2nd and last day in NYC and back to Boston!

Sunday 1^st April

Was woken up briefly at 6.25am by the French girl in the bunk above mine checking out then had a lovely lie in till about 9.30am, boy did i need it!

I was due to meet my cousin Paul at 11am for brunch but he’d warned me to check my emails before i set off as he was on call for the hospital where he works so i had plenty of time fortunately to do that (no calls!) and check my email, glad to hear ya’ll are liking my trip report J

I took the subway to where my cousin shares an apartment with his gf in Harlem, i thought of Glory as the train got nearer, at this hour of the morning i doubt i’ll be seeing anyone visiting Harlem for the purpose she dreamed of ;) i’d not met my cousin’s gf before even though they’ve been dating for years so it was good to finally meet her. Also pretty cool to see inside a New York apartment, very different from Friends hehe. Fortunately the building they live in has an elevator as they’re on the 8^th floor

We went out for brunch as promised, in a charming little restaurant promising the best brunch in Harlem. We started with charming little pastry bites smothered in butter and real strawberry jam and then we all had skirt steak topped with two eggs (over easy) with potatoes and Mimosa to drink, i had to ask what that is (orange juice and champagne) at home they call it Bucks Fizz, i stuck with the one glass and somehow as Paul and Erica (his gf) had the unlimited ($8 for 1 or $12 for 2 or more) we ended up getting mine for free J Although to be fair i wasn’t the one paying the bill!!

Unfortunately by the time we left the restaurant the weather was on the turn, i had to go back to the apartment anyway as i’d left my bag there, but it was much easier to spend the afternoon with them in the dry and warm and watch tv then head out, spend more money and get soaked ;) I chatted to Erica about why i’d come to the US on this particular trip and showed her and Paul the photos i got at Jerry Ohlinger’s yesterday, can safely say that Ginger and Fred have a couple more fans! Was also nice to have a rest in a lovely homely environment and i got yesterday’s blog entry all finished J

Finally left theirs around 4.30pm, unfortunately was just starting to rain again, but fortunately it wasn’t far to the subway, nice to know am welcome back anytime, as my cousin lives and works in NYC i don’t really get to see him unless i’m in the city so i always make the effort to make contact when i’m over here J I was thinking about getting off at Grand Central to head for Times Square to find ‘Ginger’s Restaurant’ but from all the umbrella’s getting on it appeared the rain was getting heavier not lighter L hopefully next time i’ll have the opportunity to find it, it’s on my list along with 1605 Gilcrest Drive in Beverly Hills ;)

Got off at 28^th and got soaked in the short hop to The Gershwin, i took full advantage of their internet while drying off hehe, it was still only 5pm so i had plenty of time before needing to retrieve my suitcase and head for Penn Station and the Acela back to Boston

Had a small wait to get a cab but not as long as one might expect on a wet Sunday afternoon, i got to Penn Station at 6pm so plenty of time to buy food and drink for the train, print my ticket etc, sad to be leaving New York, i’m used to only spending a couple of days here at a time but i’m also used to having full use of both feet! I’m not entirely sure what hurts more anymore, my foot or my hands from the crutches even with several layers of airplane socks wrapped around the handles ;)

The train ride back to Boston seemed a lot longer than the trip to New York, i didn’t quite get that normally it’s the other way around lol, then again it was getting dark and it was raining so once again no scenery to speak of. I passed my time trying and failing to use their wi-fi and watching Follow the Fleet J The train seemed a lot joltier on the way back and i spent more time than i would have liked fighting nausea L normally i’m ok on trains but not this one unfortunately.

I wish they would give a little more warning about what station is coming up next, luckily i’d already put all my things away, but it was a rush that i didn’t particularly need getting off the train at Boston’s Back Bay station, unfortunately to get assistance i would have needed to go to South Station, the final stop but as i pointed out to the conductor my ticket was for Back Bay! I bumped into a couple of people who’d been on the same train to New York yesterday morning and asked if they’d had a good weekend, turned out one of them has a daughter who lives near me at home in Cambridge, such a small world this is!!

The taxi rank wasn’t particularly well signposted (i may have come out the wrong side of the station) but i must have been suitably looking like a damsel in distress (or a drowned rat, as the rain was heavier here than it had been in New York) as a cab pulled over when i was just starting to panic about getting back to the Hostel, so good timing and all J

Got back to the Hostel at 11pm, checked in fine and got assigned a room and bunk on the ground floor, so no stairs this time J I’d gone for an all female dorm when i booked but the only dorm that had space on the ground floor was co-ed, anything than the stairs was good for me! There were only four of us in a room that takes 18 so no issues on space haha

Repacked my suitcase so i’ll be good to go in the morning, got rid of all the unneeded plastic bags, i just hope i’m not gonna go overweight or have any issues at customs, the majority of items going home have been purchased in the US

I took the opportunity while i was doing that to charge my camera, it’ll sure get lots of use on the morrow!!

Bed for me at 12.40am, alarm set for 7am so i’ll have the chance to eat breakfast before i go back to the Mugar and the exhibition on Ginger!!