In New York…

… it is freezing cold.

Bronze Arni in Columbus

For spring break, a friend and I decided to leave small-town Athens for a few days and brave the circus of the big city in New York. However, being penniless students, the question was how to get there. In Germany, I thought, I would look for a cheap train or bus ticket, so I decided to check out the public transportation in the US. I compared prices and a night bus from Columbus to New York was by far the cheapest option. We arrived in Columbus a few hours early and meandered about the city before the bus left for New York. I had heard about Columbus’ German Village but when we came upon a bronze statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Except perhaps for Arnold, Columbus is charming; there is a nice café culture, red brick buildings, and an alternative vibe that reminds me of Leipzig. After about four hours of wandering, I received a text saying that the bus would be leaving at 11:30 pm instead of 9 pm – without explanation or apology. We found a spot in a café and read for the next two hours, and finally, as 11:30 pm drew nearer, we went to the station, eager to take our seats in the warm bus, relax, and sleep. 

Had I known what to expect, my eagerness would have been non-existent. The bus was fully booked, and we were getting on at the last pickup before New York City, so we had trouble finding seats that weren’t next to the smelly bathroom. A man across the aisle seemed to have a severe case of sleep apnea and his thunderous snoring kept most of the bus awake; also nearby, a young man’s headphones played audible gangster-rap throughout the entire night; and due to the heater running relentlessly, the temperature slowly rose, the bus becoming more and more like a sauna, with everyone sweating profusely by the time we debarked in Chinatown. Long story short, for the entire overnight trip of nine hours, I didn’t sleep a wink.

Downtown Manhattan

You wouldn’t believe how happy I was when I caught my first glimpse of the New York City skyline rising in the distance. We spent a beautiful first day in downtown Manhattan. Starting in Chinatown, we moved north through the idyllic NYU campus in Greenwich Village, looked around in the Strand Bookstore (“18 Miles of Books”!!!), and window-shopped in SoHo. The weather was nice, there was good coffee and food, the hostel was clean and comfortable, and then… I ate something tainted for dinner. That night and most of the next day I was confined to bed in the hostel, sick from food poisoning. Unwilling to pass a whole day of my short trip in bed though, I eventually got up and we went for a long walk through beautiful Central Park (Thanks Olmsted!) and ended up in Times Square; I was impressed but utterly exhausted. 

Sophisticated art critic

The next and final day was overshadowed by dread of the upcoming bus ride back to Ohio and by the heavy snowfall throughout the day, which dampened the feet as well as the spirits. We spent most of the day in the MET, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We paid $2,50 admission each (for some reason, we were invited to “pick a price.”). We went on two free tours, put on our serious faces while checking out some very impressive art, but goofed around most of the time. The day turned out better than I had hoped, and the bus ride home was not as crowded and was at least bearable.

We didn’t get around to doing a walking tour in Brooklyn, or to going to the September 11 Memorial as planned. But in hindsight it was an interesting cultural experience and I’d bet New York will be nice in the summer, when I’ll spend my birthday and last days in the U.S. there with Philipp and Theresa before returning to Germany.