As I’ve mentioned, we’re in New York. We’ve actually been here about nine days and since we’ve been too busy being on holiday, I need to make some effort to catch you all up while it’s still in recent memory.
So, last Sunday we took the Adirondack Amtrak train down from Montreal to Penn station. I wasn’t really paying attention when Chan booked it and figured it was about, what, three hours? Look at the map and ignore the scale like me. Guess how long. Nope, 10.5 hours. About the same as our flight out of the UK. The route is very pretty, though, and it did mean that the bodybags could be dragged on without budget airline baggage restrictions compelling us to wear three pairs of trousers. Chan has just told me it’s one of the world’s great train journeys and that I’m a savage.
We had read Tripadvisor horror stories about all of the toilets blocking up 2 hours into the journey, but our trip was fine. Border control officers boarded after a bit and made everyone feel like an illegal for an hour (seriously guys, we just like coming here for the shopping; long term we prefer drizzle and sarcasm), but otherwise the trip was pleasant enough and there was free Wi-Fi. I also made the mistake of showing Chan how to take continuous photos with our camera and now have 477 photographs of passing scenery.
This times at least 12 each
We got into town about 21:30 (9:30pm in local money; don’t get me started) and made our way over to the Ace Hotel - the most hip of the hipster hotels. All the staff have beards, wear braces and have Sailor Jerry tattoos. I really quite liked it. The rooms have original cast iron fittings and vintage furniture (obviously), there’s a stocked Smeg fridge full of expensive things I really wanted, the gym had a heavy bag, and it transpired that the in-house restaurant we used for breakfast has a Michelin star.
It is perhaps a little insufferable
We dove out for something to eat and ended up in Madison Square Park, where they have a Shake Shack. For the uninitiated, it’s a popular burger chain. Chan remains unimpressed, but they sell beer and also show nutritional information showing how much healthier that beer is than their soft drinks. That’s something to take with you after eating 1200 calories of fried cow.
The lettuce is one of your five-a-day, too
Kurzfassung auf Deutsch: Wir sind mit dem Zug nach New York. Dannach haben wir in einem modisch Hotel geblieben. Das Hotel war ein wenig unausstehlich, aber ich irgendwie gefiel es jedenfalls.
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