I love New York! That's what I can simply state about my feelings and thoughts about my first experience in New York. My trip all started with a little inspiration from everyone in Biloxi, Mississippi at the Alternative Breaks Citizenship Schools (ABCs). When I got back, I randomly purchased my round trip ticket from LAX to JFK, then from BUF to LAX, of course, with stops in Atlanta both ways. Either way I thought about it, I knew that I had purchased my tickets, and I would embark on my first journey to New York. However, I booked it all alone. I did not know if anyone would come with me. However, I would not let that stop me from going.
Jen, Cindy, and/or Mark were thinking about coming, but all backed out. I did get a little scared at first, but I knew I would still have a great time, since I would book a room at Hostelling International New York (HI New York).
I few months past and the night of September 15th arrived. Cindy took me to the aiport and off I went. I arrived in Atlanta and found my mom waiting (she ended up coming with me, but only until Thursday). Anyway, our plane boarded, but then I had a "Seat Request" on the Delta flight. After about 45 minutes, my mom volunteered to get off the plan on a later flight in about 4 hours, with a $400 incentive for later use, a first class ticket on the later flight, and breakfast and lunch meal vouchers ($7 each). I also got this, so I'm really happy!
Flying first class was great. They serve you a drink as soon as you sit. You also are given food, usually not dont on domestic flights. All the movies and games are free as well. That is why people pay so much for first class. I also do not want to forget to mention the awesome reclining chairs and more than enough leg room you get in first class!
Anyway, we eventually got ourselves to JFK. We immediately left the airport and boarded the AirTrain high above the terminals. We got lost a few times, as the staff told us the wrong train to get on, as well as us missing exits. We even went all the way to the Jamaica exit, and if you know New York's AirTrain route, that is far off from where we were suppose to go. Eventually, we found the Howard Beach Subway entrance and we took that into downtown, then uptown to our stop at 103rd and Amsterdam, where HI New York is located. We of course, had to go into a WalGreens to purchase some stuff.
The hostel was pretty full of people. The line was not that long, but the front desk staff seemed to work really slow to make it a slow process. Anyway, just looking around, I thought this was just crazy with all these international people walking to and fro. Eventually, I got my keys and I went into my room. No one was there at first, but I made sure to get a lock from the gift shop and then locked up my stuff. This time, one of my roomates from England was here. My mom and I explored the hostel a little, and then we went across the street to get some fruits, and because my mom craved it, cup of noodles!
We got back to the hostel and after eating the fruits and food, I headed to my room for an early night of sleep. I ended up meeting some more of my roomates. Two of them, one named Kyle, and the other named Tim were there. I forget which is which, I but I think Kyle is the one from Canada and Tim is from England. They brought in some alcohol, not knowing that it was not allowed, but either way, they used the air conditioning unit to open the bottles. I told them that I can drink beer, but I still took one anyway and only drank from the top down to the neck, which if you know Corona bottles, is not that much at all. Then, my other roommate, Eric, came. He was from France. I got to talk to him the most, mostly because he locked himself out of his locker, so I helped him to get help, although they said we had to wait until the morning. We just talked about the English language, since Eric was still trying his best to learn English at the age of 31. He said that it is a lot different learning it in school than speaking it during conversation. Well, I thought his English was fine. My French however, is at zero.
Anyway, we all ended up knocking out and then waking up pretty early. My mom called me so early to wake up, but I was so tired. Anyway, I helped Eric to get someone to cut open the lock. Then, I went to the cafe for a breakfast bagel, then waited in the Lobby to embark on Jerry's tour. Jerry's Tour. Wow. I went into this thinking it would be 5-6 hours max. Boy was I wrong. The tour was actually a 12 hour tour. Again, the tour was 12 hours. I'm not lying. We basically did almost everything and saw all the sights you would want to see. I'm going to try my best to recount the main things we did in some sort of list. My memory is already failing me about the long order of things.
First off, we took the subway past downtown into Brooklyn. We walked around a bit and stopped to get food at a buffet place. We walked the streets, saw the nice houses, and then walked down Brooklyn Heights Promenade for lunch. We got a great view of Manhattan, particularly downtown. In the distance, you could see Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and also Staten Island. After this, we strolled through a park that is dedicated to those who lost their lives in WWII, then walked up to the Brooklyn Bridge and made our long crossing back into Manhattan. From there, we could see the four waterfalls that are set up as art.
Then, we walked straight into Downtown and passed the City Hall area. Eventually, we walked towards Ground Zero, and of course, passed by the memorial site and the fire station. It is estimated that the buildings will take 15-20 years to build. Then, we went down Wall Street. Then, we walked to Battery Park and boarded a ferry to Staten Island, with lovely views of the Statue of Liberty, as well as the entire skyscrapping Manhattan. Then, once we got onto Staten Island, we headed back to Manhattan. When we arrived, we took another longer stroll through Battery Park, which is a great looking park. Then, we saw the Lincoln Tunnel and then made our way to Greenwich Village, where we saw hippies, the LGBT community, and people dressed in leather. We passed the Pommes Freets or whatever place that Andrew told me to go to, but we had no time to stop. Then, we walk more and more until we got to our restaurant, the Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant.
Here, we had a lovely meal! We had appetizers, main courses, and desert. The price was $11 each, including tax and tip! We had so much leftover. Eventually, we made our way to China Town, then to Little Italy to the festival for the Feast of (Okay, I forgot the name!). Anyway, we walked through that. Then, we went to Union Square park and saw all the NYU students just hanging out. Then, we went to the Flat Iron District. Then, we saw the Empire State Building from a distance (I think it was 8th Ave). Then, we took the subway to Times Square and stood in awe of all the lights, sounds, and people. Then, we went up the Marriott Hotel using the many, many high speed elevators. It reminded us of some futuristic thing. The elevators were awesome! Then, we left here and made our way back to the hostel, where much needed sleep waited us all.
From this tour alone, we met lots of people. We met Sam from Canada, Nathan from San Francisco, Maggie from Taiwan, Juliane from Brazil, Camila from Brazil, Andrew from Australia, Eugenie from France, Katriu from Germany, and Jerry from New York City. This was such a fun group of people, and made the tour interesting. Well, that is all for my first day!
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