What land is foreign? None. I'm foreign, the traveler!
*Synopsis.*
An opportunity presented itself at quite short a notice for me to visit NYC and I grabbed it with all my limbs.
*Prominent characters in the story.*
@drivebyfire, aka Sid who was the co-conspirator in
this trip (Two buddies, one Mustang and a road-trip to the best driving roads in the USA), sorry for the shameless plug.
And yours truly, DS!
*Setting of the story arc.*
What could one expect during the first 20 days of March across North-Eastern US? What would the weather patterns be?
Let us ask Google.
Modern systems are so accurate with predictions and patterns nowadays and Google largely gets things right, except for when it doesn't, because the weather in reality (to our delight) was like this.
*Plot.*
Mahatma Gandhi once said,
I first learned the concept of nonviolence in my marriage.
DS gets the man's point now, having been married a year. Sid is married too, hence this trip brought out emotions and discussions the two had never had before and added another dotted tile to the mosaic floor, they call friendship.
Barely after a week of planning and reservations (short notice you see), DS landed in the US.
Naah, not so quick! Frankfurt first.
DS chose to fly into NYC via Frankfurt, Germany. The city is located around the river Main, and is such a beauty to look at, from up above (the world so high, like a diamond in the..... err.... sorry).
But once landed, DS had to switch from one giant metal tube into another and boy was that a giant pain in the gluteus maximus!
Thanks to COVID and innumerably closely spaced departing flights, the entire airport was swarmed with a beeline of people. DS joined the line and moved barely 5 feet in 30-35 odd minutes. His next boarding was to close in the next 25 min and he couldn't be a mere spectator. He decided to push against people and managed reaching at the front where he was greeted by an extremely rude shiny headed gent. He proceeded to push DS to the back, but DS was adamant and shoved his boarding pass across the gent's face. Nothing was said and DS was let through to security checking counters.
Never has gymming felt so beneficial. Security check plus running with luggage from terminal Z13 to Z69 and yet managing to reach within 4-5 minutes of boarding gates closing without having a heart attack was the most blissful experience in Germany.
What followed was peaceful sleep.
Big thanks to the firm for booking business class tickets throughout, the difference is easily felt in terms of comfort.
Less than 10 hours later, DS landed in NYC and immigrations at the POE were a breeze.
Each time DS and Sid have traveled together, some kela (sh!t happens moment) always followed!
Would this trip be any different, for a change?
Time to book a cab from JFK to World Trade Centre, beside which was the pre-booked hotel.
Uber appeared to be extremely costly at 300+ USD for the trip while Lyft was substantially cheaper.
Let's try adding the company card for starters and if not, I shall use my own credit card for expenses. What can go wrong, especially after landing at JFK, trying to book a cab?
I tried adding my own credit card thereafter, which immediately got blocked for 1 day because it was deemed as a potential fraudulent transaction, due to the change of geographies.
If anything can go wrong, it will! - Murphy uncle.
DS then attempted availing a NY taxi, after waiting in queue for quite long. He managed getting into a sexy black Suburban driven by a Bengali gent.
Look at the ODO on the car! :o
1 hour and an eye-watering 250 USD later, one could find DS waiting at the lift to his 41st floor accommodation, situated merely 100 meters away from the spot where WTC towers used to be!
41st floor near the WTC you say?
Views from DS' room.
WTC observatory from one window.
Financial District skyline from another (window).