The trip & first impressions

Here I am! The trip is (finally) over. It's after 10PM in New York and I am a good boy who will be in bed by 11.

The trip started at 7AM in Poland. Driving to Warsaw was OK, traffic was bearable. The new airport terminal does not look impressive before the security check, but it's get better afterwards.

The bird before the flight

The plane was Boeing 767-300. Not the latest machine, no full-blown entertainment system and the only movie played onboard was Hanna Montana! I was about to write: luckily they played some documentary afterwards, but since it was "Misja Martyna" I am not going to do that. The flight lasted between 9-10 hours and according to the onboard GPS system it was over Poland, Sweden, Denmark, probably some Scottish territorial waters, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the US. My neighbour turned to be a very lively and talkative Zyta Gilowska lookalike which didn't shut up until I spilled a cup of tea on her.

First sights of America

New York was all cloudy and drizzly. Despite the humidity the temperature is at a high level so I felt like in a sauna. Considering that I had a total of 46kg luggage on me I probably also looked like that. The people seeme quite friendly and helpful, which for a newcomer is a valuable thing. Not that many fat ones, although the ratio is indeed higher than in Europe. Similar to limos - over the course of 30mins I probably saw 20 of them.

Getting out of Newark Airport

Prices are high. Yoghurts, rolls and similar stuff are even more expensive than in Denmark. From what I've been told eating out isn't, which makes it a good alternative for cooking. However going to clubs is - getting in costs around 500 USD. It can be split among multiple people if you're a group. Time to make some friends!

All in all nothing is that susprising so far - eveything is quite familiar - I bet it's because of the movies. Even the yellow taxis seem like something I've grown up having around. Manhattan, which I only skimmed while going to Port Authority Station, is quite impressive, but I couldn't see how tall the buildings were due to the low hanging clouds. The other bulidings are not the prettiest, with emergency staircases outside. Classic.

Poland Spring - the most popular bottled water in New York

A surprising fact is that the most popular brand of bottled water (tap water is not a health hazard but is not recommended due to a high chlorine content) is called "Poland Spring". I wonder if they advertised it as alcohol-free vodka.

The roommates are nice - laid back and fun. One has just moved here from Los Angeles and is looking for a job in the fashion industry. Another one is an editor at MTV. And there's Christian - a master's student from Germany.

Time to go to sleep! It's been a long day, especially that I travelled with the sun. We'll see what the next day brings. The song of the day was definitely: Leaving on a Jet Plane (the version by Peter, Paul and Mary).

written by

lagrange on July 21, 2009 from Newark, United States

from the travel blog: Artur's Blog

Send a Compliment

did you really spill a cup of tea on her?? :-O What a bad boy!

written by Lina Trainaviciute on July 22, 2009

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