New york, baby!

As can be predicted, I fell in love with the big apple. Apart from admiring the intensity and stamina with which the people there live their lives (including my elder sister), the city itself seems to be breathing life into whomsoever resides in it. I spent about two weeks there, and the entire time went by in a flash. It was only in my second week there, one spent living with my sister, did I really get to explore the city. Every morning I would set off with a metro card and some cash in hand. I would travel by subway (which apparently is the proper way to address the mode of conveyance. no one calls it a 'metro') to a certain point, after which I would walk. And in the process, I think I walked around the whole of Manhattan. It didn't feel odd for a second, because hundreds seemed to join me wherever I was walking to!

A special mention must be made of the great variety of scrumptious food that the city has to offer. I know, coming from a city also known for its food, this quality shouldn't strike me as extraordinary. But as I see it, a beautiful scenery must always be appreciated and the same holds true for good food. New-yorkers are proud of their bagels and pizzas, and they sure should be. Add to that a slice of cheesecake, and you're pretty much set to take your role as an over-weight couch potato. I hoped to see a whole bunch of chubby people around said food (to free me from the guilt of overindulgence), but another thing that the people there seem to treasure is their physical fitness. The fact that I was constantly overtaken by business folk talking on their phone certainly helped to prove it.

I left the city with a mixture of feelings. I felt proud that I had crossed most things of the mental checklist I had prepared before I went there. I felt relieved that I only experienced the good things the city had on display, while secretly wondering if I would have managed to survive the bad. Most of all I felt sad, for leaving my sister whom I had the most wonderful time with, and the fact that the next time I enter the city I certainly will not enjoy the luxuries I took for granted this time around.