Sunday, October 22, 2006

Choo Choo

Relatives from Germany visited us over the past three weeks. They flew home yesterday. On Monday, we took them to NYC. None of us have taken public transportation before. We hopped the light rail to Trenton, where we picked up the train to Penn Station. If you are in New York just for the day and want to see as much as possible, the double-decker tour buses are a good way to see it all. We did the downtown loop. You can go around as many times as you want and get on and off as often as you want. I plan on going back to see the different neighborhoods.

I took a few pictures but mostly I enjoyed seeing the great architecture, the Naked Cowboy, a street dance troop, people from all over the world, the lights at night and the possibilities.

The only problem was the bathrooms. There are very few public ones and most are disgustingly filthy.

You should know that the tour buses stop at seven and they are very crowded at the end of the day. We stood for an hour on the last bus. They don’t drop you off where you get on, either. We walked fifteen blocks at the end of the day back to Penn Station. We caught a commuter train out of the city. We had to stand here, too. When we caught the last light rail (I didn’t know there was a last one) we found out that not only was it the very last one of the night (lucky us) but it stopped four towns short of our destination (not lucky us.)

What were we going to do, you ask? My brother wanted to call my seventy-five year old father to come out at ten thirty at night to pick us up. No, said I, we’ll take a bus. Just as we got off the light rail a bus trundled up the deserted street. I jumped into its path and flagged it down. It happened to be twenty-five minutes late on its route. Getting on with us was a woman who showed every sign of being bipolar. Her foot was in a cast and she was on crutches. She entertained us with the story of how she was hit by a car and the driver got out and punched in the face as she lay on the ground. Fun stuff.

9 comments:

  1. I really like the pics. Great job on changing your point of view and getting different angles and perspectives.

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  2. Wow...I think I live a very sheltered existence...beautiful pictures, dear. xoxo

    Did your prize arrive?

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  3. This post doesn't make me want to rush to New York -- yet I notice you say you're going back! Brave Nessa.

    (Well, I can't very well decare her foolish on her own blog, can I?)

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  4. Great pics for sure!n I have read about that Naked Cowboy, so he is for real huh? LOL
    I could never survive in NYC, it's way too big and fast for me!

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  5. Nice to have you back. What pics? Oh, I see. Da link. Oh yeah... nice pics, fun angles. Asymmetry. Atmospheric perspectgive (oh stop it). New York is fun unless you are on the last ride in every mode of tranportation they offer. At least you didn't miss the last bus and the last train and the last bus again.

    Whew!

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  6. Brooke: Thanks.

    Cindra: Yes, I got it and my husband thinks the tankards are very cool.

    Quilly: It was an adventure.

    Dabich: Yes, he's real. Hat, underpants, boots, guitar. They say he makes $200,000 a year. I'd never want to live there, but a visit once in a while is ok. Way tooooo many people.

    Tom: The luck of an idiot; D

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  7. Having seen the photos, I thought I'd stop by for a look at the story. Funny! Especially the part affirming that public transportation can be a portal into the nether world of bizarre people. Nice work.

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  8. Yes, Al, the fear of all suburbanists who have one and a half cars per family member; "Some weird stranger may talk to me if I take the bus."

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  9. That should have been "suburbanites". I wonder what a suburbanist would be?

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