New York City Day One (part 1)

As I mentioned earlier, I booked a trip to New York City to see my French friend run the marathon.  It was a last minute thing, but I’m glad I went in the end.  I was pretty nervous about it, too.  The last time I was in New York was 10 years ago.  I remember how tough this city could be.  I also remembered how I would get lost riding the NYC transit.  I was getting stressed out.

Along with Halloween Day being on an unexpected day itself, I really had one day to look over my carry on.  My flight was early in the morning on Friday.  Of course I had thoughts of over sleeping, but it was mostly because leading up to that day, I WASN’T getting much sleep.  My friend made me feel better when he called me Thursday night.  He had arrived from France a day earlier.  For the first time in two weeks, I got a excited about this trip.

I had scheduled an uber pick up around 3:45am-4:10am.  My flight was at 5:57am.  Not exactly 6am, but enough to make you question what time they were boarding.  I wanted to miss the rush hour morning commute so I figured if I arrive at the airport before 5am, I should be fine.  My alarm went off and everything happened so fast after that.  I do not think I ever went into a deep sleep.  I got up and washed up and then changed into my clothes.  I was hoping to sleep on the flight.

My uber showed up right on time.  They even send you a reminder, just in case.  I remember being in the uber and praying that there would be no traffic heading to the airport.  I just wanted this part to be over.

Luckily at the airport, I got through security in no time.  I remembered looking at the other passengers at our terminal.  Some of them looked excited for their trip.  I wished I could feel that way, I thought to myself.

Part of the contribution to my nerves was the weather.  I checked leading up to my trip, and it never changed.  Thunderstorms were in the forecast the entire day.  I grew angry when the pilot warned us early on.  “Well the first half of our flight should be smooth; but the second half won’t be.”  What the hell???  I wish pilots could have a sense of empathy for the ones who are scared shitless of flying!

Well, as it was predicted, the turbulence WAS BAD.  I decided to brave through this and not take anything because it was a short flight.  But I never got any sleep.  It was a long 30-40 minutes of pure hell but in the end, we landed safely.  My body was exhausted from being tensed up.

I loved that I had my carry-on luggage with me.  Once we landed I zoomed out of there.  I didn’t realize how many people were at LaGuardia!  It was a bit frustrating trying to navigate towards the exit.  I was stuck trying to figure out what “bus” line I was supposed to take that will lead me to the subway station at Roosevelt.  A nice gentleman pointed out to me that I was to get a ticket inside the airport before I get on the bus.  I saw the customer service counter with the line forming and got behind someone.  Once I figured out that I was to purchase a metro card I ran outside to see if I could catch my bus.  Not yet!  I still had to obtain some receipt.  Again, someone helped me figure that part out.  I had to insert my metro card in a machine to obtain my receipt.  Luckily the bus was still waiting.  I jumped on and tried to give the driver the receipt but she just told me to “go ahead” and move towards the back.  So much for that.

I arrived at the Roosevelt subway station and checked my Google maps to see where I was going.  So far so good.  I caught my train and felt relieved I was on my way.  Of course once I got off my stop I was lost.  I walked around for a bit and found a Starbucks.  I needed to charge my phone so I went inside and ordered a latte while I waited for my phone to charge.  

Believe it or not, the weather in New York was unseasonably warm.  It neared 70 degrees that day!  I had on layers since it was much colder in Chicago, but by now, I was sweating and getting frustrated I couldn’t find my hotel.  I jumped in a cab.  He drove me up to my hotel (which was a surprise to me).  I finally found it!  What a relief!

Well, not exactly.  Apparently, my room was not ready.  I was thrown off.  I wanted to shower and nap for a bit.  Since I did not have a room yet, they agreed to hold my luggage and encouraged me to come back later.  “So, in about two hours?”, I asked.  “We sold out completely last night.  Hopefully.”  That did not sound promising.

Paris is Always a Good Idea!

The bridal shower tea party lasted all day Saturday, but on Sunday I was a nervous wreck.  I had a friend come over and calm me down.  My anxiety has gotten worse over the years when it comes to flying.  I just hate having to sit there for 8 hours.  My stomach wasn't handling food well.  I was running to the bathroom sometimes 4 times a day!  It was ridiculous how nervous I was.  Not to mention, how mad I was at myself for not being able get excited about my trip.  People were noticing something was wrong with me.  Everyone was happy for me except me.  It sucked.
I figured maybe I just have a severe case of motion sickness.  On my way to the airport on Monday I took 2 Dramamine a half hour before takeoff like it recommended.  Someone also suggested taking some sleeping pills so I could sleep on the flight.  I had a bottle of Melatonin with me as well.  I figured having a natural remedy for sleeping pills was safer than something prescribed.  Nothing worked.  I couldn't sleep at all on the flight.  It was so frustrating.  There were moments I was near tears.  I even ordered some wine to relax but it didn't help.  I had a one hour layover in Dublin before heading to Paris.  I felt dizzy there but still stayed awake.  I don't think I slept at all during my flight.  People on the Dublin flight were mostly Irish and they were jolly as ever.  All I heard were people talking excitedly about Ireland.  But on my flight to Paris the tone definitely changed.  No one spoke on that flight.  It made me wonder what I was getting myself into now... 
Once I landed I was so relieved.  I followed the crowd to baggage claim to look for my luggage.  That's when it hit me:  I WAS IN PARIS AND I CAN'T SPEAK FRENCH!!!  What the hell was I thinking??  I looked around nervously to find my way out of the airport.  I did all of my research before my trip took place.  I was going to take public transportation to my hotel.  According to my research, the train station was a few blocks away from where I will be staying at.  Sounds pretty easy, right?
Well, sort of.  I found the public transportation and took the train and got off my stop.  It was a pretty interesting ride I must say!  Paris has a lot of graffiti, so don't let that scare you.  Not much different than what they have in New York.  The crowd getting on and off the train were interesting too.  One thing I observed is that people do stand awfully close to one another.  There's no private space between strangers.  Something I need to watch out for since they are notorious for pick pocketing.  I don't think people were up to no good on my train though, and luckily I wasn't on that long.  Once I got off, that's where the fun began.  I could not find my hotel.  The streets in Paris are short, and don't run long like they do here in Chicago.  I was lost for over an hour.  It was so frustrating.  I asked a waiter at a restaurant and he motioned me to go a few more blocks down, but that's where I got stuck again.  I was so nervous asking for help since I heard so many stories on how the French are rude.  I was very tired, too.  I noticed a bakery on a side street which had croissants displayed.  Well here's something to knock off my bucket list!  I walked in and ordered one huge croissant.  Then I asked the owner for directions.  Even though he didn't speak a lick of English, he saved me that day!!  I showed him the address off my print outs and he held up 3 fingers and motioned me to walk over 3 more blocks.  And low and behold, there was my hotel!!  I was so happy!  Not to mention, that croissant was delish!!  I quickly checked in and passed out in my room.  It was a tiny room but I slept hard for 4 hours.  Not exactly what I had planned to do but I couldn't fight off my jet lag.  Now that I had wifi I messaged my friend in Italy that I was ok.  She was the closest person to me and I told her I would notify her on what I was planning on doing so she could track my whereabouts.  I was traveling alone and I had to be careful since I was a tourist.