Even though my trip to the East Coast of US is already more than one month away, I want to conclude it also here in my blog. The last part of the trip was a 6 days visit to New York. My friends and I chose to take a Greyhound bus from Washington DC to New York so that we could see some views from the bus windows. Little did we know, most of the views were either the bush next to the freeway or some city suburbs. Nevertheless, taking a bus was a very affordable (30$/per person) and also rather comfortable choice. And when we were in New Jersey entering the Lincoln tunnel, there was a beautiful scenary to the Manhattan island and its skyscrapers.
Before the trip I had heard comments about New York being a dirty city with lots of homeless people on its streets and constant feeling of unsafety. During those six days that I spend there, only in Manhattan though, I really did not see any of that stuff, at least not in any disturbing way. In my opinion, Manhattan was kept very clean, at least if compared to the sheer number of people residing and visiting it every day. Furthermore, the safety was not an issue, at least when there were three guys travelling together. This is not to say that one can be stupid, drunk, and behaving badly without getting into any problems, but with normal precautions one should be completely ok.
The reason, why I enjoyed my visit to New York was the multi-facedness of the city. One can wonder in Central Park and its paths for hours, or enjoy some time in 5th avenue and participate the shopping spree taking place there. What it comes to eating out, I strongly doubt if there are many places on earth offering greater variety of cuisines. Similarly, if one is looking for going out to do some clubbing (with fat wallet), there are plenty of options available. Talking of fat wallet, that is needed or perharps even preferred in New York, at least if one is willing to spend big time, which is very easy there.
From SoHo to Chinatown and from Little Italy to Financial District, Manhattan alone offers lots to see, experience, and taste for a first-timer. Getting around is easy by walking, but if feet start to hurt, catching a taxi is easy and ride is relatively cheap. Of course, the underground transportation is extensive, but it was not really an option during the hot days of early August.
What it came working while enjoying my holiday, during the visit in New York I managed to arrange a visit to City University of New York's Graduate Center, which is located right next to Empire State Building. There I met with Professor Elizabeth Sklar (and one of her graduate students), who is one of the leading researchers in the field of Educational Robotics. She has done a great contribution especially in RoboCup Junior's organization during the past years. The meeting was very encouraging experience for me and it might have opened some interesting opportunities for research collaboration, but unfortunatelly my own situation changed quite dramatically in the end of August making the collaboration at the moment quite difficult.
I am 100% certain that I shall return to New York later. That is something that I cannot really honestly say for example about Rome or Paris that I have been able to visit briefly earlier. Therefore, I can partly concur with Madonna:"..Paris and London, baby you can keep..". Well, to me London was loads of fun too.. :)
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