Our train back to New York was at 11am, so
we had a bit of a lay in, before leaving about 10am. We got a taxi from the
hotel as we have actually accumulated quite a few gifts and things that meant
our baggage was quite heavy, and we didn’t feel like negotiating the transit
system during rush hour.The other thing was that the temperature has increased
quite a bit, from about freezing to over 10 degree Celsius so now we have to
carry our coats as extra.
We got the Back Bay station with plenty of
time. Unfortunately again, the train stations aren’t much to look at really so
it was just a case of sitting on an uncomfortable slab of concrete an watching
the departure board for our train to be announced.
It wasn’t too busy actually, we were
worried initially that travelling before thanksgiving would be difficult, but
actually, probably because the train originated from Boston, it was easy to get
on and get a seat. As the train was fully booked even when we booked our
tickets in advance, we were travelling business class back to NYC.
Unbelievably, business class has even more legroom than just regular coach
class. There is actually a footrest as the chair is so big that if you
reclined, your feet wouldn’t touch the floor!
The journey was quiet uneventful. As the weather
was cloudy there wasn’t much to look at. I went to get the free coffee from the
buffet car which was intriguing to see the attendant preparing all the food by
shoving it in a microwave! I used to time to try and catch up with the blog. Kathryn enjoyed that the train guard was insisting that everyone in the quiet coach maintained a "library-like atmosphere"!
We got back just fine. Penn station was a
little more busy but as Smiti’s apparent tis on an express line it only takes
about 10 minutes. I never realised this until this trip but there are two types
of train in New York; local and express. The local stops at every station,
whereas the express only stops at some selected station. This seems to be a
logical system and I imagine it does cut the journey time if you’re going
across the city. As the subway is tunneled under the streets, there is room for
the kind of “overtaking lane:” that allows the express trains to get passed the
local ones.
NY Subway
Smiti
and Simon was there to welcome us as we got home. We spent a while
catching up on our escapades in Boston. We watched some television, did some
laundry and had Chinese take out for dinner. After that, we went for a drink
down by a street of pubs and bars next to WallSt. Called Stone Street. The first
place we went to was packed, but we found a place tucked by the bar to sit and
chat.
After that we went to a Meixcan bar and me
and Kathryn had this super large frozen Margarita that for some reason had a
bottle of Corona beer inverted in it. It was great.We had a lovely evening with
Smiti and I certainly got to know her a lot better.
Cocktail with Smiti
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