lisafortin
1 B&B bedroom 1 (I forgot to take a picture of the 2nd bedroom)
Tanya and I were up at 4:45 a.m. on Thursday, September 23rd. She fixed us a fabulous breakfast of oatmeal with chia, flax, bananas, and walnuts, which was very filling, leaving me satisfied for hours. We were up that early because our Continental flight from Toronto Pearson Airport was scheduled at 11:15 a.m. This meant getting to the airport 3 hours ahead, which necessitated catching a 6:30 a.m. airport shuttle from Kitchener... which I thought was supposed to be at 6:00, so we got up half an hour earlier than we needed to. Oh well, no matter, we were both too keyed up to sleep any longer anyway.
On the shuttle we chatted with the only other passenger, a handsome younger man who was also flying to New York (though on a different flight); he was returning home after spending some time at RIM, who had purchased the software company he works for. (For all I know he owned the company and was now a millionaire.) Traffic wasn't too bad, and we got to the airport pretty much on schedule.
Check-in at the airline took no time at all -- there was no one in line. Going through customs and security only took about 45 minutes altogether, and went off without a hitch. (After taking off her boots, Tanya rolled down her socks that were printed with "Bitch" to avoid offending security personnel.) Unfortunately, our flight was delayed 45 minutes... so there was a lot of waiting around. We passed by a café on our way to our gate and I found myself unable to resist getting a chocolate croissant, which I then regretted as soon as I bit into it, as it was pretty stale. An hour later, when I went to the washroom, I discovered that my period was starting, which explained the irresistibility of the chocolate, not to mention the bloating. (Grr. Nice timing.) I bought a little package of 18 pads and some Visine for my dry eyes at the airport tuck shop... paying over $10 for the privilege. Sheesh. Given the delay, I also had some time to check out the duty-free shop, and ended up buying a cute red and white Roots watch that matched my wardrobe for the weekend, as I was getting annoyed pulling out my Blackberry every time I wanted to check the time.
When we finally boarded the airplane, we found ourselves at the very back of the 80-seater Dash 8 Q400. The one advantage to this placement was that there was no one behind us who could cut in front to disembark. Oh, and we were right next to the emergency doors if we needed them. We could also listen to the flight attendants, which was kind of entertaining. Otherwise, I would not recommend those seats, as they do not recline, and you get served last from the beverage cart (no in-flight meal on such a short hop, only 1:10 hours or so). I pulled out my knitting -- a red cashmere scarf, on plastic circulars to avoid getting into trouble with security -- and was able to finish a couple repeats of my pattern while we were in flight. The flight attendant told me my project was "beautiful," which made me feel very warmly toward her.
Once we landed in Newark, we caught the express bus to Manhattan, which I had purchased tickets for in advance online. (We could have taken the Airtrain, but the bus won because of the online ticketing.) Only $25 return per person, very reasonable and convenient, as the buses leave every 15 minutes. The bus dropped us off at Bryant Park, which I had not seen on my previous trip to New York in 1999; what a lovely place, the way the sunlight filtered through the leaves of the trees, I should have taken a picture. We walked over to Times Square, found the subway station, and made our way to our B&B.
We stayed at www.michellebedandbreakfast.com in Harlem, in a 2-bedroom apartment on a beautiful residential street lined with trees, five blocks from the subway station. This allowed us to cook ourselves breakfast every morning, which was very handy. The apartment was cute, clean, and had all the necessities. Tanya, bless her paranoid heart, checked the beds for evidence of bedbugs and found none. (That's one advantage of staying in a building where the owner is in residence -- definitely in her best interests to keep bedbugs out!) Michelle was very welcoming; she is from France and mostly caters to French tourists, but her English is excellent and I would not hesitate to recommend her B&B and apartments to anyone visiting New York, whether or not they speak French.
1 B&B bedroom 1 (I forgot to take a picture of the 2nd bedroom)
Tanya and I were up at 4:45 a.m. on Thursday, September 23rd. She fixed us a fabulous breakfast of oatmeal with chia, flax, bananas, and walnuts, which was very filling, leaving me satisfied for hours. We were up that early because our Continental flight from Toronto Pearson Airport was scheduled at 11:15 a.m. This meant getting to the airport 3 hours ahead, which necessitated catching a 6:30 a.m. airport shuttle from Kitchener... which I thought was supposed to be at 6:00, so we got up half an hour earlier than we needed to. Oh well, no matter, we were both too keyed up to sleep any longer anyway.
On the shuttle we chatted with the only other passenger, a handsome younger man who was also flying to New York (though on a different flight); he was returning home after spending some time at RIM, who had purchased the software company he works for. (For all I know he owned the company and was now a millionaire.) Traffic wasn't too bad, and we got to the airport pretty much on schedule.
Check-in at the airline took no time at all -- there was no one in line. Going through customs and security only took about 45 minutes altogether, and went off without a hitch. (After taking off her boots, Tanya rolled down her socks that were printed with "Bitch" to avoid offending security personnel.) Unfortunately, our flight was delayed 45 minutes... so there was a lot of waiting around. We passed by a café on our way to our gate and I found myself unable to resist getting a chocolate croissant, which I then regretted as soon as I bit into it, as it was pretty stale. An hour later, when I went to the washroom, I discovered that my period was starting, which explained the irresistibility of the chocolate, not to mention the bloating. (Grr. Nice timing.) I bought a little package of 18 pads and some Visine for my dry eyes at the airport tuck shop... paying over $10 for the privilege. Sheesh. Given the delay, I also had some time to check out the duty-free shop, and ended up buying a cute red and white Roots watch that matched my wardrobe for the weekend, as I was getting annoyed pulling out my Blackberry every time I wanted to check the time.
When we finally boarded the airplane, we found ourselves at the very back of the 80-seater Dash 8 Q400. The one advantage to this placement was that there was no one behind us who could cut in front to disembark. Oh, and we were right next to the emergency doors if we needed them. We could also listen to the flight attendants, which was kind of entertaining. Otherwise, I would not recommend those seats, as they do not recline, and you get served last from the beverage cart (no in-flight meal on such a short hop, only 1:10 hours or so). I pulled out my knitting -- a red cashmere scarf, on plastic circulars to avoid getting into trouble with security -- and was able to finish a couple repeats of my pattern while we were in flight. The flight attendant told me my project was "beautiful," which made me feel very warmly toward her.
Once we landed in Newark, we caught the express bus to Manhattan, which I had purchased tickets for in advance online. (We could have taken the Airtrain, but the bus won because of the online ticketing.) Only $25 return per person, very reasonable and convenient, as the buses leave every 15 minutes. The bus dropped us off at Bryant Park, which I had not seen on my previous trip to New York in 1999; what a lovely place, the way the sunlight filtered through the leaves of the trees, I should have taken a picture. We walked over to Times Square, found the subway station, and made our way to our B&B.
We stayed at www.michellebedandbreakfast.com in Harlem, in a 2-bedroom apartment on a beautiful residential street lined with trees, five blocks from the subway station. This allowed us to cook ourselves breakfast every morning, which was very handy. The apartment was cute, clean, and had all the necessities. Tanya, bless her paranoid heart, checked the beds for evidence of bedbugs and found none. (That's one advantage of staying in a building where the owner is in residence -- definitely in her best interests to keep bedbugs out!) Michelle was very welcoming; she is from France and mostly caters to French tourists, but her English is excellent and I would not hesitate to recommend her B&B and apartments to anyone visiting New York, whether or not they speak French.