New York – More Central Park, Voting while Overseas, Backpackers/hostels, Subway.

After the late night out with Adam, I decided a more casual day was in order. After Breakfast I headed out for another wander around Central Park. As I have commented before the park is an amazing place, probably my favourite part of the New York experience.

Next stop was the Australian Consulate, to place my vote in the federal election. I found it on the down on 43rd street and took the elevator to the 34th floor. The view wasn’t bad and it was pretty quiet in there, just a few other Aussies voting.

While here in New York, I have been staying at a backpackers. Unfortunately because
of the lateness of my booking, I had two nights in one dorm, one night in another dorm and two nights in another dorm. Its a bit weird sharing a room with strangers, usually a lot better if you can meet them or chat to them. Its a good opportunity to learn about others and hear about some of their travel experiences. All in all a pretty pleasant experience and it was cheap.

While in New York I have been using the subway system pretty much extensively. It really is the best way to get around. I do recall hearing how bad it was and how much crime was on it, but a few New Yorkers I spoke to about it said the last few years it really has been cleaned up. I didn’t see an graffiti and overall the whole experience was quite pleasant. They have a couple of different method of charging for their tickets, the one I used was you purchased credit on a Metrocard and then just topped it up as you needed it. You needed to swipe it to get into the station, and it charged you $2.25 each time, but you didn’t need to swipe it to get out, just push through the turnstill, which I thought was a good idea. The metro system has a number of different lines on it, with a number and colour associated with each route. Express trains on the same route get the same colour but a different letter. All in all pretty easy to navigate.