I Love Subway

I love trains, and metros, and whatever else you want to call it. I've used public transportation everywhere I have lived. But New York, I bow down to your public transit.

I bow and bask and bathe in it's glory and ease. The great thing about visiting family in a new place is that they have the lay of the land. My sister is a train wizard.

But before I get ahead of myself, we started the day off on much humbler transportation.



The village trolley. It doesn't run all the time and me being around was the perfect excuse to be weird together and ride it along with the other geriatrics and 4 year-old boys. It was fun to drive through Tuckahoe before heading to the Metro North train.

The cool thing about my sister's location is that she is only a twenty minute train ride into the City, but far enough away that she still has a car to get to work and use on the weekends if she travels. Following her lead I hoped on the train and off we went.



They were doing construction, so we were a little held up but I didn't mind since I had no preconceived ideas. The most interesting part of the Metro North train is heading south, you can see things change as you approach the Bronx. Buildings (projects) spring up and everything gets a little closer together. I sound like a country bumpkin when I say this, but it just shocks me how so many people can be living on top of each other like that.

Of course, first things first- Grand Central!

To ride the subway you have to find a magical portal. You enter at one hole.



 Make your way through a buzzing sea of thousands of humans. Jump on a long steel train.



Then pop out in a completely different world that is still somehow part of New York City.

I never could've done it myself but you just follow Ali's lead. And somehow she always knows which portal to go through, which tracks to be at, and which side to hop on. It must be pretty obvious that she knows because people kept asking her for directions. Like a boss. If you happen to be in NYC without my wizard sister, try using the CityMapper app. So much magic. 

And no tourist on the subway would be complete without a picture of the funny and information signs on the subway. "Poles are for your safety, not your latest routine." 

Read about our day in the City over at this post. 

It blows my mind how the subway can get you anywhere. Anywhere! It seems like there is no part of Manhattan that can't be accessed by the secret underground world of moving capsules. 

As I was walking in the crowded city streets, I thought about all the layers of trains and tracks below my feet. And I wondered at any given time how the number of people below ground compared to the number of people above ground. Can someone look in to that for me please?