New York! New York!

Well, the epic journey may be over, but we’re all now kicking around in New York. After the sort of anticlimax of parting at the bus, most of us met up again in Greenwich Village, in a pub. Unfortunately we couldn’t all sit together and celebrate the end of the Ozbus trip as a group, which was a great shame. So, as it was Pat’s only evening in New York, we decided to leave after the meal and explore Greenwich Village, a local ice cream parlour and then Times Square – where a NY policeman was coerced into a Rocky moment on camera! A great way to spend our first evening in the city. The last time I was in New York was in 1969….42 years ago. The Empire State Building was the tallest building in New York then, as it is now.

And now, the hostel, which has to be described fully to understand the beauty of this Urban Oasis (yes! that’s its name!). It’s on West 31st Street, just a few metres from the corner of 5th Avenue. A hundred metres the other way is Broadway. From the fire escape you can see the Empire State Building on 34th Street – check out the photo – and sorry it’s a bit diagonal. The only way to fit it in the frame…! The hostel is owned by a Hungarian/Egyptian/’other European’ couple who started it up on the top floor (10th) a couple of years ago, then got occupancy of this floor (9th) about 9 months ago. It’s all furnished in fresh, blond-wood IKEA, with stainless steel/wood kitchens on each floor, all mod cons, lovely rooms and a lift (not an option really). The shared bathrooms are beautiful, well organised and SO clean. And believe me, after months of coping with strange wash facilities, some good, some bad, I know hostel quality when I see it! I guess you could say this is a ’boutique hostel’ and probably influenced heavily by ‘Friends’ loft living and sitting on fire escapes to chill out. I like it! Outside on the block there’s a Indian restaurant, a chic cafe-restaurant, a post office, and in the hotel opposite you can book the shuttle to the airport. What more do you need? So central, just a little oasis…..

I’ve managed to see quite a lot of New York so far, been on three open top hop-on hop-off buses all over Downtown and Brooklyn. One of them, driving through midtown, downtown and Brooklyn, was endured in lashing rain and we were issued with white rain capes which made us look like a Klu Klux Klan parody. A lot friendlier, I should add. Anyway, that’s what I will do again tomorrow, but on the Uptown bus which will take me to the Lincoln Centre and the Metropolitan Museum and Central Park as well as Harlem and the Guggenheim. That’s where I’ll be spending my last day – a very busy day! – before leaving on Sunday for London. I made a list of possible places to visit – enough for about 2 weeks in New York. I’ll be leaving without seeing some of them – so will have to come back again in another 42 years…..

Just a few last minute photos….

And a few more….

more….

and the last few….