New York City

I just finished spending 6 days out of the past two weeks in New York City. Last week (5/5 - 5/7) I stayed in Brooklyn and conducted a training at SUNY Downstate. The administrator responsible for arranging our training is familiar with our software from a previous institution where she was employed. Another trainer and I stayed at the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. We were fortunate enough to be in the newly renovated section which was quite nice!



The traffic getting from the hotel to the training each day was a nightmare. We didn't leave early enough either day and arrived at the training location at the last minute which always starts off training on a shaky note. But the training group that I had was wonderful! Lunch was provided to us and the administrator in charge even drove us back to the hotel the first night so that we were able to avoid another cab ride.

Amanda has spent a great deal of time in NYC and was very familiar with how to navigate the subways to get us where we wanted to go. We spent the first night in and around Rockafeller Center, Chinatown and Little Italy. The second night we spent around Times Square. We ate at Ellen's Stardust Diner which was really fun!

My second trip was a solo. I stayed at the Park South Hotel which was really cute! The rooms were TINY but it was very clean, free wifi and wonderful, free breakfast. The training went very well. The group that I worked with was wonderful! I ventured out and about to Macy's flagship store, Madison Square Garden and even took the subway by myself to Chinatown and Little Italy.

Here's a few of my observations about New York:
1. Traffic - supposedly no one owns a car yet the streets are FULL of them and they sure don't go anywhere quickly!

2. Communication - no one speaks English. Even people who think they speak English have such a think, East coast accent that it's difficult to tell that it's English.

3. Juxtaposition - the randomness of it all. The Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church in the middle of Chinatown?

4. Fashion - everyone - men and women - wear scarfs and carry handbags!

I anticipate that I will be spending a fair amount of time in NYC in the future as we have MANY clients in the city. Please leave me a comment as to what I should see and do and where I should eat at during future trips.