Monday June 29

Arrived in New York at 7:30 this morning, a half hour ahead of schedule. We were a little worried that we would have to occupy ourselves for a few hours as we wouldn't have access to our apartment until midday; however, we rang and were told we could get in when we arrived. Having done some research we decided that the best and cheapest way to reach our accommodation was via train. Working out the details gave us our first introduction to what we have found to be a bit of a theme; people working at service desks etc are not particularly friendly, animated or informative, but the general public are fantastic and eager to help whenever we so much as look like we might have a question.

With some help we worked out how and where to catch the Airtrain to get us to the subway for the A train and how to use the automatated metro ticket machines. The 14 day pass was not cheap, but we are convinced we will get good value from it.

We are staying in a privately rented apartment between 147th and 148th street on St Nicholas Ave. This is in Sugar Hill in Harlem. We knew going in that this would be a bit of a risk; however, the owner assured us that we would love it. I must say I had my reservations at first, especially given the steep flights of stairs (both in the subway station and the apartment building), and the unattractive appearance from the front. Within a few days though we have become very used to it. The inside is great; it has one bedroom, with walk in closet, a small bathroom with a generously sized shower, a good sized lounge area with cable tv and a kitchen with new (and somewhate oversized) appliances. It is very comfortable and allows us to make ourselves at home much more than in a hotel.

Next door to us in a fish and chip shop, a few doors down in a Chinese restaurant. Across the street is a supermarket, a pharmacy and a laundromat. The subway is literaly 50m from our front door. This is all very convenient and makes for a safe trip home in the evening. The local population is primarily, but not entirely, African American, there are also what appear to be a significant number of students around. Whilst our street is not the prettiest, there are some lovley homes in surrounding streets and a beautiful park up the road. The area is also fairly quiet, espeically in the evening, which is a change from the constant noise further down in Manhattan.

After arriving at our appartment we were particularly excited to shower and I must admit, we did crawl into bed and sleep for a few hours. We got up in time to visit the supermarket accross the street and cook up a stir fry for dinner. The local produce is nothing like we are used to, I think we are spoilt in Australia with such good quality food.

Very little was achieved today, so there are no photos, but we do feel much better for the rest!