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nb: these photos were both taken on instagram. i apologize for that- my camera spent the day in transit so didn't see the light of day. im a terrible parent, i know!
today we awoke, packed up once again and headed in a cab for penn station. saying goodbye to new york was bloody difficult, but ten days was a really good amount of time. and i think the city will have an enchanting way of luring me back some day.
at penn station, we waited for our train. we realized that all of the trains to washington had been cancelled, and apparently the trains only began running again an hour before we arrived. a terrible storm had hit virginia and surrounding areas, killing 13 people. those of you at home with instagram will of noticed, as your instagram will have stopped working for a while- due to the servers being in the storm affected area and being wiped out. for us, however, the full extent of the storms train delays became apparent when we hopped aboard our 4 hour amtrak train ride to boston.
climbing aboard the back carriage, we rapidly realized that although the train was filled from front to back, the back was still full. hmm, that's peculiar, it would seem there isn't enough seats for the people available...well surely they wouldn't run a train with not enough seats with all these people with giant bags. as we all stood with our dearest belongings, we were jolted as the train pulled away from the station. trying to accept my fate of standing for the next 4 hours in the aisle, people began to move forward into the other carriages to find seats. at this point, it was everyone for themselves! two carriages up, mum found a seat next to a family of people.
'well, im going here. go find a seat. i'll see you in four hours. ily'
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going on without her, i kept making my way through the train. row after row of seats, all occupied by people. growing weary- i emerged through the carriages in a dining carriage. it was occupied by passengers, all the final survivors of the ordeal. i spotted a four seater with one woman down the side. the other side was free to a good home. 'excuse me, do you mind if i sit here?' ''oh no love, you go right ahead!'. a woman from connecticut probably in her fifties, she wore everything horses. a horse pillow, horse bag and a tshirt informing me her daughter rode horses and she accepted charity. well, this is going to be an interesting four hours.
due to congestion and more people on the train, we soon found ourselves welcoming a new member of our table- bernardo. initially booked for a 7am train, he was moved to the 10am train (along with half of america, it would seem!). in his mid twenties with broken english, he was quiet but smiled when appropriate at the ladies jokes and stories. when she got off the train about 2 hours in, bernado and i stretched out and he could finally get a word in without horse lady- taking his time to form his sentences. travelling to boston to study for summer- he became more talkative and relaxed. we were soon joined by jeff and a girl who graduated harvard law and was studying for the bar exam and was not to be disturbed. whilst the boys drank disguisting beer, we watched the american countryside fly by. 4 hours later we got off the train and all parted ways.
arriving in boston at out apartment at around 3pm, we were disoriented and hot. we got inside to realize that the owner for the apartment (who is in iceland) had left nothing for us but a cat, lucy. no welcome note, no wifi password, no instructions for the cat or who to contact in the neighborhood. absolutely nothing. we wondered whether she even knew we were still coming, as we stood in her house having taken the spare keys from her secret spot and now feeling like intruders. we figured we could figure it out later and both crashed to sleep. waking at about 6pm we figured we would go have a quick explore before it got dark.
stepping out of the apartment, we realized that it had cooled down considerably, something new york did not do at nights. such a relief! we sauntered down the very steep hill we are residing on to a central place with food and people. we had a seriously mediocre dinner at tgif, and got some bits and pieces at walgreens before heading home to call it a night. tomorrow we begin exploring!
