here are a few snapshots from when i visited NYC on my own for the first time during american thanksgiving weekend.

my bus overheated and broke down on the way there and i was afraid i was going to have to turn around and cancel the whole trip, but thankfully they just shoved us onto another bus (after lots of customer whining) and we were on our merry way.

i got there a couple of hours later than expected and i managed to get stuck in the middle of a huge crowd for hours watching the macy’s parade, barely able to see anything at all.

eventually i made my way over to paul’s friend jake’s apartment, where i’d be staying and waiting for paul until he returned from his own thanksgiving festivities.

i navigated the subway on my own, which actually turned out to be much less confusing than i thought it would be, and honestly the city kind of just felt like a more large-scale and sprawling version of Toronto. this feeling would remain persistent throughout the trip, and by the end of it, i felt like i could move to New York and really not have much trouble adjusting. the whole vibe felt comfortable and familiar and i found myself wondering what my life would’ve been like if even only a few things had turned out differently.

i dropped my stuff off at jake’s apartment on the upper west side and decided to take a walk through central park, which was beautiful even in the chill.

i wanted to maybe go to the met or to the natural history museum, but everything was closed for thanksgiving, so i ended up wandering over to brooklyn in hopes of exploring a christmas market that was allegedly open there.

it probably wasn’t the best idea to go so far away on my own. i stopped by a mcdonalds for a buttermilk chicken sandwich (which you can’t get in toronto), and a homeless man turned around and threatened to chop me up into a million pieces and throw me in the ocean on my way out.

“you think you’re better than me? i’m the queen! i can kill you right now. i can chop you up into a million pieces and throw you in the ocean.”

everyone just stood around watching the scene unfold and literally no one intervened, so i kind of just shuffled around him mumbling “sorry, sorry, bye!” and left.

and honestly even that didn’t really phase me. what did make me upset was the fact the the christmas market turned out to be closed.

i ended up going to another christmas market at bryant park (which was adorable) before returning to jake’s apartment to take a nap and wait for paul to get back to the city.

eventually i made it to paul’s apartment and it turns out he had a whole other adjoining apartment ready for guests, so not only did i get my own room, i also got my own living room, kitchen and bathroom.

it was pretty incredible and paul was a gracious host, always up for showing me his favourite spots in the city (as well as some weird spots that he just thought were worth seeing), and for taking photos while accompanying me to all the places i wanted to see.

during the course of my stay, we went to the MET and the MOMA (lots of art – maybe too much art, as by the time we left the MOMA we were exhausted and suffering from art burnout), we went to an indian buffet and to times square (obviously) and we spent our time just walking as he pointed out various landmarks. we went to a cool video game store that seemed to have every video game ever made, we went to a strange porn shop, a couple of costume stores, a church, and various bars that constituted paul’s watering holes.

on my last night there, we ended up going to an after hours bar against my better judgment. i can’t remember the last part of the night, but i remember they were still serving alcohol and people were smoking inside. i apparently spent a lot of time talking to some guy who was allegedly charming my pants off, and paul kind of lost track of me so i’m just hoping nothing happened.

i ended up missing my bus home, as expected, but it was okay because it turns out that bus got canceled due to weather concerns anyway so i actually got a refund for my ticket.

i booked a flight home and paul and i went out for chinese food for our last meal together before returning to the apartment and spending most of the day in bed. and then i woke up super early, said bye to paul and made my way to the airport and back to toronto.

all in all it was a really fun weekend, and it was nice to feel so comfortable in such a big city. i really can see myself settling in there pretty well, especially after paul made an offhanded comment about how i can still own a room even in NYC.

i want to go back there when the weather is warmer and try to see all of the things i didn’t have time to see this time around.