Concrete Jungle [Part 1]

Day 1

Imagine yourself standing on the side of a road. People are pushing past you. Some in suits, some in jogging pants, some talking on their phones, others scolding their children. There are cars whizzing by in the street. Some are sleek limousines with blackened windows others are bright yellow taxis tooting their horns. Somewhere in the distance the sirens of an ambulance or police car go off. You can smell the food sold at one of the many food stalls on the side of the road while the smoke wafting from one of the gutters is causing a thick fog... This is what New York is like.

After I finished my last exam on Wednesday, we boarded the very first flight leaving for New York on Thursday. It was time for another adventure! Unfortunately, it took some time for our plane to actually take off, since we were badly delayed. First, we could not take off because there was some snow and ice in NYC which was causing delays. Our Canadian pilot made a little joke about the Americans not being able to handle a little snow. When we were finally on our way to the runway there was something wrong with one of the turbines. Obviously, the issue had to be resolved before we could take off. In the meantime our plane was sprayed with some fancy green anti-frost that prevents the plane´s surface to freeze and ensures that the plane´s performance stays stable, even in cold weather conditions. I was not particularly bothered about all of this since there were films on board.

It was quite late when we finally arrived in New York. Still, we had to get to our hotel somehow. After a short ride on the shuttle bus we switched to the subway. To be quite honest, I was rather shocked by the subway. The station was dirty and grim with water dripping from huge cracks in the ceiling and homeless people were living in cardboard boxes. Even the trains looked as though they were at least 50 years old. This was no comparison to modern and clean Toronto! Still, we mastered the subway and got to our destination on East Broadway alright. Our hotel was located in Chinatown right under the Manhattan Bridge. Christina, Dan and I shared a room together, while Nadiya and Emily stayed in another hotel and Carly and Sam yet in another hotel. This whole arrangement was due to the fact that we all arrived in NYC on different days. Our room was lovely! There were two queen-sized beds, a nice big window and a wonderful clean bathroom. Unlike our fellow travelers, we were well happy with our choice of accommodation. Still, we did not come all the way to New York just to appreciate nice comfy beds and to watch TV. Therefore, we headed out uptown to meet all the others for dinner and discuss the plans for the next few days.

Day 2

Of course, we wanted to see the Statue of Liberty first. After all, it´s not only the monument that is supposed to represent the values of America but it is the first thing that immigrants got to see upon their arrival to New York in the old days. After a good night´s sleep Christina, Dan and I made our way to the ferry port south of Manhattan. Unfortunately, we somehow got lost on the subway and ended up in Brooklyn instead. While we were there we got some breakfast and headed back to the city after. There were some closures on the subway that day and it took us several hours to actually get anywhere near the ferry port. We ticked “walking on Wall Street” off our bucket list while we were at it. Eventually, we arrived at our meeting point. We found that the ferry going to Liberty Island was quite expensive compared to the ferry going to Staten Island which is free of charge. It was quickly agreed that we would do that instead. Because the ferry went past Liberty Island, we were able to see the Statue of Liberty nonetheless. From all the films that I watched that featured the Statue of Liberty, I expected it to be a huge thing. I was rather let down by the fact, that the statue is not that tall at all. Although I was told that the torch alone can fit a person standing upright, the statue did not look big from afar. Still, I have been there and seen that now. We travelled back to Manhattan shortly after and went to see the big and famous Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Centre. The town was heaving. Not only were the pavements crowded with people wanting to see NYC during Christmas but there was also a Jimmy Fallon show on that night and people were literally blocking the road. Of course, there were not less people around at the Rockefeller Centre. Our group got separated by the masses of people and it took us ages to find each other again. Once united we were finally able to take in the whole beauty of the ice rink and Christmas tree. The Christmas tree was really quite impressive and magnificent. We continued walking to Time Square and the masses of people got even worse. I am not lying if I am saying that I really did not enjoy Time Square at all. It was more than stressful trying not to get lost in the throng of people pushing along. Massive huge billboards kept showing some kind of advertisement for perfume, clothing and all sorts while flashing in bright colours. Cars were rushing by, honking their horns vigorously. This was just too much to take in, too many people, it was all just too much! I was so glad when we finally reached the end of the street and were able to escape the masses of people. We reached Bryant Park which is located just off Broadway. There we had a walk around a nice Christmas Market and there was even a lovely ice rink where you could watch people skate. After a while we grew hungry though. Since it was Nadiya´s and Emily´s last night in New York it was up to them to decide where to go. We took the Subway to Little Italy which is a district near Chinatown where all the Italian restaurants are situated (obviously). It was a lovely little part of town. There were Christmas lights and decorations everywhere and it did feel a little bit like Italy. We should have booked a table in advance because the restaurants were either far too expensive or super busy. In the end we finally found a restaurant that could accommodate the 7 of us. It took a while until we were served though. By the time the food arrived I was not overly bothered by the fact that the fish filet I chose tasted of nothing and had the consistency of scrambled eggs. I was dead hungry!

Day 3

We wanted to get an early start the next morning because there was still so much to do and to see. Also, there was this tiny problem that nobody had made any plans on what we were doing. I had not had any time to plan ahead because of all my exams and neither one of the others looked into stuff they wanted to see. So, we agreed on meeting in a coffeeshop nearby and then discuss a rough outline of things to do in the next few days. Unfortunately, Sam and Carly had difficulties finding the coffeeshop and it was hours later that we finally met up. Instead of wasting more time on making plans we jumped straight on the next subway heading towards the 9/11 memorial (or so we thought). Maybe we should have planned ahead though (at least a little) because we ended up somewhere completely different. By this time, we were getting extremely fed up with the whole subway system. Having no WIFI since we were all on Canadian phone plans did not really help either. In order to make use of the time that was left, I navigated the whole group to a sightseeing spot that was easy to find: Grand Central Terminal! Of course, there is not that much to do there but I reckon it is just one of these must-do-things when in New York. Many films featured this unique and very grand building. I don´t think I have ever seen a train station as nice as this. There are marble bannisters, huge windows and a big brass clock in the centre. This is probably one of the major architectural highlights New York has to offer. From there we walked around for a while. The pavements were crowded by people hunting for Christmas presents, so it took us ages to get from one street corner to the next. Additionally, our group was ripped apart and Carly and I ended up on our own. There was no great use of searching for the others in this massive crowd. So, we kept walking, until we reached the Rockefeller Centre. Shortly after, the rest of the group arrived, too. We went up to the “Top of the Rock” which is an observation deck on the 70th floor. The view over Manhattan was amazing! This city is huuuuuge! You were able to see for miles and miles and miles. A million little lights lit the windows of hundreds of building, tiny little cars in the street were honking their horns and leaving trails of yellow or red lights in the street. It was fabulous! I literally felt as though I was standing on top of the world and looking down observing the tiny little world of human´s.

To round off this very chaotic but nevertheless successful day we went to a bar and restaurant called “The Happiest Hour”. Located on 10th street it is not one of the touristy spots but more of a hidden gem if you like burgers. The bar was decorated like a beach bar spreading tropical vibes. There were even drinks like “Pineapple Slushy” on the menu. After enjoying a very nice meal, we all headed back to our hotels.