NYC Commute

Made it to NYC!   Commute, if you could skip the 2h that you have to wait in the airport before the flight, was actually shorter than my daily commute to the office ;).  

We flew out of Buffalo so cleared customs in the car.  Crossing was slower than normal -- not sure what the threat alert might've been, but they were checking most cars (incl ours), and our line was being run by the slowest moving human on the planet.  Which was compounded when they closed the lane next to ours.  The only thing that *really* annoyed me is when he checked our passports and asked our relationship, he got really snarky about making me defend why my last name is different from C's.  Like welcome to this century dude...  In reality, I have changed most of my documents, and my passport will change when it expires too, but I never wanted to, *many* cultures do not, and I really resent any implication or statement that a woman has to change her name when she gets married.  The only possibility I could come up with to try to give benefit of the doubt that the sloth was something other than a neanderthal was if the elevated threat had something to do with human trafficking.  But even still, there are other questions to ask, and body language to observe, and plausibly physical descriptions of the people involved.  End of rant.

Line of sight rules in economy parking at Buffalo airport made me laugh for some reason,
but in reality it was cheap, fast, and easy.  Not a combo you see often.

This less than fun experience was counteracted by the Buffalo airport?!?!   Unexpectedly, it significantly *improved* my impression of US travel.  Fast, clean, efficient, well thought out.   Not at all things I associate w Buffalo.   😂. To the point that we prob will get nexus so we can fly out of here more often.  It’s that great middle size:  small enough to not be sheer chaos but big enough to have all the advantages of larger hubs.  We parked in economy and used the will call shuttle - quick, fast, clean.  All excellent.   AND - possibly a fluke here - but the people working didn’t seem to hate their lives.   Win.

 

Coms from Delta - timey and relevant

We flew on Delta which was all-round excellent experience.  100% will look for them in the future.

Landing in NY (Laguardia) it was incredibly easy to find transit -- snagging a cab as safe and efficiently planned. Expensive - our cab cost us almost as much as our hotel for the night.  But worth it - I would NOT be comfortable me driving here.   

I *love* little things like this in any city.

First impressions as we wait to check in:  noisy, smelly (ugh!), hot (same thermometer temp as at home but SO much muggier), chaotic.  C and I focus on diff things - he’s looking at the famous landmarks and I’m looking at the tiny details.    Murals and street art and road signs and grass in planters in a “too late but better than never” attempt to bring green back to the town (the sign said so in a threatening “do not hurt our grass” kinda way ;).  The multiculturalism and food offerings are just as varied in TO but volume of options is way higher here.