Location: New York, NY, USA

Savanna: AHHHHHH freak out time. I am in New York! A few years ago my friend Katisse and I decided that since we would likely not ever live in the same city again we would reunite every few years when Taylor Swift went on tour (us bonding over our shared love of TS started in 2006.)

Last year when TS announced she would be doing a tour for her new album ‘reputation’ we immediately booked tickets for the Toronto show, and decided to take a trip to New York leading up to it.  This is ten months in the making. 

After a rough 15 hour travel night with two layovers that were less than 15 minutes each, (thanks air Canada)  I made it to Laguardia airport at 10 AM. I was hyped up on caffeine, starving, and so insanely warm. I know Manhattan is an island but I don’t think I clued in to the fact that it would be humid, on top of being +30C. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and set out into the city, intent on flexing my ‘independence muscles’ to try and figure out the subway system. Without too many hitches I stepped out of the subway tunnels near Time’s Square. Immediately it was all flashing lights, costumed people and a bombardment of sounds. The sounds! It’s exactly like you would expect: sirens, horns, music, ads blaring, people yelling, construction, people busking, crosswalk signals going. My mouth was literally hanging open but I. was. so. excited.

I decided since I couldn’t check into my B&B for another 3 hours that I would stroll from Times Square to West Village (where Kat and I are staying). WELL. People in this city do not stroll. They march along with a purpose.  And if you don’t also have a purpose? You’re gonna get swallowed in the crowd. I ended up crossing a few streets I didn’t really want to cross because thats the direction the crowd was going and I was just jostled right along with it.

Eventually I got my footing and walked more aggressively and made my way down 10 city blocks. With my backpack on I was incredibly hot and stopped in a café for an iced coffee and some lunch. I picked a seat with a view of the street and pulled out my book to read for awhile, but just ended up people watching for awhile. I’ve always enjoyed people watching but doing it in New York is a completely different thing. Every type of eclectic person you can imagine walked by. Literally Batman walked by twice, and it wasn’t the same Batman!

20 more city blocks and I checked into my airB&B and met my host Beth, who was the first non-aggressive (assertive?) person I met today. We’re basically staying in her spare room as she comes and goes, but the location is awesome and she is really nice so it worked out well. Kat was supposed to join me 3 hours later, but ended up with baggage difficulties at Newark and train delays that meant I had time to shower, nap, read, and research until she arrived much later in the evening.

We haven’t seen each other in awhile and it was so exciting to finally be reunited! I was awash with that wave of relief you only get from seeing someone after a long while. Let the adventures begin!

We walked back towards Time’s Square, stopping for pizza along the way at a shop that must have had 20 different pizzas you’d buy by the slice. We ordered what we thought was butter chicken pizza (it was actually buffalo chicken. Oh USA) and caught up on everything we’ve missed since we spoke last.

Upon arriving in Time’s Square I realized I had definitely not seen it earlier. I thought I caught a glimpse of it when I came out of that subway station but this was just a total bombardment of the senses. It was insanity! We saw everything from an adult diapered baby, to mini-mouse, to a woman only covered in body paint. There was a person dressed up as the statue of liberty, every super-hero you could imagine, and a protest about Jesus happening two feet from a one year old girls birthday party. 360 degree turns produced exactly the same staggering view of ads and lights and ads and people and ads. We stayed as long as we could muster, grabbed some ice-cream and beelined for the next street over to catch our breath and start making our way home. It was almost 11 pm by this point and we have early plans for tomorrow so a good rest is in order.

I write this from bed, as Kat snores quietly next to me (finally getting some well deserved sleep) and I couldn’t be more eager to see what this week will bring.

S