As mentioned before this second part will basically be about me leaving Nebraska and traveling to New York state to visit my relatives.
On May 24th (very very early in the morning) I took the train from Hastings station (about 40 minutes from Kearney) to Chicago, which was supposed to last about 13 hours. The reason I took the train instead of flying was because I wanted to see as much of the country as possible. I arrived in Chicago with a 3 hour delay (so people in Holland, stop complaining ;p). Because of the latter, I sadly didn’t have enough time anymore to visit the city. After getting ‘dinner’ at McDonald’s and resting a little I continued my trip to Albany NY. I must say, this definitely was the better part of the trip. During the first part I mainly saw wide open fields and cows, which at a certain point gets a bit boring. However, during the second part the landscape changed a lot more (mountains, forests, cities, etc.). 16 hours later I arrived at my final destination where some relatives were waiting for me.
Before I continue, let me first explain who ‘my relatives’ are. The people I was staying with were Betty and Sjaak (or Jack as they call him in the US). They are an aunt and uncle of my mother. Not far from them live their son John, his wife Beth, and their kids Jack jr. and Hannah. Betty and Jack jr. were the ones that picked me up at the train station and took me to East Jewett where they live. This is a small town in the middle of the Catskill Mountains: absolutely beautiful!
My first few days in East Jewett I basically spent resting from my train trip, going shopping with Betty, and visiting her quilt group. Then on Friday Betty took me to Syracuse to visit her daughter Joanne and her family. The trip took about 3 hours and gave me an excellent chance to see a bit more of New York state. We spent the night at their place and the next day we visited their house by the lake and went shopping.
Then on Sunday Jack jr. and Beth took me to New York City. We went by train along the Hudson river, which really is a beautiful ride. When we arrived, we first went to the Empire State Building. There, after buying tickets etc., we went up all the way to the 86th floor. From there we had an amazing view (see pictures). After this we walked to Time Square and on Broadway. Just walking through the city is an amazing sight! Then we ate a slice of New York pizza (delicious!!) and went to St. Patrick’s cathedral. The latter is a beautiful church in the middle of New York City. After this we tried to make our way to Central Park to, amongst others, visit the zoo. However, at that time a parade was going on. Jews from all over the state had gathered to celebrate the 60th birthday of Israel. This parade was walking on 5th avenue which was the road we had to cross to get to Central Park. After about half an hour we finally found a spot where the police would allow people to cross the street every now and then. After seeing Central Park and visiting the little Zoo, we went to the museum of modern arts and after that we made our way back to East Jewett.
On Thursday Betty, together with a friend of hers, took me to some nice spots in the area. Amongst others, we climbed a waterfall and saw some magnificent views (see pictures).
Then on Friday it was time for me to travel back to Holland again. I really had a lot of fun in New York and I’m happy that I finally met that side of my family.
