A perfect first date

I couldn't have finished my trip around the World more perfectly if I had planned it.

Pete dropped a hungover me to the train station to catch the Amtrak to Penn Station. 10 hours, I should have gotten in at around 7.30 and had arranged to meet my friends Karl and Annamarie for some drinks and dinner. I got an entire 4 seat seat to myself and settled in. Then it came along. That thing that I dread on public transport. A child. Not old enough to be quiet but way small enough to be irritating, noisey and irrational. Kind of like me in a way. The parents plugged in their portable DVD player in the seat behind me and from then on I was subjected to 13 hours of Bugs Bunny and his various Looney Tunes companions. That music I will now forever associate with Upstate New York. The border crossing was a doddle. The lady asked me what did I do for a living, I said "I'm a lawyer." Always tell them that you are a lawyer. It works a dream and aside from flicking through my passport and asking me while grimmacing, What's this all about? Referring to my stamp ridden passport, I was through. But they still managed to hold the train up for about 2 hours. The man in the dining car, where all the drama took place, told me later that they interrogated some poor Canadian woman for the entire time, but in the end let her through.

As a result of this and about 5 breakdowns, stoppages and other excuses we arrived into Penn at about 9.50, just in time to run into a gaggle of yelling, screaming and vomiting Rangers fans coming out of Madison Square Gardens (I'd hate to see what they would be like if they lost). I got to my hotel at 10.15, checked in and got room service. I think I actually fell asleep eating.

The next morning, as much as I wanted to enjoy my €300 bed, I got up early, and got ready and packed while watching Fraiser on tv. Checked out of the hotel and promptly got lost. So I grabbed a cab, the only cab driver in New York who didn't know where the Met was. My attempt at an address didn't really help, 80 something and 5th or 6

It was like going full circle, I bumped into this guy again ...and Dali whose exhibition I had visited in London at the begining of the trip. I spent 6 hours walking around the Met taking photos and just loving it. I saw some of my favourite artists and some new ones I will have to explore further. After I had finished there and found the hidden toilets I headed out to Central Park. The sun was shining, t-shirt weather. People were laying out on the grass sunbathing or listening to ipods and reading. Othere were rowing on the lake, I would have to think a perfect first date. In fact my entire day was a perfect first date.

I toyed with the idea of just lying on the grass and chilling for a while and then had a better one.

I walked across the park, to Strawberry Fields. I hadn't been there since 2002, with my brother and on that day it was pouring rain and there was no-one there. This time it was pretty crowded. People standing around taking photos and the plaque on the ground was decorated with flowers. I sat there for a while, listening to an old guy playing Beatles songs on his acoustic guitar. It was pure bliss. After a while, I wandered over to the Dakota building and gave John and quite prayer before jumping into a cab and heading back down to Times Square where I grabbed my bag from the hotel and jumped into another cab and headed to Newark for the last leg of my journey.

My dad was at the airport to pick me up and much to my relief he didn't cry or make a scene. It's nice to be home, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and my brother. I am looking forward to not having to plan stuff for a while or pack and repack my backpack or find a hotel or hostel to stay in or having to figure out a new currency or language or culture or religion. Or feeling compelled to go look at stuff and see stuff or do stuff. I don't regret one moment of the last 8 months. It was worth it and was way beyond my expectations.
But all I want to do now is watch TV catch up with people and relax. Oh and find a new job. Thanks for reading. That's all folks.