Great Hill

Day 4 - Bliss

The day started slightly too late, but with 16° C (I will never get used to Fahrenheit), a clear blue sky and warming sunshine. We had planned an outdoor-day, so this was perfect. By now, I had completely settled in. Navigating the metro with my coffee to go felt like it could be my everyday morning routine. Crossing over Manhattan Bridge with its stunning views each morning seemed like the normal thing to do by now. It felt familiar. I almost started feeling at home. Lukass and I had quite an eventful day ahead of us, planning to spend the first half of it walking Central Park in its entirety. And when I say entirety, I mean it - northern to southern end and to all spots in between that seemed interesting. The plan was to have a picnic and listen to some music somewhere in the park, however, Lukass was over an hour late because he managed to get on the wrong train _three_ times. Someone should seriously take his degree away. Therefore, I started walking by myself, which in hindsight was one of the better decisions I made while being in New York. It was the first time since my arrival that I had some time alone to actually process my thoughts and disconnect from all the noise and all the things happening around me. It was during my walk through Central Park with its beautiful waters and its blooming trees, with a view of the skyscrapers surrounding me, walking by myself with some relaxing music that I finally fell in love with New York. Since I didn't get to have a picnic, I wanted to treat myself to some Mexican food for lunch before my boat cruise would start. However, the place I wanted to go to apparently shut down during COVID, so I found myself on the Lower East Side without any idea of where to go. I stumbled around there for a bit and realised that I should probably head to the harbour soon, so all of that was a pretty fruitless endeavour. A bit frustrated and set on getting my Mexican food, I decided to simply get some as a sort of pre-dinner after the cruise. Luckily I made it to the pier in time. The cruise would have to be the most cliché tourist thing I had participated in until this point. It did provide a nice view of the city though, and I do enjoy boat rides. I did end up with a major sunburn though, but oh well, the price we pay, I guess. Afterwards, I finally got my tacos and waited for Matt to respond so we could make a plan for the rest of the day. We ended up meeting at Burger & Lobster near Times Square. Matt wanted me to try lobster rolls, which I've never had before and are actually quite amazing. Our plan was to wait until sunset to see the top of the Empire State Building and Times Square at night. At the restaurant, the lovely older couple seated next to us started a conversation with us. It made me realise how much more warm and open Americans are compared to people in Vienna. I wasn't at all surprised by that since it's kind of common knowledge, but still, it was nice to be here and experience it myself. In this regard, I am more American than European, it seems. At home, I'm usually the one to start conversations with strangers, being overly enthusiastic and extroverted. We then went to the Empire State. I was done with the check when Matt figured out that he had lost his ticket when he was pulling his mask out of his pocket. I ended up going to the top of Empire on my own while he tried to retrieve his ticket, and we didn't find each other on the top. It was a bit weird and a huge fail on our part. I still got to see the city at night with breathtaking views though, so I was okay with that. I headed to Times Square afterwards. Walking Manhattan at night has got to be one of the busiest things you could participate in, I already wonder what it will be like on the weekend. Matt and I regrouped at Times and headed to a jazz bar with live music and enjoyed a few drinks. I have a hard time finding other experiences that made me feel so relaxed. It was quite wholesome altogether. After the show was over, we had a short discussion about either heading home or experiencing NYC at nighttime. Of course, we settled for the latter and went to a pub nearby that Matt often goes to and that offers some great IPAs. On the way there, I bought the cheapest cigarettes I could find - 15 bucks. Fuck. Me. Those are Norwegian prices, man. On the other hand, everything in New York is expensive. As Matt put it - it's a playground for rich people. We had a great evening together but had a hard time making it back home. We walked for a bit and I realized that I really fucked up my right foot. I ended up taking off my shoes cause I couldn't endure the pain anymore. I can now say that I walked through Manhattan in my socks. We got some hot dogs and then called a cab back home. Gotta experience a drunk ride in a NYC taxi, I suppose. It was 3am by the time we got onto the cab that would take us home to Brooklyn. Back at Matt's place, he wanted to take a look at my foot and it looked really bad. I'm not sure what exactly I did to make that happen, but this did have the potential of fucking my next few days up a lot. I knew I wouldn't be able to do another full day of walking around, so I decided the next day would be great for some state hopping.Read more