George Lauder Bursary - My First Weekend in NYC

Friday - Day 1

And just like that, the day was finally here to jet off to the U.S! I woke up around 8am to finish off the remainder of my packing, ensuring I had everything I needed before leaving for the airport around 10am. After dropping off my checked bag, I said goodbye to my family and thus my journey away from home for 2 months was beginning!

I got through security with relative ease although it was quite busy. I shopped around duty free before grabbing a much needed bite of lunch at the Wetherspoons. I made my way over to my depature gate early to allow myself to relax and prepare for the long flight ahead. After some slight delays, I finally got boarded and just like that I was on my way to the U.S.A!

Surpisingly, I was not as nervous as I had thought I would be especially considering that this was my first time ever visiting the U.S and my first time ever travelling solo to a foreign country! After a nap, some airplane food a dabble of Netflix and a large amount of music listening, I landed in Newark Liberty International airport! There was a slight delay getting off of the plane due to some local thunderstorms preventing the ground crew from accessing the concourse to assist the plane get to the gate but thankfully this did not last too long. I passed through passport control with relative ease, grabbed my bags and headed down to international arrivals where I reunited with William for the first time since our lunch back in January!

We caught an Uber from the airport and made our way from Newark over to Brooklyn, while also being met with the most traffic I have seen in my life! After enduring the rush hour traffic and having some great conversations with William and our Uber driver, we finally arrived and checked into my accomodation. We dropped our bags and immediately went out for some dinner to celebrate! William took me to this lovely Italian restaraunt called Felice Montague which was just a few blocks away from the accomodation. Just before we sat for dinner, William urged me to walk along the street to see the river so I took a stroll along and ended up being met with one of the most amazing sights I have seen in a long time. Before me stood southern Manhattan, the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, Governer Island and the Statue of Liberty in the distance, all while the sun set just over the skyline. This was truly an amazing way to kick off my time here!

The dinner at Felice was absolutely amazing as well, I had an amazing burger with one of the biggest servings of fries I have seen! It was great to get a proper catchup with William after many months of only communicating over email and occasional phone calls. After finishing our meal, we walked back to the accomodation where we organised to meet early the following day in the Upper Westside to sort my SIM situation, get some brunch and attend the opera!

Saturday - Day 2

The following day I woke up around 8am to get ready for my first full day in NYC! William had sorted my MetroCard the previous night to allow me unlimited travel on all subways and buses, luckily the subway station is directly next to my accomodation so it was incredibly easy to catch the 2 subway line up to 72nd St in Upper Westside! I met William at the local AT&T store to sort out my SIM card and US mobile number, afterwards we headed for brunch at Cafe Firoello with William's daughter Storm and his granddaughter Ellis!

After finishing our brunch and saying goodbye to Storm and Ellis, we walked over to the Metropolitan Opera House for the season finale show of "Queen of Spades"! This was my first time seeing an opera show so I was incredibly excited to get to experience such a performance at one of the finest opera venues on the planet! The show was split into 3 acts, with occasional small scene change pauses and one long intermission after the first act. William guided me around the venue during the intermission and showed me some of the incredible mural artwork that was in the building!

After finishing up at the opera, it was time to say goodbye to William as he left to go back home in Washington D.C. He wished me well before leaving to get his things from his hotel, and just like that, I was alone in the middle of NYC! This was a little daunting at first but I knew that this was just the beginning of my journey. I decided to start walking south and found myself on Broadway where I walked past all the incredible shows, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and other iconic buildings! I stopped by a CVS Pharmacy to grab some snacks before finding myself in the heart of Times Square! This was a little overwhelming and oversimulating with the amount different people, sights, sounds and smells but it was also incredible to stand in the centre of such an iconic location. I did not stay for long before deciding to spontaneously take the subway south and ended up exploring around the Financial District.

I decided to make the difficult decision to visit the site of the 9/11 Memorial Pools and the One World Trade Centre since I was in the area. I wandered around the pools reading each name and thinking about who each of these people were, their lives, their stories and their sacrifice. This was probably one of the hardest but necessary experiences I've had in my life. I was very grateful that I did make the decision to visit. Due to the time, I did not get a chance to visit the actual memorial museum but I know I will definitely visit before I leave.

I was extremely exhausted after walking well over 10,000 steps already so I decided to get the subway back to Brooklyn. I stopped by the local supermarket to grab some supplies and noticed a local pizza restaraunt called Fascati Pizza just a few hundred yards from my accomodation. I figured that I would treat myself and got two of the biggest slices of pepperoni pizza I have ever eaten (quite literally as big as my head!). I went back to the accomodation and decided to sit beside my window to watch the sunlight fade and life pass by on the streets while eating my pizza. I had a brief facetime with my best friend, Fin to catch up before heading to bed to rest up for more exploring tomorrow!

Sunday - Day 3

The start of my first full day in NYC by myself! After a busy couple days I decided to stay local and explore Downtown Brooklyn for the day to get familiar with the area. However before I ventured south, I decided to go and visit Dumbo to view the iconic Manhattan Bridge from Washington St. and this was quite a sight to behold! It's always strange seeing these locations in-person compared to through your phone screen, it feels quite surreal! I also had a wander round pebble beach, getting some incredible views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River. Afterwards I walked down to visit the Clive Davis Institute to see get an idea for my commute from the accomodation and know exactly where I was going.

I continued further into Downtown Brooklyn and decided to visit the local Target to get a few things, I was blown away with the size and scale of the store and this was considered small! After getting some lunch, I decided that I would go and visit Fort Greene Park to see the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument and relax in the park for a bit. Not long after, it began to start raining so I decided to catch the subway back to the accomodation. I finished the rest of my day by doing a bit of mixing work for some upcoming projects and having a brief call with some of my friends back home. Not as much done today but it was nice to have a chill day to round off the long weekend!