Whirlwind trip to New York
Apr. 9th, 2017 09:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nosrednaydujWe couldn't leave until Jocelyn finished her silks lesson Saturday, so I piled her and our two Spanish students onto the bus from Providence at 1pm. It was only half an hour late so we got there just before dinner, where we met up with another group. Failed to go to a famous pizza joint, ended up at a famous kosher deli instead. Still a New York tradition. Also swung by M&M World, comparison with Las Vegas is that the NY place is much more crowded.
Then, though we didn't have time, we went to the Empire State Building. If they'd told us before we had spent 5 minutes walking through the line that it would be an hour, we might have bailed. But we had already gone quite a ways in and had gotten excited about the whole thing. So, up we went... It was a gorgeous, clear night, with a view for miles. We walked the last six flights (otherwise there was another half-hour wait for a second set of elevators). If you're only going to New York once in your life, it's well worth the outrageous $34, IMHO.
This, however, left us at 11pm with the trip to Brooklyn for the hotel yet to do. We had also acquired another student, whose ride to NY wasn't staying overnight. So, MTA cards to buy for all. We saw an official New York Subway rat scurrying around! I thought it was kind of bold, up there where passengers were buying tickets; rats should be down in the tracks.
Then, when we finally got on the train, they announced it wasn't going to stop at our stop due to construction. It was late enough that I wasn't coherent anymore. An (as it turns out) unhelpful passenger said we could get off and just take the next D, but that was wrong.
We could have walked; it was about a mile. But everyone was tired, so we went on the detour, taking the N, then going back on the D, which was running in the other direction. The return direction D took forever to come, and it was an outdoors station, for which we were not dressed, so now we were cold, tired, and cranky. Finally got to the hotel. Very bare-bones, but clean, so I have no complaint. We managed to get the free breakfast even though it had officially stopped by the time we got up.
Back to Manhattan to meet up with the other group. Some logistical delays, but not bad. Saw the charging bull and the defiant girl, then walked to the shore to view the statue of liberty, passing by an environmental display of painted globes, signifying various different ways to help the planet, which was pretty cool.
Spent a while at the 9/11 memorial pools. I like the way they are very deep holes; I had expected one of those very well leveled pools with water pouring over all sides evenly. But I think the deep hole conjures an image of the void better.
Pizza for lunch (at a chain, not a famous place, but time was of the essence by now), then souvenir purchases, then street vendor ice cream, then subway back to the bus station. Final MTA screwover was that the first subway we got turned into an express, so we had to get off. But that was kind of fun, because the next train must have just been put into service, and it was completely empty!
We got to the bus station kind of late for my tastes; we were last to board and had to take potluck on seats. I'm sitting next to a fat person which is making this hard to enter on my phone. Maybe I should have waited, especially since the wifi isn't working so I will (did) email this to myself and post it later anyway...
View outside our bare-bones hotel:
The private subway car:
Then, though we didn't have time, we went to the Empire State Building. If they'd told us before we had spent 5 minutes walking through the line that it would be an hour, we might have bailed. But we had already gone quite a ways in and had gotten excited about the whole thing. So, up we went... It was a gorgeous, clear night, with a view for miles. We walked the last six flights (otherwise there was another half-hour wait for a second set of elevators). If you're only going to New York once in your life, it's well worth the outrageous $34, IMHO.
This, however, left us at 11pm with the trip to Brooklyn for the hotel yet to do. We had also acquired another student, whose ride to NY wasn't staying overnight. So, MTA cards to buy for all. We saw an official New York Subway rat scurrying around! I thought it was kind of bold, up there where passengers were buying tickets; rats should be down in the tracks.
Then, when we finally got on the train, they announced it wasn't going to stop at our stop due to construction. It was late enough that I wasn't coherent anymore. An (as it turns out) unhelpful passenger said we could get off and just take the next D, but that was wrong.
We could have walked; it was about a mile. But everyone was tired, so we went on the detour, taking the N, then going back on the D, which was running in the other direction. The return direction D took forever to come, and it was an outdoors station, for which we were not dressed, so now we were cold, tired, and cranky. Finally got to the hotel. Very bare-bones, but clean, so I have no complaint. We managed to get the free breakfast even though it had officially stopped by the time we got up.
Back to Manhattan to meet up with the other group. Some logistical delays, but not bad. Saw the charging bull and the defiant girl, then walked to the shore to view the statue of liberty, passing by an environmental display of painted globes, signifying various different ways to help the planet, which was pretty cool.
Spent a while at the 9/11 memorial pools. I like the way they are very deep holes; I had expected one of those very well leveled pools with water pouring over all sides evenly. But I think the deep hole conjures an image of the void better.
Pizza for lunch (at a chain, not a famous place, but time was of the essence by now), then souvenir purchases, then street vendor ice cream, then subway back to the bus station. Final MTA screwover was that the first subway we got turned into an express, so we had to get off. But that was kind of fun, because the next train must have just been put into service, and it was completely empty!
We got to the bus station kind of late for my tastes; we were last to board and had to take potluck on seats. I'm sitting next to a fat person which is making this hard to enter on my phone. Maybe I should have waited, especially since the wifi isn't working so I will (did) email this to myself and post it later anyway...
View outside our bare-bones hotel:
The private subway car:
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Date: 2017-04-12 01:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-12 02:13 pm (UTC)