Last Holiday Blog: Goodbye NYC and USA :(

Now on to my last day in New York City/The Big Apple. Decided not to go running that day. A little rest for my poor knees ;). Also had quite a few things planned before heading to the airport late in the afternoon. First, I needed to properly pack my suitcase. I did quite a bit of shopping, at the end suitcase was not really full but heavy.

After breakfast, I checked out of the Hostel (my suitcase was put in bagage storage). It was a decent hostel, nothing spectacular but clean. Most importantly the hostel was perfectly located: close to Central Park and a huge supermarket (Whole Foods). The city center was also within walking distance.

But no walking to the city center for the moment. I took the uptown metro instead. Walked past Columbia University, huge campus, did not get the chance to see it all. Two churches were also on my list: Riverside Church and Church of Holy Trinity. I especially liked the Riverside Church, beautifully designed and looking out on the Hudson River. From the Riverside Church, I could cross the street and walk right up to the Tomb of General/President Ulysses S. Grant (actually not only the tomb of Grant but also of his wife Julia). The Tomb is located in a white (of course) and expensive looking little building. It is also mini Museum, providing you with some information on Grant as General and President. Interesting, “Uncle Sam” was said to have been a modest man. This place though… not exactly modest. Ok, this Tomb is not as gigantic as the one of Napoleon in Paris. And Grant does not have a real Presidential Museum, so maybe he should have something else in return then :).

When I was finished my sightseeing uptown, I took the metro back to my favorite (along with Central Park and South Street Seaport) area in New York: Times Square. I wanted to walk around a bit and take some pictures of the theaters were I saw the two musicals at. I also needed to buy myself a new pair of jeans (have only one proper pair at home). Difficult, because I don’t really like to go shopping for clothes lol. Fortunately, I quickly found myself some jeans. The third pair I tried on (in the first shop I entered). They were perfect: good length, color, brand and (not unimportantly) price.

By that time I was getting hungry: lunchtime!! I wanted to have pizza for lunch. Most of the times, I would just prepare my own lunch (some sandwiches), which saved me a lot of money. But this time I allowed myself to go a little crazy :D. Well, not that crazy, I just had one big slice of pizza and a Coke. Yummie, pizza with Italian Sausage, which they don’t sell in the Netherlands. Maybe that’s for the best, otherwise I would be probably tempted to eat a lot more pizza ;).

After lunch, I thought it was best to head back to the hostel. I walked. It was supposed to rain all day (no rain though), it was just very very windy. At the hostel, I grabbed my bagage and left for Penn Station. At Penn Station, I bought a ticket for the NJ Transit. The NJ Transit is by far the cheapest way to get to Newark International Airport. And it’s quick too. I arrived on time. Still, the woman behind the Delta counter was not happy. Yay, was wondering when I would meet a really unfriendly American airport employee. Answer: on my last day in the States! This woman was just so unbelievably frustrated. But she let me through. She actually had no choice, because I already had a boarding pass and I was not drunk or causing problems in any way (apart from the fact that my passport made the Delta computers malfunction lol). I was in a hurry to get away from this crumpy woman, so I quickly went through customs and security (people were a lot nicer there). I ate a bagel (always eat something for the flight) and did some last minute shopping.

When I got to the gate, something interesting happened. My flight was overbooked. They were offering people a 600 dollar gift voucher to surrender their seats and to take a later flight from JFK Airport instead. You would also get a dinner voucher and a taxi voucher (to get to JFK). I was very interested in this deal, but I hestitated for just a second or two. By then, the necessary amount of people (3) had already made their way to the information desk. I was number 4 in line.

At the end flight plan did not change, I was sort of glad that I did not have to make my way to another aiport. We were delayed quite a bit, due to the strong winds. I guess only a couple of runways were open now. The plane finally took off around 8 pm (original departure time was 6.45 pm). Very bumpy take-off, shaking plane, did not like that at all. But once we were above the clouds, the plane stablized, and I was ok. There was some turbulence during the flight, but nothing too bad.

Dinner was good, never know what to expect of airplane food. I had some pasta, bread, salad and a brownie. Took my Dramamine, it is against motion sickness, but it also makes you feel drowsy. It hoped it would help me sleep a little :D!! At dinner, a movie was played. Have trouble remembering which movie. Oh, I think it was Grown Ups, pretty funny. When the movie finished, it was time to go to “ bed.” I saw on the television screen, that the plane was about to leave Canada. When I looked again, I saw a funny shaped island, which sort of looked like Ireland. I wasn’t wearing my glasses, that’s why my vision was so blurry ;). After putting my glasses back on, it turned out that we were indeed about enter Irish territory. Ok, I must have slept for quite a bit then. Happy about that! Usually have trouble sleeping in an airplane. Hurray to the Dramanine!! :)

Shortly before landing, the cabin crew started passing out breakfast. Breakfast in airplanes usually is very simple. This one was too. Got a muffin (which, I have to say, tasted very good), a banana and something to drink. Plane landed about half an hour later in a windy Netherlands. No balked landing, so I am not complaining. I was happy to find my suitcase at the bagage claim. All my stuff (and presents) back in the Netherlands safe and sound. There was a small tear in my suitcase though, so this might have been its last trip :(.

An aunt and uncle picked me up from the airport, very sweet. Had some additional breakfast at Delifrance, a croissant. I was wondering what strange language most people were speaking. Turned out it was my own language, Dutch ;). I guess I was not used to hearing/speaking Dutch anymore. At Schiphol, the only thing I really wanted to do was get back on a plane to NYC!! Instead, I had to go home, de-jetlag and prepare for work on Monday. Work, so that I can start making money for my next trip :). And my next small trip will be in less than two weeks, yay!! I will fly to Spain for a long weekend. Really looking forward to that!

This is my last blog about my trip to Canada and the USA. Thanks for following my experiences. I had a blast!!

I will now switch back to my “In Nederland en omstreken” weblog.

PS. LOL means laughing out loud!!!