Misadventures in Central Park

Well I think summer has arrived in New York City. It was 90 odd degrees today... thats 35 for you. It was unbelievably hot. In fact it was down right uncomfortable. Sadly all I had packed has been jeans, jeans and more jeans, so I had to throw on an old sundress today which I didn't like, but the temperature wouldn't let me swelter in denim anymore.

It had started out a good day. Stayed in on Friday night with Miss J and we watched Dirty Dancing and ate ice cream while singing along to the movie and howling at all the cheesy bits. Slept in until about 10.30, and then treated myself to some Eggo Waffles and syrup for breakfast ('Hey Leggo My Eggo!!')which were very nice. Showered, dressed, started to get warm. Bleaugh.

Took the laundry downstairs to find only one machine was free and I had about 3 loads (not all mine! Miss J & I share laundry) worth. So I flung in my sheets and towels and then lugged the rest back upstairs again. J was staying in to do an essay so she said she would do the rest later on. Decided to go into Manhattan to do a wander, since I am actually very rarely in there on my own unless I am heading to work, and then I go under the city rather than through it. Also thought about hitting H&M to get some summer gear while I was there. Ran into Miss S & her friend in the lift and they said they were heading to Central Park. Decided to join them, as sunbathing sounded like a great idea right then.

Was all fine on the way there, and when we got there. Had to look for Miss S's friend's sister who had some clothes for her, so we wandered around looking for the Boathouse for about an hour, getting hotter and hotter. Finally found it and they decided to go on one of the rowboats. Since there was a 4 person limit, I volunteered to leave them to it and head off in the direction of the shops. Hmmm... bad idea.

Thought I was doing really well as I navigated my way back to the entrance that we came in.... until i realised that I had emerged at the wrong end of the park.... crap.Walked round the perimeter for a bit thinking that I wasn't far away.... and kept walking... realised then that I was going in the completely wrong direction. argh. So went back into the Park and looked for a landmark that I recognised. Ended up wandering aimlessly for about another hour before I realised where I was and then managed to get out and find my subway station. Of course I then got on the wrong train and ended up getting out at the next stop when I realised. I was now on Lexington and 59th street.... I also unintentionally found Bloomingdales, but I was too hot to go in. Turned a corner and found an H&M!! Yay! And it was airconditioned!!! Tres chuffed. Also inconvenienced many a shopper by standing in the doorway enjoying the artic blast for about 20 minutes.

So I went in and had a nosey. Ended up spending about an hour in there. Got some linen trews, 2 sundresses, flip flops, 3 halternecks and some shorts and it all came to about $80. Which is £40!! Gotta love the exchange rate! The shorts are a brave buy for me.... i don't do shorts, unless its a family holiday where I am not required to look decent. Sadly here I do want to look good, but I will actually melt if I wear jeans again. So shorts it is. Just going to make sure there is no photographic evidence of them! Came out and realised that I was just a couple of blocks away from the Citicorp building on Lex and 53rd where I walk past sometimes. So I meandered down towards there and waited at the platform..... for 30 minutes. 2 E trains came trundling by, but no V train. Which I needed to take me to 33rd street to get the PATH train back to New Jersey. By the time the third E train pulled up I got seriously annoyed... I was hot, grumpy, had extremely sore feet and I hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now 6.30pm..

Decision was made to walk back to PATH train. Little voice in head said that the minute I left the station, a V train was no doubt going to pull up, but I was past caring by that point. I just wanted to be home to get a shower. Surfaced, turned left and started walking. And walking. And walking. Reached 42nd st where my programme has its headquarters and at least somewhere I recognised. Plus I knew that Bryant Park was on this street and I knew where to go from there. And so... walked past Grand Central, past the Public Library and onto Bryant Park. From there it is a straight walk to 33rd Herald Square. I've done the walk before, mainly home from lectures and with other people... plus it's usually past 8 at night and its nice and cool. This was not. Made it to the PATH, managed to get a seat. And sat. Barely moved my head until the train reached Newport and I limped off with my poor blistered foot and made my way back to the flat.

Greeted Miss J with a growl and ran straight into the shower. Felt soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much better. Came out and apologised profusly for my behaviour and proceeded to tell her the whole sorry story while she sat there and howled with laughter.

So now I am sitting here with a big band-aid on my horrific blister the size of Canada on my heel, a splitting headache from not drinking enough today and some sunburn across my face which will cause some very attractive freckles to sprout up by the morning. Oh.. and the air con on. I plan to head to bed very soon, this being the first saturday night I have actually spent in the flat and not out somewhere since I arrived in New York. Which is not bad for me...

I spent most of this week working late and going to my tutorial. On Thursday I went to the East Village to a bar called Fat Black Pussy Cat... which had a live band that started around 9ish. They are amazing. Latin, r'n'b, salsa mix, all live and just fantastic. Got up dancing and we even got half price drinks cos one of the girls made friends with the bartender! Will definetly go back there. Sadly the band is only playing in Wed and Thur nights, so it will be a late school night! And actually for me thats not a good idea I slept in till ten past eight on Friday morning... I'm due in at 9 and it takes me about 40 min to get to work. Somehow made it for just about ten past nine, luckily no managers were in, all off or working from home, so it was just me and the other 2 interns. Should have been a fun day, but we had a massive data entry project that was due at 3pm, so we were hard at work.

I have the first load of my coursework due on Monday so i've been working on that. Spending some more time at work getting it done, as it saves me time when I get home. Have an extra credit Ethics class on Monday evening and then my Foreign Policy lecture on Tuesday. Hopefully will get back to the gym on Wed. Went the other day, spent an hour, felt very virtuous... ruined it with the Dunkin' Donut the next day though. Ah well.

Anyway. I am slightly puggled after my long and tiring day. Hopefully it won't be as bad tomorrow, but I doubt that.. so I am off to bed. Night all xx