Saint Andrews Playground

Today I took my very last Amtrak train from Niagara to New York. I had splashed out on booking and paid the extra $30 to travel business class. I have to say I was disappointed that I bothered. It lacked the same sense of community and comfort as the standard class carriages. The furnishings were old and tired and whilst the seats were bigger they were less comfy. Quite frankly it was a bit lonely too. I was disappointed to learn there was no observation car on this train which is where Kate and I had made several friends before. There was plenty of American sass though. I'm not sure if I've talked about sass before but Kate and I had come to really appreciate it. For some reason we always seemed to get it the most from people in customer service positions. This only seems to add to the humour as in the UK you wouldn't dream of getting that kind of attitude from someone in the service industry. Still, sass aside, I did manage to persuade our conductor to give me a children's goody bag which kept me entertained for about 5 minutes!

My newfound loneliness on the train lead me to do a lot of reflecting and soul searching. This was the start of my journey home. It had been one hell of an adventure and more significantly one rollercoaster of a year. Despite the heartbreak and trials at the start of the year, I was feeling very thankful for the positive experiences more recent months had brought me.

After watching an amazing sunset along the Hudson River from the train we eventually pulled into NY Penn around 10pm. I'd messaged my Air BnB host about crossing the Subway at this time of night and she had been very encouraging. It would still be busy. Unfortunately the NY Subway is not like the London Underground for navigating. For some reason it is much harder with little information on closures and disruptions until you're already on the wrong train! That being said, I made it to Brooklyn safely. I was so relieved this would be my last cross city journey with Petunia and co. With tiredness and the heat, I was exhausted by the time I reached Brooklyn.

My Air BnB could not have been a more welcome sight. It was a beautiful Victorian house with a wonderful big room which would be my home for my last two nights in the states.Read more