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Published: September 30th 2009
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Monday September 28th 2009
The time to say goodbye to Boston had sadly arrived, and after a quick morning walk back around some of the nearby shops we headed up towards Back Bay bus station in downtown Boston ready to catch the bus to New York. I have to admit I am sad to be leaving Boston and both Kay and I agreed that we had a fabulous time in the city and would happily return in the not too distant future. Initially when planning the trip we had looked into renting a car and driving all through New England and New Hampshire to really explore the area, but there is plenty in Boston and the surrounding area that we didn’t get an opportunity to visit on this occasion and so places like Salem and Cape Cod that are within an hour of Boston are high on our wish list for the future.
I think part of the joy with Boston is that we had arrived with no pre-expectations of the city, truth be told we didn’t know a huge amount about it (apart from the tea party) and a quick flick through some great travel books that had
kindly been given to me as a birthday present. Boston pleasantly surprised us in every sense of the word! The city is very pretty, a real mix of both city and country and not too busy that you get agitated with hustle and bustle (we may have got lucky with the time of year?). Everyone we came across was friendly, and though the city is quite expensive as it is the richest state within the USA, we found some great places to eat and attractions to visit without breaking the Honeymoon piggy bank. In conclusion, we would whole heartedly recommend a visit to Boston - you won’t regret it and it will definitely leave you with a smile on your face.
We arrived at the bus station in the glorious sunshine, and quickly boarded our ‘Megabus’ that would take us south to New York City along route 84. The best thing about the bus was the cost - a cool $11 (£6!!) for us both to travel the four and a half-hour journey. The bus itself was busy but by no means crowded and we grabbed a table seat allowing me to take full advantage of the free wi-fi,
whilst Kay decided to have a snooze. The journey itself was fairly uneventful taking us on the long trip along the freeway and before we knew it we had arrived on the edge of New York City, arriving in Uptown and being greeted with wide ranging views of the Bronx. As we travelled down Amsterdam Avenue (which runs from the top of the city - all the way into central Manhattan) we couldn’t help but find ourselves chuckle at a sign. Proudly displayed on this wall was a sign saying ‘ Divorce - only $399. Spouse’s permission not required.’ Don’t worry we are still very happily married, but what made it more memorable was that this sign was printed on the side of a church - words failed us both!!
The bus continued down into Manhattan and a short time later we arrived at Penn Station, directly next to the famous Madison Square Garden. We got off, jumped on the subway and shortly arrived at 7th Avenue, 57th street at the Park Central Hotel. The great thing about this hotel is its location - about three streets North of Times Square, and three streets South of Central Park. We
Times Square
It was chucking it down with rain!! headed up to our room with New York looking fantastic in the late afternoon sun to freshen up, and then we headed back out at around 7.30pm to find a massive thunderstorm taking place!! Not accounting for the weather we quickly purchased an umbrella, and joined the other mass amount of tourists walking aimlessly around a big corporate set of lights and commercialism, just trying to keep dry. After a short walk around, we quickly realised that central New York is very, very expensive. As is common with msot high profile touristy locations the price are artificially inflated and the same type of cheap dinners we had been enjoying in Boston had all of a sudden become $100 meals. After a short while of searching we found a small little bar called Charley O’s, who had a happy hour on all cocktails and beers as well as burgers on offer. We headed in just as a big band started playing and so settled back for a few hours and had ourselves a good time.
Nic and Kay xx
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