Flew into JFK at around 1pm local time. At that point I had been up 14 hours. Got a shuttle bus from the airport to the hostel i'm staying at. The driver was a bit wierd as i thought he was a mute as he didnt actually say a word for ages. I tried to converse with him but he looked back at me as if i was speaking Greek! He made up for the lack of talking with his use of the horn. The moment a red light turned green he would press down the horn until the cars in front moved, even if that took a minute or two. Very irritating.
Got to the hostel 2 hours later as other people in the car had stops first. I'm staying on the Upper West side. Sandwiched between Central Park and the River. Seems like quiet a residential area with a big estate type thing behind. Quite close to the subway though. This hostel larky is gonna take a bit of getting used to. I'm in a 12 bedded dorm. Feels a bit like prison in the evenings as there is a lot of noise (someone above us must be the size of an elephant as the celling shakes every so often as he/she/it moves around).
I'm sharing with a few Dutch guys, one French lothario (always surrounded by different girls), a brazilian, an English guy from Brummie and an Irish chap. They seem nice. Havent had chance to speak with them much as i'm getting up early and doing the tourist thing. Just tried to speak to a new comer - he was German and didn't speak a word of English. Where is Alex when you need him!
Well getting back to my first day... after stuffing my back-breaking rucksac into my locker i set about for a wonder. I walked along Broadway for a while. Must have passed 20 Starbucks (they are bloody everywhere). Found a nice little italian-american diner. Had meatballs and pasta. Chatted to the waiter serving me and then it hit me that i was in New York. The food came and it was a massive portion. I'm talking enough for two to share easily. After eating about a third of it and reassuring the waiter that the food was lovely i walked down to the Subway station which was a few blocks. The roads here are three to four lanes wide and mostly one way. They have crossings which everyone seems to ignore - drivers and pedestrians. You have to be on your toes and cross when there is a big enough gap. Bought a underground ticket after asking the lady behind the counter. She didnt understand me at first but then told me to get a "fun pass". Made my way to the platform. The subway is really confusing. There are different coloured lines, different train numbers, different types of stations (express and local) and there are no maps or directions on the platforms!! I waited there looking at the trains approaching in bewilderment when i heard the lady from the ticket booth booming over the speaker for me to get on, at least that i thought she was saying as i couldnt understand her!. Got off the train at times square. It was really amazing there are some many screen advertisements, the lights where reflecting off the glass windows of the buildings. It felt magical. I walked around for a bit and then got the subway home. It must have taken me hours to get to sleep that night. Its really wierd sleeping in a dorm. Everyone has all there clothes spread over their bunks its a real mess. The french bloke has at least four suits hanging up. Wierd.
Day two and i got the subway to the bottom of Manhattan Island. Caught the ferry to Liberty Island and explored the statue and museum. Pretty amazing views of Manhattan. It was a beautifully clear day, but really cold. My face was buring from the cold. 
Took loads of pictures and was in sheer amazement at what the builders did. They used ropes to hang from when bolting the 1/8th of an inch thick metal to the frame. Then caught the ferry back to Manhattan via Ellis Island. 
Ellis Island was an immigration centre for ages until 1920ish.
Walked around the musuem there. Was shocked at the processing that went on there. Seems that immigrants had a pretty rough deal. Some that went through the process only to be rejected and sent back because the quota for their country had been all used up!
After I walked to the Subway and headed to town. Found a nice Irish pub - reminded me of the cheers bar and had good old bangers and mash. There were some really loud blokes standing at the end of the bar shouting about democrats or something. They were getting really worked up. Bloody Americans.
Ended the night with another walk about town to work off the massive portion of grub.
1 comment:
Sweet pics. Sounds like ur havin fun. You gotta love the dorms.
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