freedom

freedom... 

funny word. 

have i ever truly felt it?  

..maybe. maybe up 4215mtrs on the inca trail, surrounded solely by clouds?  -but then again, there was only one way down.. 

..maybe. maybe i felt it when i dropped out of high school? -but then again, i now had to grow up & get a job.. 

..OR, maybe, just maybe, there was a lady that stood strong in the sky, holding only a torch & a book, with de-shackled chains at her feet & a crown above her head,  that truly truly made me feel the full meaning of the word. 

 

 

lady.

lady of liberty. 

day one nyc.

day one -of the dream. 

 

*****

 

 

my first acquaintance with the lady was on my first morning in manhattan. 

 

i had taken a short stroll down to the end of my new street to a pier on the hudson that had been made into a park -genius!!  

(silly me... all this way to nyc & here i am searching out another god damn pier!!!).

never the less, the pier supplied me with just what i needed                         -a blanket.  

a little security blanket, a little escape route if i needed to desperately sense the ocean, a little escape route if i ever needed to feel 

my space / my freedom.   

the hudson was below me, in front of me, to my sides & the lady, well, she was to my left. 

she stood strong, she stood proud, she didn't necessarily stand tall     -manhattan does have some of the worlds tallest sky scrapers after all..
but... of late, i have learnt first hand, that the taller - doesn't necessarily mean the greater.

 

 

 *****

 

a figure of independance

a figure of freedom

 

"lady"... you & me, we got a thing going on.

 

 

 she definitely is not the tallest...  but i still see her as the strongest.  shared here with Empire & the new One World.  she is just off centre -to the right on the tiny little island :)

 the new One World Tower - growing taller every day. literally.. 

it surpassed the Empire yesterday! 

lady's there too!!! 

 my blanket. 

to the right. 

pier 45. 

 for old times sake. 

a conquest that i never thought i could surpass... 

 

coming home

approaching the manhattan skyline for the first time i felt a familiar feeling, 

a feeling i usually get driving down mona vale road after a long vacation -the first sight of that northern beaches horizon, the minute you see it you know you are 'home'.

as the skyline grew closer it failed to bold me over with excitement as i had expected it to. it slowly & calmly rose up before me & took me in. took me like no place had before. this was it, there was no escaping or denying it, this was my 'home'. 

*****

jittney - i love you. why didn't i book you TO the hamptons??? 

the coach ride was easy, someone to load the excess baggage on & off. lovely respectable co-travellars,  free water, free snack, free paper -hell it was better than the plane!!  

my jittney stop was carefully selected to ensure i was as close to my apartment as possible.  close.. but still cab worthy. 

i hailed my first yellow cab like a true pro, arm strong & high, full of purpose. just like the cab was a fly ball i HAD to catch!  

bags in the back, on my way!! 

"51 Leroy St please :)" 

"what's the cross st darl?"

"oh.. not sure.. can we drive by & see the numbers?" 

"mmmmmmmm  sure"  

 soon after i realized what a stupid request this was..

manhattan = clearly the king of super long one way streets.

small hiccup, never the less, #51 found. 

my gorgeous brownstone building was right in front of me, at last! 

...my gorgeous brownstone with 9 flights of stairs, 9 flights of the highest, narrowest stairs imaginable. JOY, can't wait to get the excess baggage up these!!! 

clearly - i coped. 3 trips later, i was moved in. 

i.was.living.in.nyc!!!!!!!!!  

 spent the afternoon unpacking & making the studio my own. 

pictures of my california adventures displayed on the fireplace, clothes hanging (after 1 mth in a suitcase, this was epic!!), jewellery & shoes displayed just the way i like -just like a store i could spend an hour browsing,  & the smell of disinfectant! ...clearly mike "the situation" had been renting this place before me, disinfectant bottle 1 down, sure to go through another one tomorrow.... 

soon i managed to break away from unpacking to stroll through my new neighbourhood. 

the west village is every bit what i had hoped for, 

city - but not full on city, bustling - but a little taste of suburbia, stoops!!!, tree lined streets & little concrete parks.  

strolling along i could hear the honking, i could hear the sirens, i could feel the people, the subway was whizzing by underneath my feet, & the skyscrapers where all around, ....but somehow, somehow amongst all the bustle & noise, i had my space. 

 fireplace must be utilized in some way or another!

.....may have gotten a bit side tracked tacking snaps of the bathroom :)   (cooke!!)

 washing - the city way!

 

vacations' vacation!!!

it took a 3 1/2 hour monster highway drive, 

a 2 hour wait in LAX (ambassador's lounge!), 

a six hour red eye flight (with  no meal..),

a testing experience @ jamaica station, 

a saturday night lives version of a train ride,

a black shiny car &
a check in that involved 3 huge flights of stairs..

....but finally. i was on vacation -in the HAMPTONS!!!  


for an australian to imagine a quiet country town on a beautiful beach coastline is pretty hard.. but this was exactly what it was like. ancient wooden houses on massive blocks of land, ratty old fences falling down around the beach, 1 lane main st (deserted...), local shops only open in spring/summer, & less variety than  an express servo.


usually all of the above would be a pretty massive reason NOT to go somewhere.. but i guess living in one of the worlds busiest city's shifts desires a little.  
if you want a quiet escape - this is surely the place!  
 

*****

 

 i was relaxing.. i was vacationing.

    balcony overlooking endless miles of untouched sand, horizon ontop of horizon & quiet, hmmmmm delicious. 




over the next 5 days i did nothing but relax.  
it was perfect.
read a book, ate pancakes (from a true diner), ate monster pizza slices, tried pretty much every sweet the local bakery had to offer,  watched movies in bed, sat for hours just staring off my balcony into the endless horizon & strolled the beach, a beach so deserted i could close my eyes whilst walking & just enjoy the feeling of having nothing to my left & nothing to my right -a feeling that i sure wasn't going to get in manhattan... 

i even spent a good 10mins every morning & night on the balcony stretching & breathing, desperately trying to encapsulate the wide open space. every breath deeper than the last, as if the harder i breathed in, the more space i could bottle up & take with me...


*****


on my last afternoon i was all packed & based on appearances, i was ready for the big city. pity my insides couldn't be folded neatly & locked away in a massive wheelie case.
i won't say i was scared, but i will say i was cautious. 
there was no excitement, but no real panic.
i had no fear of being mugged, no fear of getting lost. the caution was all to do with space. 

space, how will i find the thing i need the most in such a compact little island... 

vacations' vacation....????

soo often you arrive home from an overseas trip/vacation more exhausted than when you left.  

 the sightseeing, the  experiencing, the soaking in, the eating --- it's all just such hard work! 

well, this time round i was determined to ensure this would not be the case.  so much so that i arranged for a mid-vacations vacation!!  a sort of half way point hoorah.  a breather.  

a chance to unwind & refuel. 

a chance to reflect on california & prepare for new york. 

& where better place to do such things than the hampton's!! 

getting to the vacation destination of manhattan's rich & super rich was far from luxurious.... 

*****

my plane landed on a foggy wednesday morning @ 5am.  no sight of the manhattan skyline, no excitement, no miraculous feeling of arriving in my dream destination. 
just queens, fog & more freezing fog.  

first task - locate the "air train".  followed the signs, success! now, how to pay..?  the trains wizzed by as i vaguely looked around for a ticket machine. after witnessing 2 trains leave i noticed that people were just jumping on! hmmmmm OKAY FREE TRAIN!  

soo distracted with not having to part with my $5 for the train i wheeled my massive airport trolley filled with my cases ONTO the train!!  instantly got a nasty look from a massive beast of a black man that made me realise i was doing something seriously wrong..  laughing at myself & trying not to show my embarrassment.. i turned around & wheeled my trolley right off the train & back onto the platform... idiot. my first impression on new yorkers was terrible!!

10mins later i was clumsily (now trolley less) lugging my excess baggage on the next train, & what was waiting for me at my jamaica station exit??? --- a bay full of airport trolleys & a ticket machine!!!!! 
turns out big black men just don't like me (not the trolley's fault) & no trains are free.  

secound task - locate jamaica stations long island rail roads line, buy ticket to montauk, relax on train for 2hours. 

(my previous ordeal with the air train was not leaving me feeling super confident...).  

***before i continue i think it's vital that you know what i mean when i say excess baggage.  

1 x MASSIVE wheelie hard case + 

1 x SEMI-MASSIVE wheelie hard case + 

1 x 45" louis vuitton tote (genuine!) 

i have never been a light traveller &  if this day doesn't change that going forward -then nothing will. ***

ok, ticket booth for long island rail road is on the ground floor. lift down, SMALL LIFT, ...not soo bad.

wheeling excess baggage through the long, winding & never ending roped queue line (you know, rope, like in the bank queues??), frickan pathetic!! never have i tried so hard to seem cool & calm, whilst in my head i was certain the whole entire roped queue line was going to come crashing down around me!! 
eventually, i reach the end & buy a ticket. 
roped queue line was still in tact as i exited.  promise.

"what platform does the train arrive on??"  i ask the lady supplying the ticket, "not sure. go to information on platform #8. ask them."

ok... platform #8 here i come.  bags in tow, i'm searching for signs...........  ahahah! #8 i see you!!  ...far far far away in the distance.  
turns out to get to platform #8, to ask a simple question, you have to go back up the SMALL LIFT, down another SMALL LIFT & cross over 4 lines! shit!! 
well, nothing could ever be as bad as the roped queue line - right?
a number of minutes, loong minutes, later i reach platform #8. 

"what platform does the montauk train arrive on??" i ask sweetly to the first white man i have seen my entire time in queens. 
"montauk?". "yeah montauk :)".  "catch the local from #8 to  bablyon, change to the express at babylon, then montauk". 
"whaaa??? change trains??? google said 1 train - whole way!" 
"nope #8 to babylon, change to express, then montauk".  
all spoken like a total lifeless robot.  
 "ok thank you, one last question... when does the #8 arrive?" 
"....7.55am". 

 shhiiiittt!!!!!! IT WAS 7am!!!!!  i'm in the middle of queens, it's freezing, i'm on an outdoor train platform, surrounded by jumbo sized baggage & i'm about to experience new york peak hour!!

 ..there was nothing else to do, but stand, freeze & smile :) 


you know in movies when you hear the funny black guy refers to someone as "snowflake"....  yeah, well, this was a perfect example, this was my time to shine bright white like a little "snowflake".  

the hurds of people began to arrive.. each one more depressed & cold than the other. (each one bigger than the other...) all in a mad rush to find their train & get to work. 
all passing the silly little white smiling snowflake by. 
i swear to god, i smiled at this one hoochie mamma &  she gave me a look that coulda burnt a whole in my face!  
(my face or my louis?!  luckily, louis had been safely hidden under my jacket for some time now. forget the face - gotta protect my louis!!). 
 

finally, after 55minutes of being eye bashed by every person in queens, my train arrived.  
the robot man in the info booth waved me farewell (& surely luck!) as i clumsily boarded.   train #1 of 2 was quiet.  no hoards of commuters, just one loud mouthed couple & me.  me-standing. this was a new york train after all, not like those nice ones in europe where there is somewhere to stow your bags whilst you find a comfy seat...  
standing & for the first time cursing wheelie cases!!!  
every time that train sped up or slightly turned -whoosh, my bags where going with it! worst frickan train ride of my life! 
.....so far. 

"next stop, bablyon".  
this was me.. stoked! now i get to wheel my mountains of shit off one train, onto another platform, wait..., then wheel the shit back onto another train!! so excited! can't wait. loving my "vacation" so much right now.



thank jesus!!!  the express train was parked at the platform across waiting for me when i stumbled off my 1st train.  & this one had a nice long seat for me & my bags :)!!! 
finally a chance to sit down, relax, watch the scenery of long island whizz by &  start dreaming of my hamptons vacay :)  
......or maybe not.  

i had a nice 5 minutes to myself. 5 minutes to stare out the window at dump after dump of train line suburb, before...  a younge toothless brother decided it would be awesome to ask this little snowflake for babymomma advice..
no exaggeration necessary.     the word "babymomma" was definitely used more than once.  
"cheater", "hater", "steve erwin", "smokes", "pension" - oh yeah, this was a highly intellectual conversation. one that lasted almost my entire train ride!!!!  the whole time this was going on all i could think was, "what the F is this guy doing going anywhere near the hamptons?!?!?!?"
this isn't what was meant to be waiting for me in the HAMPTONS! (queens - sure). but the HAMPTONS?!?!  where's chuck bass??? where are the kennedy's???  get this toothless gangstar away from me!!!




sooner or later, it was time for my friend to disembark.  he turned, (i assume) smiled (hard to tell when they have no teeth..) & waved.  
carriage to myself, instantly i relaxed. head back to the window & ready to start spotting some hampton's houses!   ..wonder if i will get to see the "revenge" house!  vacation - her i come!!




at this point my mind was in total shock/denial with how my morning had been so far (surely it cldn't get any worse), that i hadn't yet started to think about my arrival at montauk.  
arrival, after all,  would of course mean another train station.....

montauk train station. 
train. station. 
train -yes. station -???? 
this "station" was so small that my wheelie cases did not even fit on the platform side by side!!!! kill meeee!!!! 

thank that jesus once more, thank him for the fact that it was off season & there was only 1 other person getting off here.. i would have caused serious back log & carnage other wise!

funnily enough, after struggling with one case in front/one case behind/louis on shoulder for about 5 minutes (haha 5 steps in 5 minutes!!).  i saw a tall brother running towards me, wow he was coming to help!!  maybe the brothers like a little snowflake in their lives after all..?  

so here he was, teeth & all,  helping me with my bags! 
smiling, laughing, welcoming me to montauk. oh, i was thrilled!!  vacations starting!!   


    ...."oh hang on,  excuse me,  why are you loading my bags in your van???"
"you want taxi, yeah?" 
"oh... no... sorry.. i already have a car booked. i thought you were just being nice & helping me with my bags? :)" 
"HA. nope, thought you needed a ride is all". 
clunk. he threw may bag out of his van & off he went mumbling some bitchy tude under his breath. 
 so much for love for the snowflake :( 




i will never ever be the one to give up & cry in heap in the middle of a pebble stoned train station -so, determined, i picked my cases up & strode off towards my shiny black car awaiting my arrival in the distance.

*****
  
vacation will start soon!!!!  












 

yep.... awesome view from the train.

 genius idea choosing train over jitney....