New Jersey, New York and Boston 2021
New Jersey
Background
After more than four months on the road, traveling to five countries, countless bus rides, border crossings and more PCR tests than anyone we know, we felt that our time in the Balkans was over, and we were ready to move on to our next major destination.
Though our initial plan was to spend a couple of weeks in Morocco before the United States, the Covid-19 Omicron variant took care of that, and two days before our flight to Marrakesh, we found to our dismay that all inbound flights to Morocco had been cancelled for at least two weeks.
Nana scrambled to reset our itinerary – and we decided to book our flight to the US almost two weeks ahead of schedule. After buying our tickets bound for JFK in New York, we scheduled our PCR tests in Skopje, and got ready for our first flight since we left Singapore back in July.
We had our PCR tests done at the Biotek Lab in Skopje, and paid 1700 Macedonian Denar (approximately US$30) each. Out of all the PCR tests we’d done since we left Singapore, this was not only the cheapest, but also the quickest in getting our results. We both received the emails informing us of the good news in about two hours, while having lunch at a restaurant, not too far from the clinic.
Flight to US
We left our hotel early, on a very cold morning (at 5am), and arrived at the Skopje airport more than three hours before our flight.
After checking in, clearing immigration, and the usual procedures, we settled down at a cafe right in front of our boarding gate.
Our flight was on Turkish Airlines, and we had a three-hour stopover in Istanbul, so we made sure to try their famed lounge to see if it was worth all the hype.
We weren’t disappointed.
Arriving in New York
We arrived at the JFK Airport and were picked up by my cousin, Christine, and her husband, Kuya Bong. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we skipped eating out and headed straight to their home in Ridgefield, New Jersey – just across the George Washington Bridge, or about an hour drive.
Upon reaching their place, we were treated to excellent coffee, home-brewed beer (best dark beer I’ve ever tasted), and amazing sisig they bought from a Filipino restaurant.
Our plan was to use this time to reenergise and recoup for the second leg of our year-long travel. By this time, we were almost halfway through, and we were both physically and mentally tired from all the moving around. Also, during the holidays, it feels good to spend some time with family and get to live “normally” for a little bit, before plunging back into our itinerant life.
Of course, while we spent most of our time in New Jersey working and relaxing, we were able to sneak in some touristy activities, not to mention enjoy lots of wine, steak, and great coffee!), thanks to Shobe and Kuya Bong!
Some of the touristy things we did during our time in New Jersey
Brooklyn Walking Tour
We booked a free walking tour via Free Tours by Foot to Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo, as we never got to visit Brooklyn when we first came to New York City. The tour took about two hours, and we got to walk across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, stroll through the streets of DUMBO, check out the Fulton Ferry and Brooklyn Heights neighbourhood.
Manhattan
We spent a day walking around Manhattan, where we visited (again) the site of the Twin Towers and the World Trade Center Memorial, Tribeca, Chinatown, the West Village, Central Park, Hudson Yards, and even got to sample some amazingly delicious and sinful cookies from Levain Bakery and fried baos (sticky, moist and stuffed pork buns) from Chinatown.
The MET Cloisters
One of Kuya Bong’s recommendations was to visit The Met Cloisters, which is in nearby Fort Tyson Park in Washington Heights, Manhattan. It is a museum which contains over seven thousand European medieval art and architecture, from the Romanesque and Gothic periods. It was acquired by American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard and subsequently bought John D. Rockefeller. Included in the collections are some pieces from J.P. Morgan and Joseph Brummer.
The entrance fee was a “donation” of US$25 each, which was automatically charged to us at the entrance.
Van Gogh Exhibition – The Immersive Experience
Another recommendation of Shobe and Kuya Bong, and their surprise treat (thanks guys!), was the Van Gogh Immersive Experience. The show essentially takes you virtually into his most iconic art pieces, almost as if you suddenly fell into his paintings. With the music accompaniment, all your senses are engaged, and we fell into a sort of hypnosis during the show.
Tickets to this highly sought after event is (if I recall correctly) US$54 per person and we were very fortunate to get spots as these are almost always sold out in advance.
Liberty State Park
We decided to visit Liberty State Park, located in Jersey City – a thirty-minute train ride from Port Imperial in Weehawken.
Kuya Bong dropped us off at the Port Imperial train station, and all we had to do was purchase tickets and board the train which conveniently dropped us straight to the Liberty State Park station.
We walked almost half an hour through Liberty State Park, past the Grove of Remembrance, all the way to the Empty Sky Memorial, dedicated to the victims of the September 11 attacks of the World Trade Center.
Food!
Of course, we simply cannot NOT include our many feasts during our stay in New Jersey. It simply would not be complete, and certainly was one of our many highlights during our entire US trip.
It was pretty shocking how time flew so fast – before we knew it, our time (but hopefully not our welcome =)) in New Jersey came to an end, and we were soon on our way to Boston via Flix Bus.
Kuya Bong and Zoey dropped us off at the bus station, and we bid our final farewells.
Boston
After a long and restful two weeks in New Jersey, it was time to hit the road again, and this time we headed to Boston. We only booked three days in Boston, just enough time to visit Harvard University, Salem, and a little bit of downtown.
Thankfully the weather was on our side, and although it was cold (as can be expected in late December), it did not snow, and we were able to walk around outside during our day trips without freezing to death.
During the three days, we booked the Freedom Trail Free Walking Tour, again via Free Tours by Foot, took the train to Harvard University, and took a bus to Salem where we got to learn more about the infamous Salem Witch Trials.
Boston sights and sounds
Freedom Trail Tour
We arrived at our AirBnb in the afternoon and had the worst experience for the first time since we first started using AirBnb. This will be covered in more detail in a future blog.
Nevertheless, we decided to make the best of it, and continue with our planned itinerary, so the next day, we left the apartment and joined the walking tour which we’d already booked, hoping that the apartment issues would disappear when we got back (it got worse).
After a long morning walking around Boston, we took a train ride to Harvard Square and finally got to set foot on the Harvard University campus. We managed to explore not only the campus, but also the town itself, before we were rudely interrupted and had to cut our trip short, due to the worsening situation with the AirBnb host.
Despite all that was going, we were still able to enjoy our tour and walkabout.
Harvard University Campus
One of the most prestigious universities in the world, Harvard University has educated countless presidents, Nobel Prize winners, world renowned scientists and successful business men and women. We took a train to the Harvard Square Station after the Freedom Trail Walking Tour from Park Street Station, and made a beeline towards the campus.
Salem
Salem was a town I’d always wanted to visit, mainly due to the Salem Witch Trials, which put a dark stain in the town’s past.
Occurring between February 1692 to May 1693, it led to mass arrests and prosecutions of innocent men and women, who were accused indiscriminately and many times for the most ridiculous of reasons. When the town finally came to its senses, 25 people were dead – 19 by hanging, 1 pressed to death, while 5 died in jail.
Before walking around the town, our first stop was at the Salem Witch Museum.
The ticket (US16.50 per person) includes a 30-minute presentation about the history of the trials, from its beginnings, the major personalities involved, and how it eventually ended. In addition, after the presentation, you will be able to roam around the exhibit section of the museum, in another room next door. It is pretty compact in size, and there is really not too much to see, which was quite a downer after the very interesting show they put on.
It is important to remember the tickets cannot be pre-purchased, and can only be bought online on the day of the visit.
Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed inside, so we can’t show you how it looks like. Below is a picture we took outside, while waiting for the museum to open.
Overall Impressions
We left Boston the next day, taking a flight from Logan Airport to our next destination, New Orleans.
Although our time was short, and marred by the unfortunate incident with our AirBnb host, we had a good time in Boston. Due to time constraints we most definitely only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer, and we would definitely consider coming back for a slightly longer stay. And if we do decide to come back, we’ll probably do it in spring or summer.