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Stepping Out Solo
Hello New York City!!
It's 7:30 am. French toast with maple syrup is settling nicely into my tum. I'm in a bagle diner just around the corner from my hostel on Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights area of Harlem.
So I'm two days in to the start of my travels in the city that never sleeps.
I couldn't have wished for a better arrival through JFK airport. Being one of the first passengers off the plane I soon joined the line for immigration control.
Standing in line repeating in my head "Please let me in, Pleeeeease let me in"
I'd convinced myself for some stupid reason that the officer at the desk would be convinced I was attempting to enter the U.S for reasons other than to be tourist. Afterall, not many folk get the opportunity to stay for three months on a holiday.
"Stamp!" "Enjoy your trip, Miss"
-What?! That's it? No interegation in a back room for hours whilst I try to justify my intentions to an unfriendly immigration officer. Nope. Great success!!
Think I've watched too many episodes of Border Force UK during my weeks spent at home.
The sun was sinking below the horizon as I stepped out in to the U-S of A. Hello America!
I called shot gun on the front seat of the supper shuttle transfer van. My first opportunity to snap some pics.
Silence. Not one single passenger spoke as we approached The Big Apple. The twinkling lights of the Manhattan skyline growing in size. As the Empire Stete Building came into view I so much wanted to cry out in chorus- "New Yooooooork!, Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There's nothing you can't do. Now you're in New Yoooooooork!" in my best Alicia Keys voice.
I didn't. Instead I sat silently and marvelled at the incredible view that is so familiar from favourite films and TV shows.
The $17 fare turned out to be well worth the price. Other passengers were staying in posh Mid-town hotels. For that reason I was able to take in the sights of Madison Avenue, Grand Central Station, Times Square and Fifth Avenue within the first half hour of being in Manhattan. Fabulous!
Sitting in the basement "theatre" at the hostel I tried desperately hard to keep my eyes open and find an ounce of humour in the comedian's act. I struggled!
Twenty three hours after leaving my comfortable bug-free, feather duvet bed at home I climbed into a squeeky mental framed bunk bed, shared with 11 other femals (the room obviously!)
2am-I'm awake. Just three hours after I went to bed. It'd be 7am in the UK. Despite my best efforts to combat jet lag, it was looking like it had caught hold.
By 5am I'd pissed everyone off by by attemptig to re-enter the dorm after a trip to the loo.
s***! I'd forgotten my key. I had no other option other than to knock on the door in the hope someone would rise from slumber to let me in.
Quiet gentle taps didn't work. What did work was a forceful hammer accompanied by a "Can you let me in. I've forgotten my key."
The unsightly look on the girls face to let me back in certainly wasn't welcoming. Oppps!
First impressions of the hostel are mostly positive. A cool, hip hub of international travelers of all ages. It's exceeded my expectations. Those of the impressions left by the grot hole of a hostel I once stayed in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2007.
An easy trip from the Metro station one block away to my first destination- South Ferry, Battery Park, Downtown.
Rising on the escalator the first glimpse of the cloudless sky was enough to set a smile on my face and a feeling of excitement for the adventures ahead for that day.
"Walk until the day becomes interesting"
I was soon in familar territory. Lady Libery came into view across the Hudson River. This time I was here to make new memories. Memories that will only ever belong to me.
My walk that lastest from sunrise to sunset was filled with many intesting points.
I visited the site of the building of the Freedom Tower. The occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Walked to Downtown Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge. Ate lasagne in Little Italy whilst chatting to a charming Irish couple. Rested tired feet in Washing Square park whilst listening to Jazz buskers. Window shopped along West Braodway and Fifth Aveneue. Hopped on the Bus. Went to a bar to listen to Jazz.
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