Tue 30 Apr - New York City, NY

Start spreading the news... we're leaving today...we want to be a part of it...New York, New York!

Our leaving is a bit sad for Coco... She had been great fun playing with Hans in particular.

Mary had been a great host (again) and kindly drops us off at the Greyhound bus centre for our bus to NYC. Thanks for everything Mary. Again. We made it.

The bus trip is pretty smooth with a changeover of buses and a 40 minute wait in Baltimore. Baltimore from the bus does not look too exciting but of course they never put bus terminals in the attractive parts of town.

A snap photo from the road out of town.

We had hoped to find a snack shop or something to buy lunch between buses in Baltimore but ended up buying some bad food (which we threw away) from the BP gas station on the corner.

We sleep a bit until we catch our first sight of the Big Apple! Empire State Building in the centre of the next pic.

(This and the next photo are both taken from the bus, through pretty dirty windows, so not the sharpest.)

Not as excited about peak hour traffic jam going into the Lincoln Tunnel... About 9 lanes going into 2. Lots of buses. The traffic jam adds about 45 minutes to our trip but we had been warned by the bus driver what to expect. He was spot on.

After the tool booths, 9 lanes become 2...

Our bus pulls into the Port Authority terminus and we catch a yellow cab from there to our Chinatown address at Henry Street. Our apartment host, Chris, is waiting and he takes us upstairs and gives us a run down of everything before leaving us happily settled.

Street view from East Broadway, parallel to Henry Street, as we head out for dinner around 7pm.

We are close to the Manhattan Bridge and about 2 blocks from East Broadway subway station. We feel like we are living in both Hong Kong and New York at the same time and we love it!

Dinner is at a wonton house (in the corner on the pic above) that could have been in any Chinese city. Just some roast meats, rice or noodles and finally proper Chinese tea. No cutlery, just chopsticks.

We are completely at home and sigh with relief - we have missed this so much from Sydney.

Di can't wipe the grin from her face.

We pick up a few basics at a local Asian supermarket and a bakery, including Tsing Tao beer. It's 8.30pm now and Chinatown merchants seem to close at 8pm so its much quieter as we wander home. We feel safe and are not worried about walking further but we are ready to head home as we are tired and want to unpack. Tea for Di and a beer for Hans help us really relax.

Our home for the next month - the 2 lit windows on the third floor are our bedroom, which has plenty of space. We also have a small bathroom, a kitchenette with a full stove and drive and a small dining table and couch with coffee table. Surprsingly this is a free standing building and we have about 6 windows with great natural light and air flow. We are sure this is going to be just right for our time here.

Good night. Huge day wandering is planned for tomorrow.

 

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