a beer *passes virtual Budd*
So I flew in to New York on Monday evening and had a very smooth time of it all. I stayed with some couch surfers (which I will tell you more about later) in Staten Island for Monday and Tuesday night. I played the total tourist on Tuesday and Wednesday and did the sights.Wednesday night I was to come to Brooklyn and stay with my friend's sister. She'd been away in Florida on a conference and wouldn't get back until Wednesday night otherwise she would have put me up the whole time I was in NY.
Anyway, as you might have noticed, my computer decided it didn't want to work. I booked into go to the Staten Island Apple Store on Wednesday evening - they are awesome there, they fixed it on the spot and it was probably the fastest repair turn around they've ever done!
Anyway, while I was waiting for them to replace the Ram chip (which was the problem) I jumped online and checked out how to get from Staten Island to Brooklyn etc. I also called Ags as she expected to be home by about 9.30pm and I wanted to confirm with her and tell her when I expected to be at her place.
I called Ags and she was still on the runway in Florida... and had been for some hours.
F*CK
New York had major storms and all the airports were closed. She'd even tried to get an earlier flight too so had been on the plane on the runway from about 2pm and it was now 7pm with no view of flying any time soon! I felt sorry for her and she was feeling really bad for me.
So there I was in Staten Island Mall with no where potentially to stay. So I stayed in the Apple store for another hour and a half etc looking for alternative accommodation and how to public transport it all with a 43 pound backpack (so maybe 20kg). I found a hotel with vacancies fairly close to Ags' house. I rang and spoke to someone there and told them the story, they said if I needed to turn up that would be fine.
I had seen a Johnny Rockets Diner downstairs, there used to be one in Brisbane which I loved. So I took myself down there for dinner. Burger and fries and brownie sundae for dessert. A girl's got to spoil herself you know.
The mall closed at 9pm. At 9.12pm I caught a bus from Staten Island Mall (the first stop) to the Bay Ridge Subway in southern Brooklyn - an hour or so on the bus. And then I caught a subway north, switched at 9th and 4th and caught another subway to Metropolitan Ave, which between the two trains was about another hour.
As I surfaced at Metropolitan Ave I walked past some cops who could only say "That looks heavy" about my backpack to which I responded, 'Yep, 43 pounds'. Boy did their eyes widen! I then asked them for directions (more to confirm I was correct - which I was) and I walked the 4 blocks to the Hotel le Jolie.
Now, New York was always the place I knew I may have to suck it up and pay top dollar for a hotel room if things went wrong. Well, in Manhattan it's at least $80/ night for a dodgy hostel that you bunk in. I got myself a 6th floor (of 7) single room with a Queen bed, massive widescreen TV, views of Manhattan and breakfast included, all for $119 +tax (so $140 total). Originally it was going to be $139 + tax but because I had the cute Aussie accent and told them the story of the friend stuck on the tarmac in Florida combined with the 2 hour public transport effort to get there, they gave me an awesome rate.
I checked my email before checking in *just* in case Ags had managed to have a miracle. It was 11.17pm and her last email said she should have a departure time of 10pm, plus a 2 hour flight plus a 1 hour ride home. She wasn't due to be home till around 1 am. I checked in and first thing I did was have a shower!
It was a great room and I am very glad I just checked in and had the creature comforts instead of waiting a further 2 hours (and figuring out how to get to her place 15 blocks away with said heavy backpack and even more exhaustion).
So that was my adventure. Everything before and after has been fine. And even adventuring really wasn't that stressful.
It's funny, before coming I was a bit nervous about New York, and reading my Lonely Planet book on the flight from Vancouver tyo New York I was so intimidated, I wasn't sure what I'd let myself in for. But I love it. I have mastered the subways (the unlimited weekly metrocard was the best $27 I've spent as it gets you on all buses and trains everywhere!) and feel incredibly at home here.
Do I have to come home??