the new york report

so, here it is. the highly anticipated blog about my very brief thanksgiving trip to nyc.
wednesday nov 26th 3pm
kai and i leave milwaukee on amtrak headed for chicago. this is the first leg of a mammoth 24hr journey to new york city. 90mins of very uneventful travel and we arrive in the windy city. union station. with 2 and a half hrs to kill we eat some disappointing pseudo-mexican food and chain smoke, because washington dc is 18hrs away and there's probably gonna be very few smoke breaks.
its 6:30pm and they just announced that our train is boarding, and the somewhat peaceful waiting room has just been turned into an everyman-for-himself rumble to get onto the train. strollers are knocked over. babies are trampled underfoot. the elderly are left to fend for themselves whilst clutching bags so large three porters would struggle to life them...get the idea?

chicago to washington, dc.
this was one hell of a journey. 18hrs on a train. sleeping whilst sitting upright. trying not to fall over when walking down the aisle because the train is rocking so much. not exactly pleasant, but it was bearable.

any longer and i think i'd have gone insane. but we did it. and the view from the train was absolutely stunning. pennsylvania is absolutely beautiful.


this picture really doesn't do it justice, but its from a moving train, cut me some slack!

thursday nov 27th 1:30pm
washington dc. union station. wait a second....union station to union station, did we just go in an 18hr circle? washington, dc itself (well whats around the station,
anyway) is really cool.


the ride from washington to new york was fairly uneventful. only 3hrs. no biggie after the 18hr marathon we just endured. however this did keep me entertained all the way from philly into nyc

thursday nov 27th 7pm. new york city.
by rights i should be absolutely exhausted. 24hrs of travelling. sleeping upright in a chair. no shower. but i'm not. i feel great. there's something about this city. a buzz. an energy. i can't get enough of it. this was my second visit to nyc and i fell in love all over again. the city just reminds me of home. london. people. lots of people. everywhere. there's stuff going on all the time. its absolutely amazing.

after a short subway ride we dump our bags at our friend brian's place, he's also our gracious host for the next 36hrs, and head out for some thanksgiving dinner.
after trying a couple of brian's favorite spots, and finding them all closed, we settle on a traditional thanksgiving meal of sushi. kosher sushi at that.
good food. good conversation. good company. what else in the world could be better?

friday nov 28th
after a late night, its an early start. lots to see and do and very little time to do it all. after a huge breakfast at an upper westside diner we jump on the subway and head for canal st. chinatown. super fun, if a little intense. right out of the subway station there are people trying to sell you every imaginable item under the sun. some of which i question the authenticity. louis viton bags for $40. are they really that cheap now, who knew?
the side streets were a little more managable. less crowded. less noisy. easier to navigate.
new experience #1.... bubble tea. its kinda like frogspawn at the bottom of a cup of iced tea. weird.
we find a small city park and decide to chill there for a while and wait for another friend to join us. rp, a native of queens. if there is a stereotypical new yorker its rp. he's awesome. we chill in colombus park for a while waiting. watching.


chinese guys gambling at tables. doing thai chi. leaving grandma bundled up in a wheelchair while going off to do something else. whatever it was, it must have taken a while because she was still there, all bundled in blankets when we left.

coffee. we need coffee. just so happens that i know of a great little hole-in-the-wall coffee joint. up-state new york and williamsburg favorites, gimme! coffee recently opened a store on manhattan. mott st. in soho. a short walk from chinatown.
the new gimme! spot is great. standing room only, not because all the seats are taken but because there are no seats. no tables. nothing. get in...get your coffee...get out.


after a killer espresso and a super sweet capp we head north through soho. just walking around the street of new york is so much fun. loud. obnoxious. dirty. just like home.
new experience #2... a real new york hot dog. so bad but so good.


more walking. soho. west village. chelsea. west to the hudson river and a glance at new jersey and the statue of liberty. south through the meat packing district. the food network studio and then into a cab. john's on bleecker.
truly the best pizza in new york. its absolutely awesome. some more coffee at a little bakery down the street from john's. and then pedicures for everyone... brian is one of the funniest people i know. he had us in fits of laughter the entire time.


as everyone was having fun with their feet i left to see a friend who'd just moved to new york for work. we talked all things coffee and all things new york. i reconnected with the gang in union square and decided, rather than freezing our asses off on the staten island ferry, we'd go up the empire state building to get a view of the city at night. touristy, i know. but it was amazing. in a city so manic. so fast paced. so bustling. so loud. its amazing how calm and serene the city looks from up there.


enough. can't stand the tourist trap anymore. get out get out. easier said than done. 86 floors up. 2 elevators. 2 gift shops. some abusive photographers trying to sell us a terrible picture of ourselves. and we're out. a brisk walk through time square. well as brisk as possible, with a seething throng of people all seemingly walking in the other direction. and food again. thai food. again really good. and then back to brian's place to pass out. 14hrs on the go and sleep is shouting my name louder than the honk of the cab drivers horns.

saturday nov 29th
another early start. our train leaves at 11:05 from penn station. breakfast at another upper westside diner. chalah toast. mmmmm good. then its back to brian's to grab our bags and catch a cab to the station. then its a nice relaxing 22hr train ride home.....