No, the hard part is deciding whether I want to take trips to New York, the Jersey shore, Boston, or any other near-ish destination, or if saving every penny so I can see Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Portugal, or Belgium is a better idea.
You see? There's always a dream or an extravagant plan for another adventure, and I'm forever having to decide which ones I'm chasing. Sure, there's exciting stuff all over the world! And when you see these exotic European cities on your screen, it seems an easy choice, but there is much to be experienced around you at any given time (whether you're in the mountains of Idaho or the streets of center city, Philadelphia).
This time, I chose New York. This time I went to a Mets Game!
Traveling without a car is another thing entirely, but its completely manageable. A one way trip to Citi Field, NYC from my house takes about four hours, by way of two trains and a bus. At least, that's during daylight hours. The ride back took a bit longer and added an extra train ride, since after midnight they come only once an hour (as opposed to every 8-12 minutes).
I went with my friend Chris-Mari, who is an au pair from South Africa. Getting to New York was uneventful. We took a double-decker MegaBus from Philadelphia and it dropped us about half mile from Times Square. We planned well enough that we had two hours to get from there to the stadium, so we took our time, stopping for hot dogs, burgers, and beer on our walk to Penn Station.
Being in New York is just like the movies. Sorry to be cliche, but it's amazing! While I'm there I always wish I had 100 eyes. I love watching everyone pass and admiring their style. It's like a free fashion show around you at all times; I hardly have enough focus left to find my way around.
So we stepped into Penn Station and it was like this: people everywhere, on their way to somewhere presumably very important. You brush shoulders with strangers you'll never see again, you share the air with all these people and you'll never know their name. It's not stifling, it's fast-paced and exciting. We're trying to find out which train we need to get on, looking for signs and track numbers and destinations, but it's hard to even find a spot to stand still without being in someone's way. We spot the ticket counter for Long Island Rail and I see the words "Mets - Willets Point" above it in block white letters.
"Two return tickets to Citi Field, please," I said, after making my way to the front.
"Track 21."
And we headed through the crowd, down the stairs, and onto the platform.
The train deposited us directly outside the stadium. We followed orange and blue jerseys out of the station gates, and stopped to buy a hat and a beer before going in.
The game was great! This was my second major league baseball game, (I went to see the Phillies last year.) and I forgot how much fun it is to go. Even though I don't have a team I'm loyal to or follow the sport, it was easy to get into it. Baseball is a fairly simple game, which is probably why it's enjoyable for all kinds of people, big and small. It just feels... American. 10/10 would recommend!
We sat in a section that was all au pairs and their host families. To our left sat three German girls, our right, an Italian and the first male au pair I've met, and behind us a girl from Mexico and two other Italian girls. It was nice to not only enjoy the game but get to chat with all these other people as well!
The Mets did end up losing, and I did spend a small fortune on beer (is that the third time I've mentioned beer in a single blog post? whoops..), but the sunset over the stadium was unmatched, and watching planes take off in the distance added to the movie-scene quality of the evening.
I won't bore anyone with the details of the rest of the night, just that I watched the sun set in New York and in turn, watched the sun come up as I walked off the train platform in New Jersey. I barely registered the brief walk home, three blocks away, where I collapsed on my bed until that afternoon.
This time the small dent it made in my savings and the exhaustion it left me with was worth it.
Cheers!
Alison Maglaughlin
Click here to view the Google photo album from that day.
