The endless streets I walk along, you made them seem pretty, but now I dream in country songs and wake in New York City
Back to the States! Julien kindly drove me to the (not so) wonderful Charles de Gaulle airport, we said our goodbyes, I waited in some lines, I used my last euro coins to purchase a sandwich and off I was!
For approximately 7 hours in the sky with nothing to do but listen to my iPod, nap, finish Persuasion (I liked Northanger Abbey better) and talk to the woman at my left about the joys of travelling and her experiences sailing across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
This was my first time on an aeroplane since flying to London from Iceland and I recalled why I hate them so much. Not so much the fear of crashing but the confinement and the constant regulation. Metal detectors, safety instructions, parking, arriving at the gate early, customs, expense, long passages between the ticket counter and the gate. Even the most complicated train stations were usually more conveniently located than airports and permitted one to literally "hop on" just as the doors were closing. Usually, trains don't have assigned seating, so I don't get stuck in the back as I ALWAYS do on trains. Yuck.
At least the view out the window of Newfoundland was pretty.
Arriving safely in NYC at 3:45 in the afternoon, I discovered the joy of using the subway to get from JFK to Manhattan. I have always been a light packer yet have also always blown way more money than I should on cabs. For only 7 dollars, I took the Airtrain and the subway to my brother's apartment in not much over an hour.
And wasn't it good to reunite with family? Rob and I had a delicious dinner at some place where he used to work (I ate grasshopper tacos, simultaneously satisfying my urge for Mexican food and something extremely exotic) and then a beer and then some cupcakes before meeting up with my parents who are conveniently visiting NYC at the same time as me!
For approximately 7 hours in the sky with nothing to do but listen to my iPod, nap, finish Persuasion (I liked Northanger Abbey better) and talk to the woman at my left about the joys of travelling and her experiences sailing across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
This was my first time on an aeroplane since flying to London from Iceland and I recalled why I hate them so much. Not so much the fear of crashing but the confinement and the constant regulation. Metal detectors, safety instructions, parking, arriving at the gate early, customs, expense, long passages between the ticket counter and the gate. Even the most complicated train stations were usually more conveniently located than airports and permitted one to literally "hop on" just as the doors were closing. Usually, trains don't have assigned seating, so I don't get stuck in the back as I ALWAYS do on trains. Yuck.
At least the view out the window of Newfoundland was pretty.
Arriving safely in NYC at 3:45 in the afternoon, I discovered the joy of using the subway to get from JFK to Manhattan. I have always been a light packer yet have also always blown way more money than I should on cabs. For only 7 dollars, I took the Airtrain and the subway to my brother's apartment in not much over an hour.
And wasn't it good to reunite with family? Rob and I had a delicious dinner at some place where he used to work (I ate grasshopper tacos, simultaneously satisfying my urge for Mexican food and something extremely exotic) and then a beer and then some cupcakes before meeting up with my parents who are conveniently visiting NYC at the same time as me!
posted by Jed at 9:49 PM
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