New York zu Fuss

Road Trip USA – Epic Journey 2016-18 Part XI

The Border

We have an inkling. They will not let us in without a fuss. When we arrive at the border, our passports are checked, then we are ushered in. "Park there and wait inside", we are instructed by the US customs officer.

Nothing to be done. Inside the office, Seraina and I sit down and wait. Several people come and go, while the customs officers have us on their screen, but for the time being, they don't pay any attention to us.

It seems to us like when we wanted to enter the USA from Vancouver in 2010. They took us apart for 90 minutes. Would it happen again today? Or will they not even let us in?

A queasy feeling in the stomach. First questions are asked. Then the official leaves again and lets us continue to sweat.

It feels like hours pass until we are finally beckoned to the window. "So, tell me, where are you from, where are you going? I can't figure out your passport stamps." Not unfriendly, but demanding.

We try to explain and make a bad impression. "Stop, stop. What? From Colombia to the US, now in Canada, US again, and back to Colombia? And the car is really yours? Is this legal?"

And dozens more questions. We are put through the wringer, each question directed so that my answers inevitably raise more questions.

We are asked to sit again. And wait. "What are we going to do if they really won't let us in?", Seraina wants to know. I shrug my shoulders. It's not yet time for these questions. Wait and see.

For about two hours we have been sitting here while others are allowed to continue their journey without much commotion. Then, finally, we are asked back to the counter. "I'm turning a blind eye now. No, two. Nine out of ten of my colleagues would have sent you back..." The official next to him murmurs, "I certainly wouldn't have let you into the country."

"Make sure you get back home and stay there," the good cop orders us. "World travelers? We don't do that here."

We grab our passports and get the hell out of here. For a long while, we don't speak in the car. But the strange mood doesn't last long. After a night in green, hilly Vermont, we are heading for New York. I am super excited about the city that I have visited in so many movies.

New York, New York

We crawl through the long traffic jam towards the big metropolis. As we enter Manhattan, I notice a police car that has been following us for a while. Then the time comes. Sirens wail, and they pull us over. Inspection. Our Californian license plates have attracted attention once again.

A tall, bald cop stands by my window and looks at me through his sunglasses. His shorter colleague steps up to Seraina's window on the passenger side. A column of vehicles several lanes wide rolls past us. What do we face now? A good cop, bad cop game?

No, they remain friendly. The big cop curiously asks me about our travel plans. "What? Through the whole States and back? And then to Mexico? I'd never dare do that." I look at him, but he remains serious.

Frantically loud, a motorcycle approaches from behind. The driver is not wearing a helmet. Arriving at our height, he lets his bike roar again, swings onto the rear wheel, and casually dashes past us and the NYPD cops. What now?

"Crazy," the big bar head grunts, shrugging his shoulders. "Welcome to New York."

Across the Brooklyn Bridge, we reach Queens where we find a relatively cheap guesthouse. It is located in the middle of the Chinese quarter. The young, friendly hosts show us the best way to get to Manhattan by Metro.

A Day in Manhattan

We have come up with a plan. The following day we start in Battery Park, wave to the Statue of Liberty, and march off north, once across Manhattan.

On the way, we look at curiosity stores like the "Mysterious Bookshop" and the "Evolution Store", which has all kinds of weird stuff on the shelves.

We stroll through the Farmers Market in the middle of the city, walk through Little Italy where Tony serves us a pizza in a typical Mafia restaurant, marvel at the massive Empire State Building, Ground Zero, and countless other skyscrapers and glass facades.

Fascinated, we stroll along Broadway. The lights from the neon signs in Time Square are a spectacle. For New Yorkers quite normal but my eyes almost pop out.

From Washington through Union and Madison Square we finally reach the huge Central Park. The green lung of New York is teeming with people; strollers, joggers, vendors, lovers, shady people.... Nothing and nobody is lacking.

We walked our feet off today. Many miles are between Central Park and the southern end of Manhattan where we started our city walk.

You've got to experience New York for yourself to get an authentic impression. The miles of avenues, the skyscrapers, the various foreigner quarters, the hustle and bustle of New Yorkers. Busy everywhere. Life in the urban jungle.

We enjoy sipping our beer in the pub before we look for the next metro station and make our way back to the guesthouse. An impressive city, that's for sure. Then there would be Brooklyn and Queens to explore but we would have to allow much more time for that.

Washington DC, 220 miles away, has also been recommended to us many times. But one giant city is enough for the moment. We travel on. Finally south again. To the sunny warmth of Florida.