Grand Finale - Niagara Falls, Boston & New York

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New Jersey-Newyork-Boston-Syracaus-Buffelo-Niagara Falls and Times Square...Doesnt it sound like a perfect weekend full of fun and Excitement? It surely does! And that’s what I had this weekend. The last
Weekend of the tour could not have been better than this! Especially when we had our plans revised several times in last two days? But ultimately it Worked out and worked the the best! It was not long back that I was thinking of not going to Niagara as there was hardly anybody willing to Join me, especially b'use it’s going to cost us dear and second it’s around 600 Miles away from our place. It takes 10 hours to reach there! I was running Short on cash so even I was skeptical for a moment. But yehan Jana hi tha!!

I wud thank Profet immensely for drawing such a wonderful plan for us last Weekend. It was he who suggested this plan wherein we hire a car for 4 days From Thursday-Sunday. We leave for Boston from Office on Friday Evening. Stay overnight in Boston. Next day we explore Boston till the Evening. In evening we split. I and Kamlesh go for Niagara thru Greyhound. And Profet,Pracheer & Sishir go for Mount Washington in the Car. We reach Niagara next day morning. Enjoy its glory in the morning. And
Then catch the bus back home at 10.30 am which will land us home by 10.30 pm That night!!!It happen rarely especially when traveling that our plans Worked exactly the same way as have thought! But it happened with us!

the preparation were fast and dy as we left the office sharp at 5 pm Along with Profet (who going to do the 1200 miles driving Alone), Pracheer, Kamlesh and Sishir. For it was a ride to enjoy. First on way we went to Jersey City to have a feast on some desi food. Profet is like a localite there, so he took us to the best Indian restaurant. Our delicious dinner was followed by a khatta meetha pan that cost us USD 12 for some 4 pans! After wondering in the Indian neighborhood for a while, we resumed our journey. Next halt didn’t come until we stopped at a gas station for fuel and rest. Watching the famous NYC skyline from turnpike route at night was fun! We have picked up some snacks at jersey. But that was not enough for 5 men! It lasted only for an hour or so.

It was around 30 past midnight that we reached Boston. 50 storey high Prudential tower was already catching our attention. Profet is very fond of this city and his guide services were making it an experience to cherish. He has been there for more than onn 5 occasions and knew all the hot spots of the town. We traveled around commercial area. Went to the famous riverside, before going to our hotel. Profet has booked a deluxe room for all us in Double Tree hotel in the midtown Boston. It’s a Hilton Group hotel. Do I need to mention anything more? In order to avoid the trouble of multiple checks in, we entered the Hotel in 3 batches. Profet went & checked in and then we followed him directly to the room. We were hungry, so we grabbed some quick bites, before hitting the Bed.

Next morning it was almost 11 am when first among us got up. It was me surprisingly!! I woke up all and then we got refreshed one by one. The whole night stay at Double Tree costs us only $ 100 i.e. 20 bucks per head. That was cheap!! Now it was time for breakfast. We located a Subway nearby and had some sandwiches. And then began our Boston exploration. But not before booking our Greyhound tickets for Buffalo. The bus was scheduled at 7.30 pm departure. So now we knew we have limited time to see Boston. In order to capture the best of Boston, we decided to rely on the judgment of Profet, our guide for the tour. He was quick to put across an itinerary. It includes all the major Boston attractions, namely Prudential Tower Skywalk, The city hall, the world famous Harvard University & MIT.

First we went for Prudential Tower. I have strong fascination for tall buildings in the world. My research tells me that this is the tallest skyscraper in Boston so I was the most excited. Prudential has a huge Shopping arcade in the level one of the building. We did some quick window shopping before boarding the elevators to reach the observatory of Prudential Tower. This observatory is called as “Skywalk” and offers most amazing 360 degree view of the city of Boston. It was superb!! See the snaps that I clicked from height of 875 feet. We also had our machine printed snaps from none other than Rembard...the famous Italian artist. It was almost 3.30 by now and we still have to see Harvard & MIT. Both these universities are located within close distance of each other. So that made it easier for us to roam around. Harvard has a huge campus. It was proud feeling to be at the place which has produced some of the most successful businessmen in the world. Same with MIT. We captured whatever we can in our snaps and then left this place. It was now some snacks time as we have not eaten anything after we had at Subway. I & Kamlesh picked up some chips & soda before we reach Greyhound Bus station. Profet dropped us there and then we depart. As we waited for our bus to arrive, Profet along with Pracher & Sishir continued their journey towards Mount Washington.

At Greyhound, we reached well in advance, so we decided to get refreshed before we begin our next 8 hour journey for Niagara Falls. One of the best things about US is, it has elaborate facilities for wash rooms at all the bus stations, train stations & all the other public places. Its psychologically very relieving factor!! After getting freshens up, we asked a local police at which terminal the bus for Niagara will arrive. He was prompt in directing us towards that Terminal. Standing in the queue, Kamlesh happens to notice a failure girl. She happens to be from his College. After such a long gap, they did recognize each other. As they talk, I spent my time watching the people around. This is one activity which you will always find amusing in US. You see variety of people in variety of clothes. There is no no better activity to kill your time! Within a short while our bus arrieved...Boston was not the first stop so the bus was already full of passengers. But luckily we managed to get couple of seats. Not next to each other though…It was almost 7.30 pm and the expected time of arrival was 7.30 the next morning…Next stop was Cyraccus at 10 past midnight. Then Buffalo at 6 is and then final halt at Niagara at 7.30 am. It was a long journey, so we decided to get some rest.

Next I got up at Buffalo when our bus stopped for the last break. It was a pleasant sleep even though we were traveling. Thanks to superhighways & smooth driving of Greyhound staff. The bus was swiftly approaching Niagara and I was feeling the joy in my heart. It was yet another dream come true for me. In the bus. I could hear the sound of water and see the small fog created by the water splash over the falls. The Canadian border was clearly evident. It was sharp 7 am when the bus took its final halt at Niagara Bus terminal. We quickly get out and started walking briskly towards the sound of water. Following the direction boards on the way.

Niagara Falls is located on the US - Canada border and falls under US National Park service. As we walk past the river, we met a localite who has been resident of the area for last 50 years of his life. He was born & brought up in there. Lucky chap...we thought for him!! Before departing with us. He gave us directions to the first point. The American Falls. Nigara has two falls. The American Falls & The horse Shoe falls. The picture that we see often is of Horse shoe falls. American & Horseshoe Falls are separated only by a wall of big stones. Standing on top of it, we can have breathtaking views of both the falls. They also had some elevators which will take you right at the bottom of American Falls. But it was closed out for safety reasons, when some tourist died from that place trying to go nearer to the falls last year. Hats the reason why most of the tourist now goes the Observatory almost 300 feet high to the south side of falls. This is the place to take pictures as one can see both the American & Horseshoe Falls from one platform from this observatory. This is the closest one can get to Canada, being is US territory. Canadian Border is merely 200 meters away….separated only by the Niagara River.

After getting some amazing views of the most famous natural wonder of the world, we decided to get even closer to the fall. The “Maid of the Mist”! This is a Niagara Falls ride in an open double Decker boat that takes you nearest to the fall. The entrance to Maid of the mist is from the observatory. We got ourselves 2 tickets of $ 11 each. The boat can carry almost 150 people at a time. So it didn’t take us long time to board on to it. I was excited...It was only in my wild dreams that I thought about getting to a whispering distance of the Great Niagara falls and today I was there...in actual life. I miss my sonu a lot. I know if there is one place on the face of this earth that she wants to visit. It’s Niagara Falls. And it’s my wish that I will bring her to this heaven one day! Back to the ride. It’s an experience to remember for the rest of my life. The maid of the mist takes you so close to the deadly falls that you move a little further...You bet you going to get drowned. Its breathtaking sound of the 100,000 liters of water falling down per second from the falls. You can feel the forces of Mother Nature here. Hats off to the people who dared to take a plunge fro the top of the falls...Just for the adventure. I was safe in a boat but was still afraid for a moment. Standing in front of these colossal waterfalls. After 30 minutes of close encounters with the Niagara, we were back at the deck.

The scheduled departure was at 10.30 am and we still had almost an hour in our hands. We decided to see the place around and do some shopping. In the close vicinity we have a small museum about Niagara Falls, which houses some of the fascinating facts & pictures of the falls. It was nice making ourselves familiar with those unknown facts. Next on the cards was some souvenirs shopping. I picked up some pencils. A Niagara Falls T shirt and nice wall piece before leaving for our bus. I spent almost 3 hours at the most wonderful natural wonder of the world. Didn’t wanted to leave that place, but if we miss this, the next bus was 10.30 pm. So we reached the terminal well in advance to ensure that we get this one. Being the first stop, we got ourselves comfortable seats in the middle of the bus. Next stop was Buffalo... then Cyraccus and then Newyork...Yes we had a halt at NYC for 45 minutes. Wasn’t it amazing to have a chance to visit NYC one more time before we leave for Mumbai!! It was a bonus of the journey!!

Wondering for 3 hours we were tired. No sooner the bus started, we went to sleep, only to wake up at Cyraccus for a quick lunch. We grabbed some chicken sandwiches and soda for our lunch. After getting fresh we again went back to our seats in the bus. It was time for a nap, which we had till 6.30 pm. We were woken up by the sounds of big cars as we approach the NYC….Soon the famous skyline was visible and I was feeling more excited. It’s going to be Times Square once again at night!!

Our bus reached Penn station terminal at around 7 pm and scheduled departure was at 7.45 pm. That means we have another 45 minutes to see NYC for one last time. In no time we reached Times Square. This is the live most places I have seen across the world. It’s happening. It rocks all the time. Empire State was displayed with the exotic red & blue combo that night. It displays various combinations, out of which I feel this is the best. Kamlesh was quick to notice that. I clicked some snaps at my favorite spot of NYC. We again went back to 42nd street. Did some petty shopping and reached the terminal at 7.40 pm. The bus was on time, but it was already crowded. Sunday evening…so all the people were going back home after celebrating their weekend. This time also we got lucky as we secured two seats for us. Wilmington is 2 hours from NYC. I was trying to sleep….but was unable to. All the places that ewe visited in last 3 days. All the fun….the excitement was flowing thru my thoughts! Recapturing all those memories I never realized when Wilmington arrived. We got out….Hired a cab and reached Korman in around 15 minutes.

It was almost 10.30 pm when we reached our apartments. We could not have imagined a better last week for our 3 months stay in UK & US. New Jersey, Boston, Niagara Falls & New York City in a weekend. When we shared our experiences with our colleagues in Delaware office...they were amazed as to how we were able to pull off this many places in a weekend. Steve Keenan said he would take a week at least to cover what we have covered in 3 days. We are fast, you see!! And we plan in great depths! It was a hugely successful...in fact the most eventful weekend of the whole of 3 months. As they say. Keep the best for the last!! We lived by that! We had our return tickets for 2nd September and that day was 31st of August. We had only 1 day left!! One day to visit office …one day to pack our bags. One last day in USA!!!Is it going to be my last?? I was wondering as looked down the last 3 months! No it was not….I want to come back, after all I have still so many places to see!!!

Next day at office, Karin has organized a farewell cake cutting for 3 of us. Everybody from Equities, Rates & Credit Derivatives came to wish us happy journey. They even gifted us a goodie bag with some cake & T shirts. It was a very warm gesture from Delaware Team. We thanked all of them for being a wonderful host for last 3 months before leaving office for one last time.

Next we caught hold of Profet. My luggage bag was in bad shape so I wanted to buy a new one. Profet was happy to take us to the nearest mall. I got a big bag for $ 30. I also picked up some home made biscuits & lot of chocolates and of course a bottle of Wine…To celebrate my stay in UK & US for 3 months with my friends & family. We spent the whole night packing our stuff. We got a weighing scale from Chandrika which helped a lot. As I got too much stuff to carry, I have to throw some shirts, T shirts & shoes…plus my Kodak camera… and in spite of getting rid of these. I was overweight at the Philadelphia airport. We quickly rearranged among ourselves and managed to get our luggage thru. The flight BA 139 for Mumbai via London was scheduled for a 6.40 pm departure. We reached the airport well in time...Thanx to Delaware Shuttle service. They have been good travelers to us for last 3 months….Dropping us to Grocery shops on our way back to Korman from office on numerous occasions. All the Indian people…for helping us go around the places for shopping and site seeing. It was a wonderful 3 months of my life so far. We traveled with the best…British Airways…Stayed at a luxury apartment…The Korman Communities. Visited the best of cities & places…It would not have been possible without JP Morgan Chase. I never have anticipated in April 2005 that I am going to spend the next 3 months living all my dreams…Traveling across the world. Learning so much…getting exposed to such a diverse cultures…meeting so many different people!! Thank you God for giving me this chance. Thank you JP Morgan Chase!!

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Photos

The Magestic Falls
View from Observation Deck

View Atop Prudential Tower
Prudential Tower is 2nd Tallest Building in Boston

Up, Close & Personal with Niagara
View frm Maid Of the Mist Ride

@ Harvard School
Inside Harvard Campus