People watching

New Yorkers are fascinating people. I don't really know what to say anymore about the city...except for the fact that I love it so much and if I was ever luckily enough to get a green card I'd drop everything and move there any day. They say a picture tells 1000 words, so soak up the fall sun, the leaves, and the laughs as we did in Central Park. Come with us as we people watched on 5th Ave, got caught up in the parades for Veterans Day, rode the subway, and ate New York deli wholemeal bagels. 

Dog walkers in NYC.....it's true!

The fantabulous Xchangers

Me and Bridge have done this pose on several monuments around the US...Chicago, Washington, and now NY spring to mind...

Our last afternoon was somewhat hectic. Classic Caty style. We all caught the subway to China Town around 4.00pm to get our bus back to Boston. The afternoon played out very oddly from there on;

1. We didn't know where the bus stop was. So we guessed.
2. Turns out our guess was wrong. So we asked people and got directions.
3. Turns out they were wrong.
4. So we asked some other people. They said the opposite direction.
5. We got lost.
6. We asked more people. No one seemed to know.
7. We kicked ourselves for not bringing a map.
8. Time was running out.
9. Repeat steps 2-8.
10. And repeat.
11. And repeat with more time-stress. And more. And more.
12. We had literally been runnning aimlessly all over China Town for about 30 minutes with our luggage.
13. It was a nightmare.
14. Annie and Chris streamed ahead, Bridge was in the middle, and Liz and I were behind. 
15. We started off as a group, but after countless blocks of running and sheer overheating, exhaustion and levels of basic fitness we all spaced out.
16. At this stage we had like 10 minutes to get to the bus and we know they don't wait.
17. Caty almost goes into cardiac arrest.
18. Caty and Liz lose sight of Annie and Chris.
19. Caty nearly goes into cardiac arrest again.
20. Caty and Liz lose sight of Bridget.
21. The bus leaves. Caty and Liz are like;

22. Caty and Liz are lost.
23. We get a call form the others saying they are on the bus and trying to hold it up.
24. We are still lost in China Town.
25. We stop running.
26. Then the bus leaves FOR SURE. Our friends are on it. We are not.
27. Caty and Liz collapse, stranded in NYC without a way to get home.
28. Caty and Liz find free wifi, spend three hours in the gutter in NYC, watch the sun set and have a lovely long chat with a schizophrenic.
29. Caty and Liz FIND THE BUS STOP BY CHANCE.
30. Caty and Liz go on standby for the next bus at 8.30pm.
31. Caty and Liz are prepared to play dirty, push people and steal candy from kids to get on the bus.
32. Caty and Liz get on the bus (luckily) and it departs at 8.31 EXACTLY.
33. Those buses don't wait for no one.
34. Caty and Liz play the skittles game the whole way home and have deep and meaningful chats about life, loss and longing.

35. Caty and Liz arrive back on home ground in Boston.

I experienced a feeling of relief as the bus pulled into my city, and I could see the prudential center and the financial district buildings start to take shape. A weird sense of belonging that felt like coming home. It worries me, because I can foresee the heartache I am going to experience when I have to eventually to leave. When I finally mad it up to my apartment in the early hours of the morning, I was so happy to be home...after a whirlwind of a few days in the big city I felt like I had been gone for a month. 

In the meantime, if you feel like more reading;

Reasons to travel whilst you're young

~Peace