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New York, day 1
Finally visiting NYC for the 2nd time. Getting here is cheap by bus, but staying here without friends or family to host me has put me off; I finally bit the bullet.
Megabus: $55 round trip with special reserved seats. Which I didn't get, because instead of the scheduled double-decker with table seats and such they brought out a standard bus. I hope there's a refund in my future. Cramped, erratic A/C, erratic WiFi. Even more cramped than Greyhound? Felt that way, though it's been a long time. Schedule said 4.5 hours, driver said 4-4.5 hours, reality said 5.5 hours; friends were surprised it was only that. Much of the last hour was getting through Manhattan, especially down 9th, up 8th, down 7th again, then waiting for a curbside spot. Whatever Greyhound's problems, at least they go to the Port Authority.
First impression from the bus: "man, these really are inhumanly tall buildings." I felt better on the sidewalk, though also irritated by slow walkers. Transit was mostly good, though there's no placard telling you what standard fares are. I splurged on a $30 weekly pass even though I've here for 4 days; figured I might use it a lot, and anyway I won't have to worry about marginal costs. Train has fancy LCD display of the next dozen stops. Also openable windows, with a sticker saying something like "don't open, we have A/C".
Host is friendly, apartment decent, though room lacks full privacy curtains or a seal on the A/C. Well, it's not my power bill.
Staying on the edge of Chinatown, walked around a bunch. Got out late, 8:45pm, lots of things closed. Was looking for a sweet spot in restaurants, busy enough to be attractive, but not with a line. Hard to find... ended up at a cheap noodle soup place. I noted that all the Vietnamese or Thai places have A sanitary inspection grades, while most of the Chinese ones are B or C.
Found Little Italy. Mulberry street is sealed off from cars, with lots of fancy restaurants with street seating. I had some gelato from a Christmas tree ornament store. o_O Nothing about that sentence makes sense to me, but the gelato was good.
Whole lot of late night Asian "foot rub" places.
I'd heard NYC had a stink in the summer. I thought, surely not. Nope, definitely a trash smell to a lot of Chinatown. If you're unlucky a *really sour* trash smell. Possibly connected to the piles of trash bags out on the sidewalk, despite the rats...
Megabus: $55 round trip with special reserved seats. Which I didn't get, because instead of the scheduled double-decker with table seats and such they brought out a standard bus. I hope there's a refund in my future. Cramped, erratic A/C, erratic WiFi. Even more cramped than Greyhound? Felt that way, though it's been a long time. Schedule said 4.5 hours, driver said 4-4.5 hours, reality said 5.5 hours; friends were surprised it was only that. Much of the last hour was getting through Manhattan, especially down 9th, up 8th, down 7th again, then waiting for a curbside spot. Whatever Greyhound's problems, at least they go to the Port Authority.
First impression from the bus: "man, these really are inhumanly tall buildings." I felt better on the sidewalk, though also irritated by slow walkers. Transit was mostly good, though there's no placard telling you what standard fares are. I splurged on a $30 weekly pass even though I've here for 4 days; figured I might use it a lot, and anyway I won't have to worry about marginal costs. Train has fancy LCD display of the next dozen stops. Also openable windows, with a sticker saying something like "don't open, we have A/C".
Host is friendly, apartment decent, though room lacks full privacy curtains or a seal on the A/C. Well, it's not my power bill.
Staying on the edge of Chinatown, walked around a bunch. Got out late, 8:45pm, lots of things closed. Was looking for a sweet spot in restaurants, busy enough to be attractive, but not with a line. Hard to find... ended up at a cheap noodle soup place. I noted that all the Vietnamese or Thai places have A sanitary inspection grades, while most of the Chinese ones are B or C.
Found Little Italy. Mulberry street is sealed off from cars, with lots of fancy restaurants with street seating. I had some gelato from a Christmas tree ornament store. o_O Nothing about that sentence makes sense to me, but the gelato was good.
Whole lot of late night Asian "foot rub" places.
I'd heard NYC had a stink in the summer. I thought, surely not. Nope, definitely a trash smell to a lot of Chinatown. If you're unlucky a *really sour* trash smell. Possibly connected to the piles of trash bags out on the sidewalk, despite the rats...