One of my last days in the States, I had a get-together with my friends at a pretty decent Chinese restaurant. We exchanged addresses and I hope to send them all postcards at some point in the semester if I ever get over my fear of the post office. Postage for a postcard to America is apparently only 50 rubles.
Anyway, I left Minneapolis at 8:50 after having my last Caribou Coffee. Minneapolis Airport is probably the nicest airport I flew into or out of. The next stop was New York. My layover in New York required me to travel from La Guardia Airport to JFK. Flying into LGA was probably the coolest thing ever. My flight flew in right over the bay and I got some great, but quick, views of downtown NYC. I remember flying over the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building. I also remember seeing the building believed to be the inspiration for the Stalinist Skyscrapers of Moscow.
After landing and realizing LGA is a dirty, sketchy place, I made my way to baggage claim to meet the driver. My best friend's mother got me a driver in New York as a going-away gift so I was able to use some of my layover time for something other than drinking coffee in JFK. Spending an hour on Times Square was a much better use of my time. Thanks, Roxanne! I walked around for an hour mostly just seeing what was there. I knew New York was busy, but holy crap, SO MANY PEOPLE.
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| Times Square |
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| Indulging in my Mormon Fascination |
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| True Story |
JFK is a nice airport. I wish JFK wouldn't let jets taxi for over an hour. Finnair is not a comfortable airline for a trans-Atlantic flight. The seats are small, the food sucked, and the entertainment system kept crashing (thanks Linux). I sat next to a very nice Estonian woman who also spoke some Russian. Helsinki airport would have been fun to explore if my flight from JFK didn't sit on the tarmac for over an hour after scheduled take-off. Thankfully the flight from Helsinki was only an hour and I got in a nice nap. Pulkovo in Saint Petersburg was similar to the other Russian Airports I've been in. Passport control was a lot of fun. The woman kept stamping my passport and looking at me. The airport apparently had free Wifi and I probably should have updated the Facebook regarding my safety. Whoops.
Chris, you could update about your safety now. from what you remember about what you were going to write. your dad just came in from thhe garage & his clothing smells really bad. he's been cleaning off old bcentennial Harley bike parts . he bought this from Mike Pantera for $500. and says he's going tp put oittogether & get it. Now Rod is yelling at meso you may block this.
ReplyDeletelove,
mom
Your dad is still in Arkansas and is supposed to be back sometime tomorrow if he's still OK, i worry about him when he goes off on these bike rides becaue he speeds, goes t fast on twisty roads he doesn't know. I went out to get the mail in. other than that I've been inside with the cats all day. enjoyed getting to talk to you. nothing in the mail but bills and catalogs, talked to,CAROL, she and Joe are in the ozarks and she says it is just lousy with motorcyclcles.
ReplyDeletelove you.
mom