Yesterday I had another full day of New York-ing...Grand Central Station, Ground Zero,the Staten Island Ferry, Times Square and then - last thing before going to bed - a late-night stroll back over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan.
I didn't stay long at Ground Zero because they're already well on with building the new stupidly big thing, whatever it is they're building, so there wasn't really anything to see. To be honest it just felt a bit ghoulish to be hanging around there and contemplating what happened.
This morning I had my inaugural experience with Greyhound buses. Got off to a bad start with a gi-normous queue at Port Authority Bus Terminal, but it left on time in the end. Unfortunately I was last on and had to sit right at the back, in amongst a group of people who I can only describe as 'the Wu-Tang Clan's big brothers'. I kept quiet and cunningly blended in by reading Charles Dickens.* The biggest bad-ass dude of them all sat down in front of me and found himself next to a guy who looked a bit Arabic.
'What's ya name, dawg?'
'Ahmed' (or something like that).
'Man, you don't got a bomb or nothin', do ya?'
The Arabic guy looked confused and all the other bad-ass dudes were in stitches.
'Ah'm jus' f***in' witcha...' said Mr Wind Up Merchant.
I felt sorry for the Arabic guy but fortunately it all ended there.(And fortunately no, he didn't have a bomb.)
By the way, in case anybody's concerned that I'm a bit vulnerable out here - I have no doubt that some of you are picturing me wandering around Central Park alone at midnight, staggering under a 4-foot tall backpack and peering at a map and asking gang members if they can change a $500 bill - don't worry. I've been leaving the bag in rooms/lockers, and checking my directions before I set off. Also I have grown stubble and taken to scowling at people as they pass.
Anyway! My Greyhound ride was four hours, and now I'm here in DC. The bus station was in a very dodgy part of town, but my hostel is in a much nicer area. It's 3.50pm EST and I'm not planning to do much for the rest of today as I need to let my NYC blisters heal before I begin my assault on DC properly. Bye for now...
*actually true
