Day 300: Niagara Falls – Buffalo – Detroit – Boston
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Saturday June 4th
The accommodation in Niagara Falls might not be that great, but I was able to get in some great sleep (maybe because it’s dark and slightly chilly?) After waking at 8:30am, I headed out for breakfast before returning to the hostel to pack and check the internet. With the express airport bus scheduled to leave at 11:05am, I walked the kilometre to the bus station with all my gear, arriving shortly before the sky opened and it started pouring.
I’d arrived with plenty of time to spare, which wasn’t a good thing. The bus centre seemed to be a hive of ‘gang’ activity, with drunk (and most likely high) black guys hanging around the front meeting with their dealers, and even the most normal looking person continually muttering about jail time and how they wouldn’t let them take him, making me concerned about a possible shoot-out …
11:05am came and went; at about 11:20 a guy approached me, asking me where I was from and where I was going. When I said I was waiting for the airport express, he said, “Oh, that already left!” What!!!! There had been no bus with the number 210 on it! “Oh no, it didn’t say 210 or the airport, she didn’t change the sign”. Again, what!!!!!!! The next express bus didn’t come for another 2 hours, which would leave me pushed for time to make the flight. The only other option, apart from an expensive taxi, was to do the reverse of what I’d done on Wednesday night – the #40 to the transit centre, and then the #40 to the airport.
The two bus rides went relatively scare-free, and arrived at the airport at about 2pm. After a run-in with a rude Delta staff member (American airlines are just hopeless), I received my boarding passes, passed through security, and ate lunch before the flight was called. Flight #1 today was to Detroit, Michigan (doesn’t it make you want to start singing ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem?) The plane was tiny, with only 52 seats, and we were in the air for less than 45 minutes before touching down in Detroit to 97 degree weather (I’m not familiar with Fahrenheit, but I know that’s very, very hot!)
Surprisingly, the Detroit airport was massive and very well designed - there was even a light show in one of the walkways – although my next flight was of course at the furthest away gate than the one I’d landed at. Skipping the souvenir stands (would you really want to wear a sweatshirt that said ‘Detroit’?), I spent a while playing on my laptop before boarding the flight at 5:44pm. I’d barely done anything all day, but it was already the evening!
We touched down in Boston at 7:30pm, more than 9 hours after I’d left the hostel in Niagara Falls. I had instructions on how to reach the hostel via public transport, but it involved one bus and three subway stations, and I was over it. I went outside into the car park and flagged down a shuttle bus – sometimes you just have to pay the extra for convenience!
Well, I should have gone the whole hog and paid for a taxi, because the shuttle driver was a maniac. He didn’t make any money off just having me in the car, so he went and harassed for passengers at each of the terminals – for half an hour! – before eventually snaring one more person to make the trip into Boston city. In the car, he continued to drive like a maniac, tooting at people and cutting them off. He held up a piece of his bumper, telling me how someone had stopped suddenly in front of him, but he hadn’t called the police because he didn’t want to lose ‘another’ 3 points. He also kept making comments about me, his ‘sexy lady friend from Australia’. Aah!!
I was so relieved to finally make it to the hostel after 9pm. From what I saw of the city, it looks amazing – very clean and European-like – and I’m looking forward to exploring Harvard tomorrow. The hostel is quite old and crammed, which is surprising – it’s the most expensive hostel I’ve ever stayed at, at $42 a night for a 6 person dorm!
The accommodation in Niagara Falls might not be that great, but I was able to get in some great sleep (maybe because it’s dark and slightly chilly?) After waking at 8:30am, I headed out for breakfast before returning to the hostel to pack and check the internet. With the express airport bus scheduled to leave at 11:05am, I walked the kilometre to the bus station with all my gear, arriving shortly before the sky opened and it started pouring.
I’d arrived with plenty of time to spare, which wasn’t a good thing. The bus centre seemed to be a hive of ‘gang’ activity, with drunk (and most likely high) black guys hanging around the front meeting with their dealers, and even the most normal looking person continually muttering about jail time and how they wouldn’t let them take him, making me concerned about a possible shoot-out …
11:05am came and went; at about 11:20 a guy approached me, asking me where I was from and where I was going. When I said I was waiting for the airport express, he said, “Oh, that already left!” What!!!! There had been no bus with the number 210 on it! “Oh no, it didn’t say 210 or the airport, she didn’t change the sign”. Again, what!!!!!!! The next express bus didn’t come for another 2 hours, which would leave me pushed for time to make the flight. The only other option, apart from an expensive taxi, was to do the reverse of what I’d done on Wednesday night – the #40 to the transit centre, and then the #40 to the airport.
The two bus rides went relatively scare-free, and arrived at the airport at about 2pm. After a run-in with a rude Delta staff member (American airlines are just hopeless), I received my boarding passes, passed through security, and ate lunch before the flight was called. Flight #1 today was to Detroit, Michigan (doesn’t it make you want to start singing ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem?) The plane was tiny, with only 52 seats, and we were in the air for less than 45 minutes before touching down in Detroit to 97 degree weather (I’m not familiar with Fahrenheit, but I know that’s very, very hot!)
Surprisingly, the Detroit airport was massive and very well designed - there was even a light show in one of the walkways – although my next flight was of course at the furthest away gate than the one I’d landed at. Skipping the souvenir stands (would you really want to wear a sweatshirt that said ‘Detroit’?), I spent a while playing on my laptop before boarding the flight at 5:44pm. I’d barely done anything all day, but it was already the evening!
We touched down in Boston at 7:30pm, more than 9 hours after I’d left the hostel in Niagara Falls. I had instructions on how to reach the hostel via public transport, but it involved one bus and three subway stations, and I was over it. I went outside into the car park and flagged down a shuttle bus – sometimes you just have to pay the extra for convenience!
Well, I should have gone the whole hog and paid for a taxi, because the shuttle driver was a maniac. He didn’t make any money off just having me in the car, so he went and harassed for passengers at each of the terminals – for half an hour! – before eventually snaring one more person to make the trip into Boston city. In the car, he continued to drive like a maniac, tooting at people and cutting them off. He held up a piece of his bumper, telling me how someone had stopped suddenly in front of him, but he hadn’t called the police because he didn’t want to lose ‘another’ 3 points. He also kept making comments about me, his ‘sexy lady friend from Australia’. Aah!!
I was so relieved to finally make it to the hostel after 9pm. From what I saw of the city, it looks amazing – very clean and European-like – and I’m looking forward to exploring Harvard tomorrow. The hostel is quite old and crammed, which is surprising – it’s the most expensive hostel I’ve ever stayed at, at $42 a night for a 6 person dorm!
Post a Comment