Home is where heart is….

Newyork , DC ,New-Hampshire,Chicago and Other things ..

By namrataTanmay / September 29, 2017 / Musings, Trips / One comment

Ever been lost in a crowd of strangers and looking at the sky when it starts to pour down .. Getting lost was not new to me .. as someone once said to me .. “you look lost “ .. and believe me i was offended by it , i don’t want to be lost .. at least “look” lost you know . But this was literally what was happening to me on this big city called “Newyork “

I Love Newyork 🙂

I always wondered what it would feel like to travel alone .. am a dreamer and my imaginations take me in bounds and leaps across cities and places but i was always amused by the thought of wandering in beautiful places, full of strangers .. melt in the crowd, not noticeable .. or maybe just run barefoot into a public fountain .. yes that seems so Bollywood types :p , Or have a cup of coffee on a small cozy shop on a street side cafe and watch people ..

Warm toasted bagel with cream cheese and Coffee (Loved it)

Well i had a taste of something similar a couple of years back when i had traveled to Singapore for a week .. technically it was my first international trip and i managed to explore it a bit by myself .. But recently i got a chance to go on a planned solo trip , though i stayed at a friend’s place (who were gracious enough to host me )

Watching the statue of liberty , walking on Brooklyn bridge , wondering at ground zero or gushing at the crowd in the times square was not in my bucket-list ever .. i have seen numerous pictures of those floating around in my timeline everyday so a trip to east coast was almost at the bottom in my bucket-list .. i always kept pushing that further off .. So this was a spontaneous plan and one day i just thought “what the hell , lets see whats all the fuss is about !! “ so i decided to travel to new Hampshire -> ->Newyork ->Washington DC->Chicago and to add some romanticism , I convinced my husband to join me in Chicago (the last leg of my trip)

TimeSquare

Who knew i was in for a big surprise and confusion and amazement at each leg of my journey ..

Chicago -Streets

My trip was made memorable not due to the various famous national monuments or Museums but by my strange yet beautiful encounters and stories that happened while travelling to these tourist places .. Here are some of my thoughts about this journey ..

Subways !

Everyday reaching to my planned tourist destination was an achievement for me .. i had zero idea about subways or how to navigate using it and believe me it takes some head to do that .

Subway Face :p

Eating food !

I had to remind myself that i have to have my lunch and dinners though i was hardly hungry due to the exhaustion and satisfaction of finally reaching my destination

People ..

This is one of the most cosmopolitan society you will ever interact with .. take for example The Times Square .. almost like more than half of the people you will find there would be tourist and would have come from some far flung places like Europe ,china and even the original citizens of Newyork are from various race and from a wide group ethnicity.

Foodtrucks !

Nothing to say except one word “exceptional “

Making friends !

It was a grey area for me . it’s hard to make friends in such a fast moving city where everyone is busy in their iphones inside the subways or being a tourist but i managed to make some conversations with few of the charming people and they were tourists like me .. So still am skeptical about this..

Meeting friends and family :p ..

Meneka and family (Lucky again to meet them )

Cousins are the best 🙂 (Meeting Chinmay bhai after a decade

The Rain ..

I was late for my destination , “the Brooklyn bridge “ and i was in a hurry to reach there and no time to have lunch so i packed a panini on the way .. and once i finally reached there .. it started raining !! not a heavy pour but a slight beautiful drizzle .. and suddenly i found myself mostly alone on the iconic bridge !

I started walking with my umbrella over my head ,eating my sandwich and humming a song on the rain drenched iconic bridge .. if you ask me what was the most memorable story i made here .. then that will be this .

Brooklyn Bridge

Taking a less traveled road inside the beautiful central park ..

Central Park

Central park is a place that can be like a happy space for a busy fast new-yorker where they can just sit and enjoy the calmness and get lost in the nature or grab a coffee from the nearby cafes and admire the bustling city line .. if i go next time , i will spend most of my time in this gem for sure ..

Little Italy Street Festival ..

The most colorful time in my travel story , the feeling in the festival was something to remember always , warm people , colorful props , tons of food , crazy energy and lots of fun i had .

Train Ride from Boston to Newyork..

Amtrak train to NYC

My journey wouldn’t have been complete without the scenic ride across the cities , along the seaside .. the total time of 3 hrs 30 mins was lost in just looking outside the window with amazement and a cup of coffee of-course ! .. as i sat there looking through the window , the passing meadows , lands and forests made me nostalgia of my early years when travelling by a train was a dream , a thrill ..

Onset Of Autumn ..

New-Hampshire

The cool air and the warm feeling makes the onset of autumn so beautiful ,full of colors in new-Hampshire …

Apple Picking in NewHampshire

Ghost trees

Warm Days in the DC ..

National Mall

I could have strolled across the National Mall for ages and still not be completely satisfied ..It was a place to remember who are no more , a place to sit and think , a place to admire ..

National Museum of Aerospace

River cruise under the Starry sky…

When i looked up , the sky was full of stars but wait those were not stars .. those were the lights of the skyscrapers , surrounding the Michigan river .. i wondered if Venice feels like this ?

River cruise

When i look back to those 9 days .. the thing i have taken with me is a “feeling” .. The feeling of getting lost and found again… The realization that life can only be felt or traveled ..

P.S : Some more pics :p