New York, New York: The city so nice, they named it twice.

 The city so nice, they named it twice.  We'll have to see about that!

Crossing two state borders on a bus line

Completing our visit to friends in Springfield, Massachusetts( in November 2018), we took a Peter Pan Bus Lines coach to our next destination, NYC.  Our luggage safely stowed in the hold, we find comfortable seats on the bus. On board we have our backpacks and the large bag with sandwiches and snacks. At the start the driver tells us confidently, in his sonorous voice, we should be in NYC by about 11:45 am after a three and a half hour drive. Our connecting bus is at 12:30. We were starting at 8 am. That should give us a comfortable tranfer period and so we settle down unperturbed.  

Crunch caused by a clogged artery

We drive by Hartford, Newhaven, Milford, Stratford, etc. But we cross the border into NY state only at 12:15. We thought we had good time, but get worried when the heavy traffic prevents our progress. We have no idea if this is unusual. Passengers are already beginning to worry about transfers. They consult the driver and he updates them after calling the station. By the time we query him about our transfer he says we have already missed the bus and he has no idea when the next connecting bus is. 

On the bright side

We crawl past Harlem, the Bronx, Lincoln Centre, Central Park etc. It was like sitting on a tour bus without a guide. We get to see parts of New York city which we might never have otherwise, before we arrive at Port Authority station at 1:45. 

Unsettling and ghoulish

It is a huge station and a maze, to say the least. Parts of it are so old, dimly lit and littered, it feels like we are walking in a musty dungeon or crypt. But there are no ghosts to walk through: just people, milling about as though invisible hands were pulling them away this way and that, to be walked around. It is all very flustering. 

Lucking it out

DRink and grandson find their way to the business office and explain our situation. Our next connecting bus is not till 6pm. They request a refund. We had bought the tickets at a throwaway price, and so, instead of a refund, what was provided in lieu was the amount for the fare to take the Metro to Brooklyn, where we were headed.  

Good luck buying a ticket, asking for help

Now we have to get our seven-day Metro passes. Grandson and I go to a counter manned by a clerk of definitely East Indian orgin who callously says we are at the wrong place and recommends the information desk we don't know where. The dark lady there says she knows nothing and she cannot help while all the while she is looking down at a bunch of papers she is shuffling. We are dumstruck by the rude response. We ask again politely, pretending not to be offended. Dismissively she simply repeats, "wrong counter". This will not do. No official designate seems to be helpful. Determinedly we go in search of a ticket counter looking for and reading the signs with peeled eyes and (before our eye brows become permanetly stuck in an expression of incredulity)we find one with a long queue. The customer at the ticket counter takes nearly 10 mins to get his problem resolved. It takes another exasperating 10 mins ( or did it seem like 10 mins?) before my turn. But then the lady who was helping the male ticketing officer now takes over and a few precious minutes are lost in the takeover process. I prepare to pay by credit card but the ticketing lady (also coloured) says only cash will be accepted. We decide to try the machines but I do not want to use my credit card in a crowded place. I will need change to use the cash option on the machine. There's another machine that will give you change for a $100, and we wonderd why. Then I remember what I had read earlier: the ticket vending machines only accept smaller denominations. So we walk back to DRink for a $100 note. Jeepers creepers! The machine will only accept 50s and 20s. 

Caution kicks in. We do not want to use the change machines in a crowded area. So we go back to the counter where there is now a queue of about 20 people. Another long wait; another 'officer' who just clocked in claims attention from the ticketing lady. At long last it is our turn. Its $32 plus $1 for each one of us. I ask for route maps, and my words probably got lost in the melee. 

We go back to the rest who have got hold of some NYC maps, distribute the tickets, and when the queue has subsided a little, go back to the lady and ask for maps. This time we not only get immediate attention but also not one but two maps. Things are certainly getting better. We work out our route, walk to the right platform and off we go to Brooklyn. The train is crowded but we manage quite well with the luggage. We were all so pooped with the adventure on our first day in a city whose metro was  notorious, the hustle and the unexpected rudeness and nonchalance, that none of us thought to take pictures amid the flurry, except for one while waiting for the train.

Smooth sailing

We have such seasoned travellers (and DRink has printed google map directions to our destination) among us that we get off at the right station, climb up a flight of stairs with all our luggage, take the right bus, get off at the bus stop that grandson thinks is the right one and then roll, push and pull our suitcases, turning into one short street after another until we reach our destination. 

We have to carry the luggage up a flight of steps (the stoop) for this is a brownstone house with lots history. We get the keys from the lock box having been sent the code in an earlier email. Then getting the right keys in the right holes and learning whether both had to be turned at the same time seemed to take ages but it would have been only around 10 mins, I guess. It's already after 5pm and getting dark.What a relief to walk into a well furnished apartment with the house rules clearly laid out. The grandchildren, having had previous Air BnB experience with us know exactly what to do, especially connecting to Wi-Fi! When we are just about warm enough we hear a knock on the door. It was our host with a  buoyant  huge bright smile to welcome us. 

With our spirits uplifted and after a good night's  sleep we would be ready the next day to take on the city that never sleeps .