Okay, Pearson Airport in Toronto is officially a nightmare!  It’s even worse than it was two years ago!  They’ve moved the signs around because of construction and none of the employees seem to know where anything is anymore so it’s not like I could stop and ask directions.  Now the whole airport is way more counter-intuitive than it used to be.

After getting off the flight from Edmonton I had to of course go through U.S. customs and immigration.  This was a nightmare.  First off, I had to find the stupid thing (which was not labelled and was concealed down a tiny hallway under construction).  Secondly, I had to deal with the most miserable, surly security people I’ve ever dealt with.  And it’s not like this is my first time flying anywhere.  Every single person there looked like they’d rather be anything but there and God forbid you asked them a question about what you were supposed to do next.  They’d look at you like you admitted you loved killing kittens or something equally horrible.

The flight to New York was short and relatively pleasant because I had a window seat so I could prop my head against the side and sleep the whole time.  I fell asleep just after the security demonstration and didn’t wake up until we began our descent.  So when I got to the hotel after one wild cab ride I was relatively awake but still rather exhausted.  I slept a little bit before deciding to venture out and try my hand at the metro.  It was a little confusing at first but I eventually got the hang of it.

The first thing I did was go to Union Square for the farmer’s market.  I picked up a little bit of local honey as well as some apples, cherries and bananas.  It’s expensive to eat in New York so that’s my snack food for mornings and mid-afternoons.  Good thing there’s a bakery near where I’m staying!  There’s nothing like a little fresh baked bread slathered with honey, is there?

After the farmer’s market I continued down on Broadway to go visit the Strand Bookstore, the famous ’18 mile of books’ one.  And I have to say I was actually quite impressed.  I bought more books than I should have and to be honest, you could probably leave me in there for a week and I’d be perfectly content to explore.  Yes, it’s that big.  I also went to go check out the Barnes & Noble store near the farmer’s market.  Why would I do that?  Well, it’s five storeys tall and the building looks at least a hundred years old so I had to go snoop.

Now it’s only 9:00 at night local time and I’m utterly exhausted so I’ll leave you with the above picture from my hotel room window.  A longer essay will follow tomorrow because I’m going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and you guys know how long-winded I get where history is concerned.