This blog post should cover the final day in NYC where I planned on visiting museums and the lower section of Manhattan and my traves down and the first day within Washington D.C. Spoilers: This might be the best blog post so far.
19th August 2015
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Waking up when not hungover is a lot easier. It means that I was actually ale to wake up before 11 and plan what I needed to do today (spoilers: its more walking)
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Planning through Chelsea, the meat packing district and the financial district its nice to know that everything is all roughly close together.
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I think I understand how most of NYC streets work with the street and avenue business, however by the time I was in the lower west side random street names started appearing and I was like wtf
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First stop was Whitney museum where most of the painted images you see in the album came from. There were some really cool drawings and sculpture designs but it became pretty apparent I am just not an art guy. I didn’t really understand what people were really getting out of it if you didn’t have an audio tour (being cheap I did not) and the placards were simply just dates and names. I guess that is why I mostly went to the statues and more three dimensional designs
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Holy shit sometimes art can be bullshit, There was a whole section of giant canvases with just black squares, or symmetrical steel beams or three dimensional posts coming out the wall uniformly getting smaller in size. How much did those guys get paid to create something a kindergarten (keeping it US relevant) kid could fart out
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Museums also take up all of your time, the Whitney took like 2 hours and I was already late instantly. I do however recommend it, there were some interesting sections like the pop culture war section or depression era New York (a lot of their sections were designed about New York and the rise of the city)
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There was this great little room which had three old school tv screens in the middle hanging from the roof and each one seemed to be the formation of this goat guy thing in a blue empty room. It was silent and hilarious because I got nothing out of it really other than “oh man these slow-mo shots of this guy acting all goat man like is awesome”.
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After that directly outside there is the entrance to a place called the High Line which I strongly suggest you go to as well, its essentially an abandoned rail line which has been renovated into a park for the public and as it is elevated it allows for great scenic shots across the lower to mid west side of NYC.
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Right in the middle there is a cool underpass with food vendors and just before it there is an awesome section which has water flowing across a small section to keep your feet refreshed. Its a really smart idea especially in this summer heat
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Just before I got off the High Line there was a cool section which dipped down as if they were seats and a plexiglass window showed the freeway that you could view or there was a small stage, I assume its mostly used for impromptu performances
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Getting off the High Line my net stop was to get to Madison Park and then Union square park. God its hot as balls but I managed to finally get a NY dog, but I dont think it was a legit one as they were being sold for a buck. It tasted fine but looked like something you could get out of a can with brine.
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Madison park is pretty cool as it has nice fountains, they let you sit on the grass and I even saw a squirrel! Who would have thought natural wildlife other than pigeons would live in NYC.
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I got lazy and briefly saw the edge of the Union square park. But it was also time based as I only had three hours left to get to, and tour Brooklyn museum.
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Whoa the NYC subway system is actually really confusing compared to the PATH trains which are essentially two lines that are direct. I got confused and went halfway to the Bronx before realising I was going the wrong way. Then I got on a train cart which had the number 5 on it instead of 2 so I wasn’t sure where I was going again anyway. Finally I got GPS and realised I was 1 stop away from my destination.
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Brooklyn Museum is a proper ass museum, with shit excavated and taken from other places that is not New York. I liked it a lot, it was cheaper and it had a lot of nice exhibits. There were some cool African masks but the light level was super low so the shots are probably trash. There was a cool Dinner party exhibit which was meant to take form of a giant dinner table with places for most prominent ladies through our timeline. It was interesting as each table plate had its own unique design per person and it was cool to see how the artist interpreted their location within time for each person. That was more interesting art than a green line separating a blank canvas.
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The real reason I went to Brooklyn Museum is that I saw there was a sneaker exhibition there which would feature sneakers through the ages. It dissapointed but also did not at the same time. For example there was only one Nike dunk SB colourway (One that I was super close to getting, the De La Souls) however there was a great section of Air Jordans and they had every single core pair that was created from the first to the current. They also had some sweet exclusive designs like prototype Nikes, Kanye Wests first custom shoe (not the Air Yeezys) and a collab with I think Adidas and Chanel.
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One exhibition that did take me by surprise was an artist collaboration called “FAILE” and it was on the way to the sneakker exhibit. Think of 80s/90s pop art, mixed with NYC style graffitti and then adapt that to real world items. There was a specific walk in section which turned into a neon disco with custom art prints of theirs all over the walls and floors, and that led to a pinball and arcade space. However every machine was customised t their own design, including the software and games that were being played or the pinball tables themselves. Odds are the table playing areas could probably be figured out to enthusiasts but I thought it was a really cool method of adding your own style to it. Outside their zone there was a sort of half broken walk in memorial thing but when you look at it the entire thing was custom made with their own artwork and featured a scuba diving horse in the middle.
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Leaving Brooklyn museum I still needed to see the federal district, but I had to go even though there were still two unexplored sections. The last thing I will say about the museum is there is a cool walk in area where you can see the rest of their collection in storage. Granted its just lot numbers and no info on anything but its cool to see how a lot of the stuff is stored, or things that looked cool but did not fit into what they were displaying.
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Turns out the NY federal zone is really easy to see as everything is all together. Within five minutes I saw bowling green, Trump building, the NYSE, the Federal Hall and (I think the name is ) St Trinity church. Also this place was the most touristey even though Midtown has waaaaaay more stuff to see and do. Bowling Green finally showed me the flock of pigeons in all their New Yorkern glory. It took me almost two full days of walking around to finally find some
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This is the first day I am comfortable to wear headphones everywhere and thats because I kind of know my way around, but I chose the worst ones as they are In ear types and the right one makes a horrible clicky noise when it is pushed around, it sucks right inside your ear.
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Last stop in financial district is the WTC memorial park. Its actually a really beautiful place, I love the design where even though its a simple square fountain I love that it all lines up to the middle column that they were structurally designed around and that when you are there you cannot actually see the bottom of the pool where the water is travelling to.
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On the Brooklyn subway there were some awesome drummer guys who were able to play and show off within one long stop, that was real cool to see before I had to leave.
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What would have been cooler is instead of setting up three floor toms, a guy set up a full sized drum kit, slammed out some crazy song and then packed it up before the next stop.
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Im writing this section while taking the bus to D.C. But I had to type this before I forget it, we passed a trucker ggoing at pretty fast distances on the highway and he fully had no hands on the wheel but was eating a fruit salad, at least he was doing it with a fork still. I thought that was really funny. Directly in front of that truck a second truck driver had his phone to his side appearing to be texting someone. Its a good thing these roads are pretty straight.
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Thankfully there was another PATH train station right at WTC. Even though I was using I directly within the commuting period this station was SUPER nice, it was huge yet all of it was still air conditioned. I hate to imagine what your electricity bills must be like living in the US when almost everywhere has these air conditioning units on.
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I gambled on another footlocker through the day and still no size 8s stocked. I really hope Washington D.C. Senators all have baby feet so I can finally buy some cheap great shoes
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Realizing I had not actually eaten anything all day besides some small ass dog I figured I would get some Burger King and I am extremely disappointed with your burger size. Even the UK has bigger BK burgers, like how is that a thing?
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What was big were those doritos loaded things. OHGOD one is enough of those, there was so much blegh cheese in them I had to destroy them as fast as possible to stop myself from thinking that I am actually consuming them. Never again
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After failing to find Carvao BBQ the first night I figured I would try it again and to grab some booze before I started packing (I figured I would leave 2 Mikes lemonades for the AirBnB guy even though I don’t think he drinks)
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Turns out I missed it the first night because there is no name or placard or anything on the street, I did extensive research to see what it looked like this time and found it that way. Other than that Its actually a really really nice place. The burgers are pretty pricey but hot tip if you get the BBQ Chicken a quarter really is like half a damn chicken. That and they give you Fries AND rice, double up on them carbs all for like 8 dollars.
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It is also kind of like a sports bar so the New York Man City clones were playing soccer against Columbus while the Orioles stole a great win against the Mets While I was there. Whoa they actually paused the football because of some rain? What is this MLS, quit being babies
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I met a cool ex army guy at the bar called John, it is interesting to note that he was a combat engineer and yet now he is working as a waiter at the Cheesecake factory. He did however say it is not so bad as he gets perks everywhere from being in the military. He recounted a great story where he had to clear a field of old soviet land mines and he had to find, dig it out and explode it all by himself (everyone runs away to a safe zone while you do it)
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Thankfully I have been super neat so far on my trip so packing took like 15 minutes. I think I am trying my best mostly because I am actually using AirBnB and don’t want to be that asshole that just makes a mess everywhere or is unruly or a dick making noise at 2am even though the guy says it is totally fine.
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It has been two out of two for awesome AirBnB people that I have found so far. I cannot recommend Nick enough (in the Jersey City area near Journal Square). He had an amazing place and he was super nice and sharing. He would always make some amazing coffee every morning, offered me free iced tea and we even split some ice cream with no charge or anything. He is also like a 10 minute walk from Journal Square (around 15 minutes to 33rd street from there) not to mention he was around £25 a night which you cannot go wrong with.
20th August 2015
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I tried waking up early but I like sleep to much so now already I am just on time with everything.
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I dislike this trip with a wheelie bag because Journal Square there is no side route for the big bags so you have to lug it over the turnstiles as you walk past it, it can be kind of challenging but thankfully WTC or 33rd street have side ramps.
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While I know exactly where I am going I still hate how big each city block is in NYC, its constant walking with people everywhere. I really dislike it when you are walking towards someone so you move left or right out of their way and then they either consciously do it was well briefly after I have done it or are on their phone so they veer towards me anyway, blegh
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Today is another beautiful day. Not a single raindrop has happened since I have been in the US. I imagine the UK steals all your rain clearly.
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Finally at this bus stop and its vaguely controlled madness with no signpostage other than one sign saying “DC Baltimore and Greenbelt” buses all stop in one location. It also did not help that the 1:30 DC bus arrived first (Waiting for the 12:30 bus) so when it idled to the side with its sign up everyone started mildly panicking. The queue grew huge but it turned out that half of the people were waiting for a Baltimore bus. The bus was still late but only by 10 minutes.
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One hour and fifteen minutes into this trip and so far so good (no breaking down), the power outlets do not work however so that is one thing
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Oh look Rain has finally occurred, im glad it is happening while I am in here and not out there.
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I forgot to say the day before I had to stop at 7-11 to see if there were any other drinks and stuff to consume. I found a tall boy of Mountain Dew which I shall enjoy later in Washington I think. I also found “Rockstar Organic” which basically means its still the same sugary ass rockstar but its lightly carbonated and the coffee beans and the Guarana and sugar are all organic apparently. Boy what a dumb idea for an energy drink but whatevs, at least its new. I still need to find one of those monster or rockstar or whatever cans that are carbonated by Nitrous Oxide or whatever as that was the dumbest of the dumb
Boy re-reading from where what I have written down he day could not have taken any more of a deeper dive. At this point on its late, im tired as hell and my brain is barely working so don’t expect the best of writing skills.
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Finally got to Union Station and that bus trip was real smooth and all in one go. Even though the rain slowed us down slightly and threatened to stop us.
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I sometimes enjoy it when Uber drivers get messed around with their GPS systems, This guy has circled the front of Union Station three times now not knowing how to take the right turn towards me. Turns out he accidentally clicked the pickup sign but he still said ah well il do it anyway. I wonder maybe that the drivers automatically get a reduced rating if they cancel fares as I recall the guy in Baltimore who was adamant he would find us, even after 30 minutes of being lost.
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Turns out the guy is real cool but had service and is now stuck in Washington DC. He hilariously questioned if I had friends or anything as I left the car as he, like me thought it was not the best of looking places but I thought nothing of it.
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So this place is kind of ghetto, the whole house is super bare and when I went to the toilet there was mold in quite a few areas which is no biggie but the toilet seat is barely hanging on, like it is ready to come off completely. The tiling in the bathroom is also all cracked and messed up and the door seems half eaten out already.
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Im starting to get nervous about this place. Seems like this neighbourhood is known as being a problem area and recently murders and general crime have soared. This is not sounding fun at all. Craziest story of a guy getting shot and then burnt in a dumpster only a few doors down does not inspire any confidence in me whatsoever
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UHUH. No way, Ok if your house doesn’t even have running water and ants are crawling from your drainpipe im fucking out. No thanks. I don’t care, im gone.
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THANK GOD I got the wi-fi and my friend used expedia while he was doing this trip. I was able to find a cheap ass location right next to the airport (JUST about convenient to get into D.C. And for when I leave. For a pretty decent price. I didn’t even look at what was on offer I just paid for it as soon as possible. Ordered an Uber and said “Fuck it, im wigging out, tell X im sorry but I can’t really stay here, bye” to the casual “housemate” who I found out was just hanging there all day visiting from NYC.
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Thankfully I did this trip going to Baltimore last week so I knew I could get a metro to Rosslyn and then the bus to Dulles airport and then work my way from there. That was until I got to Rosslyn and the next bus would be 80 minutes. Fuck That. So I ordered my most epensive uber journey which lasted 33 minutes. Thank god Uber is still somewhat cheap and total was 38 dollars. When I consider that the bus would have been 10 dollars alone (I did not have exact change) for almost an hour ride, then at least 10 more dollars getting to this hotel from the airport that is just about a decent enough price to pay.
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I am soooo lucky I found this Uber, odds are there wouldn’t be anyone offering a lift this far but thankfully this guy lives near it anyway and he was done with D.C. For the day.
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Wow this room is superb, its large and the bed is huge. The only downer is the internet is 10 dollars for 24 hours. That is kind of suck but everything else is quite alright. Another couple benefits is there is a 24 hour fitness center and a swimming pool indoors, I can put my anti hangover cure into full effect again.
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The room also has a tv so I am finally watching american TV. Spoilers, we get all your tv shows anyway but american tv is worse because there are adverts after every single joke, I mean come on, at least we in the UK jam all the adverts in the middle of the show and at the end/start.
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I go to get a shower and lo and behold the shower door is fucked. One side refuses to move while the other side is hanging completely off the edge and super angled. Turns out I get to move rooms woooo, good thing I did not make a mess/use anything yet.
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This new room is a lot larger, slightly less cool looking and it has a connecting room. I am semi weirded out that out of nowhere the door might open but at least there is a privacy lock dealie on my side so they cant get in. I was also too late to the check in for food so all I have eaten today is a quarter bag of bugles this morning, I necked a mountain dew at the crazy place and some bar nuts with an order of rum
I got the internet to write out and post the rest of this along with the images linked to this blog, hopefully I can plan both days with the remaining 22ish hours. I might go to the gym to work out but I would be doing so on an empty stomach which would be bad.
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