New York City

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New York City - Day 1

Written by Kristo Tuisk

Tuesday, 16 June 2009 09:12

On the way...

My flight was scheduled for quite early in the morning, so the wake-up call was around 3AM. There was some waiting involved at the airport, but other than that, everything went smoothly (no rubber gloves at the security check or anything like that :) Fortunately I did an online check in already on the previous evening, so I had the tickets all printed out. All I had to do was to check in my luggage and board the plane.

The first flight was to Amsterdam, where I would switch planes. The flight was boring as shi*, since I was sitting next to a grumpy businessman. During the whole flight he didn't speak more than 3 sentences. On the flight they served something to eat, but I was too much in a coma to remember exactly what it was. After the plain switch, started the 5800 kilometer flight to Newark airport in New York City. Check in was done and I had the tickets ready. Also I had made a seat reservation near the emergency exit, which was great, since there was more leg room than in "normal" seating places. The flight took about 6 hours. During the flight they served some light snacks and a lunch. In every hour and a half there was something served to eat... The strange thing was that the forks and knifes were made out of metal. Which is fine, but strange since you were not allowed to bring any knives (or even nail clippers on board). Well, the flight went good, while eating peanuts at 11 kilometers up in the sky in the speed of 700 km/h.

When arriving to US airspace I had to fill out 2 forms (with basically the same type of questions), about am I a terrorist and am I going to do something illegal during my visit. I answered no to both :) The security check, after the landing, was quick. I handed away the forms and some small note was stapled to my passport (something that I should not loose, or else I wouldn't be able to leave the country or whatever :) ) (Picture of the note that was attached to my passport.) Also they took digital fingerprints from both of the index fingers and asked general questions on what am I about to do in the States.

First moments in NYC

I decided to take the bus from airport to Manhattan and from there to take the subway to 107W (where my hotel was located). (There was other options too... a taxi, limousine or even a helicopter ride.) The bus ride took about 45 minutes and cost around $13. The next hour or so I was just gazing the skyscrapers in amazement and trying to adjust to the completely new environment. The subway was very easy to use. There was also really helpful staff at the subway stations, who helped with the tickets purchase and so on... One subway ticket cost around $2 (and if you bought 20 you got 12 trips). You can find more information about the NYC subway at MTA website. (Welcome to the Manhattan and some Times Square pics)

The Hotel

After a short subway trip I arrived to the 103rd street. Few blocks away was my hotel: West Side Inn. The reservations I had made online, were OK and the room was ready for me. (1)

(First pic is the hallway to my room. The TV in the room either showed the picture and no sound or there was sound but no picture... 3rd. pic is the view from my window.)

(Video taken in my hotel room at West Side Inn hotel.)

Since I was quite tired, the rest of the day I just wandered around near the hotel. Something to eat at the nearby Japanese restaurant and a nice cup of coffee. Exhausted from the trip I headed to the hotel to catch some Z's quite early.

Back to the beginning | Continue to Day 2

(1) Hotel reservation was a bit stupid... since I could make a reservation for 7 days at a time only. So I had to do 2 different reservations. Also for the payment, only one option was available: cash on site. The room was really small and the bed had seen better days. The mattress was in really bad condition. The rooms and sanitary rooms could have been more clean. On a positive note, there was no "pets" (roaches etc.) and it was rather quiet, so sleeping was not a problem. (Back to top)