New York, New York

Well, I knew I was going to do it at least once this year so I decided on a spur of the moment (for me that means I still did two weeks worth of planning and research though) that I was going to take a driving trip to visit the Big Apple, New York City. My main reason in going this weekend was that it was the last weekend for the Gates Project to be up in Central Park and since it is a once in a lifetime event and I’m not too far from NYC, I decided to go.
The drive to NYC wasn’t bad at all. I left home at 7:00am and arrived at the Lincoln Tunnel at just after 4:00pm. Of course, that included 3 rest/gas stops, taking a wrong exit somewhere in PA and driving around for 20 minutes and then doing the same thing when I was just about to leave New Jersey and somehow got to the Holland Tunnel instead of the Lincoln. After about a half hour of driving and trying to follow the signs I did get to the Lincoln Tunnel and made my way to the upper west side of Manhattan to the hostel that I am staying at just a few blocks west of Central Park. The hostel is kind of nice I guess. It’s my first time staying in one so I don’t really have anything else to compare it with except for a college dorm and a regular hotel. I don’t think it compares well with either but for the cost it fills its purpose. It is really nice seeing so many people of all ages from so many different countries. Right now I’m in the “Library” area and there was a guy from Winnepeg, one from Australia (I think) and three guys from Japan. I still don’t know who the other three people I’m sharing my bedroom with are though. One was asleep when I arrived but was gone when I returned from my jaunt down to midtown at about 9:30pm.

So, I didn’t really do any walking in Central Park today since I arrived a little later than I was initially hoping and it got dark rather quickly. So, no photos yet as I really didn’t want to take pictures during my first walk downtown at night. It was pretty cool though. Quite busy with all the people milling around. There are also an ass load of cops around, which was really nice. Cop cars on almost every block it seemed. America’s safest big city indeed. I didn’t get to eat at the Japanese restaurant that I initially wanted to because it was much furhter downtown than I wanted to walk. But, I did find this nice little soup place on 54th near Broadway across the street from Gold’s Gym. I passed it when I was first walking downtown to pick up my New York Pass and noticed the chalk sign outside had Curry Chicken and Rice and the woman behind the counter was quite cute so I decided to stop back there if I didn’t see anything else that I wanted. So, I did. The soup was really good. She said they also have a Thai Shrimp soup with curry but I didn’t try it. Maybe tomorrow or Sunday on the way home.
Tomorrow will be fun though. I will be doing the tourist thing because the hostel has a 16 hour grand tour of New York. I will definitely have my camera with me and will be taking some nice pictures I hope.
Well, that’s it for today I think. Time to relax and wait for tomorrow’s walking.