2010 Trip: To New York
16th June 2010
Today it was time for a change of continent. I lounged around the hostel in the morning, packing my stuff, sorting my day bag to make sure liquids were removed, grabbing breakfast and the like.
I caught the tube to Heathrow, with a brief stop to buy a book in Piccadilly. Getting to the terminal was fairly straight forward and I had two and a half hours to spare. I was flying with Virgin Atlantic and like many aircraft they have automated check in systems.
The part where they scan your passport and determine your flight works quite well; however, a significant bug in the system means that if the US address you confirm is more than a certain number of digits, you can’t check in… That wasted twenty minutes. Then, one has to drop off one’s bags. This takes basically as long as it used to take to check in. Technology makes the world go backwards again.
So we went through a standard security check that wasn’t as vigirous as Paris, then they didn’t even bother to check ANYONE’S passport for departure. I suppose if people are leaving it doesn’t matter that much, but still. So I got to the gate lounge after queueing twice more (7 down, 6 more that day), I grabbed some lunch on route and got there at the perfect time to start boarding.
We had to sit around on the tarmac for about an hour, but we eventually got going. The flight was about 7 1/2 hours and crossed 5 time zones. So we left at around 2pm and arrived around 4:30pm. It seemed to pass quite quickly and I even weaselled a vegetarian meal from the staff as somewhere along the chain this had been fucked up.
So after getting to JFK airport, I waited around to clear the long passport control line (with an already completed visa waiver form and a completed customs declaration form) where I was fully fingerprinted (first time ever) and photographed, I was let go. This took about an hour. Then we had to wait for our bags… Another hour. Then customs, then out, then the AirTrain to the edge of the airport, then the metro, then a change and another metro and finally to Morgan Ave station, in East Williamsburg, in Brooklyn.
I found the hostel without trouble and it seems to be a nice enough place. The area is quite surreal, mainly four story brick buildings, many graced with graffiti and flyers. Classically American wide open streets, truck stops with tall wire fences and razor wire. It sounds like a fairly dodgy neighbourhood right? Well, appearances can be deceiving.
The only supermarket nearby is a little organic number, little cafes offer vegetarian food and free wifi, and through a pretty nondescript door is Roberto’s - a classy bar and wood-fired pizza joint. It was good!