Empire state of mind
Mind boggling. Tremendously overwhelming. Culture shock of epic proportions.
Hello New York City.
Even though I was not hiking today, my body still insisted on having me up at 6:00AM, I noted my objections with my internal alarm system and prepared for the day ahead. After coffee at Connecticut Muffin and breakfast at John's Bakery, I returned to command headquarters, where A-Train and his girlfriend helped Cookie and me lay out an assault plan for Manhattan.
Thanks to Fran(A-Train's Dad), we were able to ride the subway for free, courtesy of his metro card. The subway was a nice ride, although I was still, for some reason, used to it from my NYC trip in 2005. We took the Q to 57th street, which is where the adventure began.
First we walked around central park. We then cut down 6th Avenue towards Time Square. In the Time Square region we walked by the Rockefeller Center and meandered into Grand Central Station. Time Square was an explosion of neon lights and flashing digital screens proclaiming an assortment of information and advertisements.
In the course of our travels we hopped on Madison Avenue and cut down to 31st street. At this intersection is where I stayed on my last visit: The Roger Williams Hotel. Right next door is Keno Cafe, which is where I ate breakfast each morning while I was there.
The next couple of hours involved wandering through Washington Park and Grennich(sp?) Village and being caught in foot traffic through SoHo, China Town, and Little Italy.
While eating ice cream at Whole Foods near Union Square, we chatted with some locals about life in the city and life on the trail.
As we were being typical tourists and looking at the Subway map in Union Square, a local asked us where we wanted to go. We told him we wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. He told us to take the Express 6 to city hall where we needed to be to start walking the bridge.
Walking the Brooklyn Bridge was the best part of the day. This bridge is embedded was endless amounts of history. This bridge offers views of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Manhattan skyline.
Once in Brooklyn we hopped on the 4 and transfered at Atlantic Avenue to the Q to get back to A-Trains neighborhood.
After eating cheeseburgers and chips courtesy of A-Train, I determined it was time to sleep.
NYC has a very effective mass transit system. Between the bus system and the subway you don't need a car for day to day travel.
To be honest, I could live here. In fact I might look into going to school here, there's something about NYC that appeals to me.
Something to think about.
Good night, and good luck.
Kirby
Ga>ME 2008.
