Farewell North America, My Home of the Last 7 and a Half Months

Hey yes so it has been quite a while and I have been a tad preoccupied moving from place to place and sometimes internet can be sketchy so it can be a bit tricky to get posts out there. But no excuses, I'm going to try and get down as much as I can between finding some breakfast and watching Friends. The joys of hanging around when your friend is working.

Ok so, cut back to about 11 days ago, when I arrived in New York City on a bus fresh from Montreal. It had been an all night bus adventure, from Quebec City all the way to Montreal, then a 4am border crossing where a guard questioned how had I managed to earn enough money to be on my trip... Turns out having a full-time job at 17 is not overtly common... Anyway he believed me when he pulled up the GP Network on my file. I was amazed, how do they know so much? Suitably amazed, I passed into the country relatively easily, arriving in NYC a bit before 6am.

I managed to find some internet to find a nearby hostel, not before explaining to a guy working at the coffee shop in the station how backpacking works. 'So, you just carry all your stuff with you?' 'Yep.' 'All the time?' 'Yep.'
Trekking down 8th Ave with the sun rising and the street still thronging with people, I was completely amazed by the myriad of tall buildings that loomed from the streetside. It was truly like nothing I had ever seen. Skyscrapers everywhere, the tiniest scrap of horizon glowing bright with the rising sun. I was in Midtown, around 30th St, near the Empire State Building and just a bit south of Times Square. I ditched my gear at the hostel and, completely mesmerized by this humming, gargantuan city, I set out along 34th St, walking the entire length in a somewhat vain attempt to reach the ocean. Walking past Madison Squre Garden and the Empire State Building, I felt like I was walking through a TV. New York does have that sort of effect, you literally feel as if you could stumble into the set of Friends or How I Met Your Mother.

My first day I decided to do the Empire State Building, it was a clear day and not too crowded. The view from up there is so cool, like I have gone up some tall towers on this trip, the Space Needle, the CN Tower. But that was a particularly excellent view, Central Park splaying out in this large green mat, quite alien compared to the twisted steel urban jungle that dominates the Manhattan Island.

Anyway I have to go but I will continue this post as frequently as possible. Apologies!