February 25, 2005.
This would be my first trip to New York City, and it was planned relatively quickly too (about two weeks prior to leaving) so I really did not have an idea of what to expect aside from information that I got from co-workers who had been there and the information I got from books, television and many, many websites. Needless to say, I had a great time and was very impressed by the city and it's residents and am looking forward to going back.

My main reason behind taking the trip at this particular time of the year was because of the Central Park exhibition of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Gates project. I had been reading about it in the online version of the New York Times and seeing more and more coverage on television and the weekend that I chose to go was the last weekend that it would be installed. So, not wanting to miss out on the once-in-a-lifetime chance of seeing it, I decided to drive to Manhattan for the weekend.

Initially, when I was planning a trip to New York for later in the year, I was wanting to stay at the Holiday Inn Soho near Chinatown but that would have been rather expensive for this impromptu weekend and it would defeat my intentions of spending as little money as possible. So, I am very glad that I mentioned that to one of my co-workers because she asked me if I had looked into hostels. I had not so I went online to do some research and found the Hostelling International (American Youth Hostels) organization and shortly thereafter purchased my membership. With the membership I ended up staying at HI-New York for fraction of what it would have cost at a hotel. I did have to park my car in a garage just down the street from the hostel which was another $30 a day but the total nightly cost between the two was still less than half of the nightly hotel cost.

One of the tunnels through the mountains of Pennsylvania.

So, the drive from Columbus to NYC was pretty much a straight shoot East through Ohio, a tiny bit of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, a bit of Jersey and then into New York. It was an easy drive with no surprises and a lot of area to go fast. Of course, I had my radar detector all the way but I think I only passed one or two patrol cars all through Pennsylvania. Some time I'll have to spend more time in various places in Pennsylvania because the countryside is very beautiful.

So, after finally making my way to and through the Lincoln Tunnel, into Manhattan and to the Rapid Park parking garage it was probably close to 5:00pm. The garage is in a great location in relation to the hostel, just a couple blocks away. Walking up to the hostel I was pretty impressed by its size. It is the largest HI/AYH hostel in the U.S. and has beds enough for 624 people any given night. It's lobby is open 24 hours a day so it's convenient for anyone and, again, their staff is very nice, informative and helpful.

Hostelling International (AYH) - New York. A wonderful facility with a great staff and the 18 hour Manhattan walking tour!

Check-in was quick and easy. My reservation was in the computer (I had made the reservation via the on-line system at the HI-NY website) and after getting my key-card I went up to my room. I was in a four person room and when I arrived there was only one person there who was sleeping. It's a standard dorm-like room with bunk beds, linens, blanket, a pillow, a locker for each person and two desks. Quite cozy for $30 a night. After I got my stuff all put away it was dark and even though I had been driving all day, I wasn't tired so I decided to go out for a walk. Plus, I had to go down to the Planet Hollywood in Times Square to pick up the New York Pass that I had ordered. I didn't actually get to use the NY Pass this time because of the length of my stay and the other things I did over the course of the weekend but I still have it for my next trip and based on the deals I would recommend it to anyone else visiting NYC.

The hostel is just a few blocks away from Central Park so I started out by going directly to Central Park West and heading South down toward Midtown. It was nice night so the walk was fun. I didn't go into the park but with the saffron fabric of the Gates it looked very nice at night. Tranquil even. Reaching the South end of Central Park at Columbus Circle and heading toward Broadway I started to notice that there was a lot of police presence, which I thought was cool and added to the feeling of security. Plus, it's so lit up that you can see everything and everyone anyway. I really loved the people on the sidewalks that have digital cameras and photo printers set up so they can give you an on the spot photo of yourself in Times Square. Only a moron actually would buy one but they probably make a lot though. So, I made it to Planet Hollywood and got my NY Pass and Pass Book and was starting to get hungry and a little tired so decided to head back.

On my way to Midtown I had crossed over to Broadway on 54th Street and passed a promising soup place (Daily Soup) with a chalk board outside the store front advertising its specials which included a curry chicken and rice soup that sounded very tasty. I had decided that unless I saw something better I would stop back there on my way back to the hostel so that is where I ended up eating my late dinner. The soup was quite good as was the bread that came with it. It was not expensive either. They had a very nice selection of soups, about half of which I would have loved to try if I had been in NYC for a length of time.

So, after I finished my soup I retraced my route up Central Park West and headed back to the hostel. One nice thing about the hostel is that since it is the largest in the U.S. and is in one of the largest and most visited cities in the U.S., being open 24 hours also means that it keeps a steady flow of traffic at almost all hours and the office staff is always around. Also, the hostel areas beyond the main office and reception area (including the gift shop and cafe) are only accessible with the magnetic keycard you are given when you check in and theft incidents are very low as well, nice to know if you have aversions to leaving your belongings in your room and even in a locker (also well beyond the entrance area).

So, a quick blog writeup and it was off to bed to get some sleep and prepare for the following day's massive walking tour of lower Manhattan. An advertised 16 hours! Check out tomorrow's review to see how it went.