The Thirsty Travelers Part 2 : A bite of the Big Apple

After a halt at Zurich and a total of 17 hours, the sisters landed into JFK. Emotions were overflowing. The relief of finally getting out of the flight, the excitement to be in our favorite city in the world, a wee bit of anxiety to clear immigration smoothly and most of all, super happiness to see our friends Sue and Pete who were providers of our lodging and boarding in NYC.

Immigration took an hour and half to clear; well couldn't complain we were at one of the world's largest airports in passenger volumes. Once out, and in one of NY's famous yellow cabs, we started savoring all the sights that passed by us. NYC never looked better. The city invites you in to hear, observe and be part of its enchanting spirit. My friends' place was perfectly located in the heart of the city and everything was a walk away. Yes, one walks a lot in NYC. Its the best way to see all that the city has to offer with its street markets, the massive stores, super eateries etc. 

Sue was a doll who had a list of where we HAVE to eat and what we MUST see. The amount of food consumed in 5 days there was next to incredible. From Shake Shack burgers, to Magnolia Bakery, to Turkish food at Baba Ghanoush, classic American food at Big Nicks, Chipotle ( the one i miss the most), Gray's Papaya, Phebe's, Sbarro's and i forget the rest :D We had decided we did not want to do any major touristy things so Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller center were not on our list. Instead we went off to Coney island. So after a super lunch at Nathan's ( yes food again); it was time to explore the amusement park. Now when compared to the Disney theme parks, Coney Island may seem severely outdated. However there is a charm in visiting America's oldest amusement parks. The boardwalk, the beach and then the rides it was an awesome afternoon. One can get lost in the melange of people all there to spend a beautiful summery afternoon. 

NYC also meant shopping and one day was dedicated to that. We landed in the holy land of all shoe lovers - DSW. I think I could live there and be very content. We never realize how time flies (and money of course) in a shoe shop. So about an hour or so and 3 pairs of shoes later we emerged to do some more shopping. Nordstrom, Victoria's secret, Old Navy and many stores later we started formulating ideas of how we were going to fit it all in our suitcase. 

The 3 girls decided to do a girls' night out and what a night it was. A couple of shots and many drinks down and stories were pouring away. We can pretty much figure how our night went with all the pics we took too; starting with us sober to what am i doing here :D. We encountered some of our fellow drunken brothers and sisters; all of us at one pizza place to satisfy our hunger pangs. We were entertained by one's singing, and were invited to join another in an after party sorts. The night is always young in NYC they said, but we went home !!! Another fun place we visited was a speakeasy club called Milk and Honey. It is supposed one of those secret, non advertised, non fancy looking places where one enjoys exotic drinks. We loved the concept of the secrecy but it did take us a while to find. Somehow for all the ype we heard, it didn't quite live up to the expectation; an experience none the less. 

NYC was most about all the conversation we had; the chatting never ended. We reminisced college days, friends circle, how we have all changed over time, ex-bfs, what kind of losers we used to be, and those innumerable hilarious stories.The wine kept flowing and so did the stories. We have a million photographs capturing each place we visited - central park, hi line park, times square, chelsea market, Grand Central and so many more - each one with its own story to tell. 

5 superbly spent days later, it was time to move on to Boston !!! See you there ... 

The sisterhood of the thirsty travellers.. Part 1 of many to follow

Vacations in my house are painfully detailed and highly pre planned. We are not usually one of those "lets just  pack our bags and hop out of home and THEN decide where to go" types. Therefore the planning for recent vacation to USA started one year back; yes back back in May 2011. So my sister and I went through the entire ordeal of excitement, super excitement, informing all known people in the US of our future visit, planning how many days, where, when,WHY, whom to meet, what to wear ( face it, we are girls), anxiety (for our visa), super joy (on getting 10 year visa) etc etc.

This being the first vacation we sisters were doing together; we found out every painstaking detail for each city we were to visit. We had tons of help along the way; all of our excited friends and family did their bit too. Thousands of BBM/Whatsapp/FB messages and pictures were exchanged on "so we HAVE to go here", "ohh look look sale starting when we go here", "that looks sooo good, we have to EAT here" and many many more. If you think planning a trip is easy, you are sadly mistaken my friend. The route, the mode of travel, the PRICES, the hotels, the PRICES, the spots you want to see, the shops you just don't want to miss, the time to want to relax (coz you are on vacation after all); so many many details but the joy of seeing that final plan and actually  living the plan is spectacular.

Advice comes flying at you from every possibly direction; make sure you don't get knocked out cold with it. Parents always worry about money - don't overspend, don't waste, be careful with wallets. So my parents come up with the this wonderful plan to avoid being robbed at security check. The two of us stand a few people apart in the line; one person goes through and clears and then the second puts both bags in for screening. That way one person is standing on the other side to receive the bags and keeping an eye out for thieves. Did we do it; you've gotta be kidding me !!!! We laughed at the idea all the way through security check and no, nothing was stolen.

You would find all kinds of people at airports. Its quite the tapestry of human beings; from the loud, over excited ones, to the mushy, romantic newly weds; hyper active children to the down right stupid ones. Our encounter with the last kind happened when a man walked into the women's washroom, stands there for 3 seconds notices women there and says "yeh ladies hai kyaa???". And you think you have seen them all !!!

All international airports envision looting tourists even before they board their flights; that's why they have Duty Free stores. You will see all passengers going "Oh soo cheap", "Oh discount", "Arre one pe one"; my sister and I were strong; we walked through all the stores, checked out all prices, tried on every perfume we loved (don't scoff; i know you would do it too) and yeah also kept in mind what we wanted to buy on the way back (read alcohol). By the time we boarded the flight; the excitement had vanished and sleep was haunting us. After the 20-30 odd calls and sms to our parents about our baggage, our check in, our security check, how we are killing time, did we eat, have we boarded; the cell phone was switched, to be switched on a day later. Bags were stowed away safely and seat belts were buckled. It was time to say Bye Bye India for 3 weeks and Hello USA !!!!