Boston to New York (Thursday 4th October)

Woke up earlyish, got sorted & finished packing.  Have to admit I was a bit nervous about arriving in New York & catching a taxi to the hotel, had heard so many not good things.  Caught a taxi to the Boston bus station, there was no way I was walking down the street & getting on the subway with my baggage!  The bus was scheduled to leave at 12pm, we started boarding bus at 11.30am & we were on the road by 11.50am.  It was an express bus so no stops along the way & we stayed on the highways.  Lovely scenery for most of the way tho.  Wish our trees changed colours like they do here.  Arrived in New York and I think our bus driver is a local coz the way he drove, OMG!!  I had a window seat & wished I didn't.  There were quite a few times I thought we were going to have a crash with another vehicle.  We arrived at the New York bus station about 4pm all fine.  Got off the bus & headed to the Greyhound Information window & encountered my 1st rude person when I asked where to go to catch a taxi.  Found another person & asked them & they were much nicer.  Went up 2 escalators & out on to the street side.  Joined the line for a taxi, soon I was next and WTF! Took just over half an hour to get a taxi. And then he was the rudest driver I have met so far - he dropped someone off & when I asked if he was free he just grunted, so I asked again & he grunted again and opened the trunk of the car, didn't get out at all to help me with my bags.  I was most shocked.  And then O.M.F.F.G!!! the traffic.  I will NEVER complain about Auckland traffic EVER again!  It was interesting passing by the buildings & people tho.  I did get concerned that the driver didn't know where he was going as we changed lanes so often, so I checked maps on my phone & found he was going in the general right direction, he did get lost after we crossed the bridge tho.  But I made it to the hotel safe & sound, and the driver did help me get my bags out of the trunk, but he only got a $2 tip.  Walked into the hotel & was greeted by friendly people, what a relief!  Went up to my room (on the 14th floor) and smiled when I saw the view.  This made up for the previous hour or so of nervousness & disappointment.  Unpacked my bags, sorted out my washing, took some photos & then checked emails & facebook.  Went down to the hotel restaurant about 7pm and had a lovely dinner.  Came back up to my room, checked facebook, looked at hotels in Huntsville, New Orleans & Austin and organised the next couple of weeks of my trip, checked out the subway map & location of places I want to visit, all while messaging & skyping friends & my niece.  Went to bed about 1.30am, left the blinds open so I could look at the view.  LOL

My room taken from beside the bathroom door.

The bathroom - no bath, just a shower - was rather small.

The balcony of my room. :-)

View (day) from the balcony of my room.

View (day) from the big windows in my room.

View (day) close up.  On the left is the Empire State Building, to the right of that is the Chrysler Building (beside the tall black structure).

View (night) from the balcony.

View (night) from the big windows.

View (night) close up. I didn't close the blinds the whole time I stayed here.