N Y C and beyond.

The hostel all packed away for the winter and time for a holiday. I feel I have earned it after 226 days without a day off.

So for the next 5 weeks get ready to be bored with my tales of adventure.

Wednesday 10th November

Leaving Plakias on the afternoon bus there are people swimming and sun bathing on the beach. It is a glorious 26 degrees and no wind.

The first of the many expected problems happens before I even leave the island. Retrieving my bags from under the bus in Rethymno and the m*ll*k* bus driver closes the hatch too early – it comes down heavily on my hip and I have to scream at the guy to open it again. There were apologies but I have a bruised hip that I know will be sore for a few days.

A quiet night in Iraklio at a cheap hotel – well, I not staying at that infested hostel again! It is still warm and enjoy sitting at an outside table at a cafe for an evening meal in a t shirt. I think it will be cooler where I am going!

Thursday 11th November

A long, long day. Rising early, breakfast in town and the bus out to the airport, fly to Athens. Only time for one quick cigarette at the airport then the 11 hour flight to New York; much easier for the non-smokers! I had already booked a cheap shared transfer to the hostel and very glad that I had. It was over an hour and a half in rush hour traffic but I was dropped off at the front door and it only cost €14.

Jazz on the Park Hostel is big, about 600 beds, and is, as the name implies, right by Central Park. I check-in and was warmly greeted with a courtesy pack of goodies when they found out that I was attending the World Hostels Conference. The room is on the top floor; too many stairs for an old guy with luggage! The room is small, too small for the 3 bunks and the lockers are too small for even a daypack. A quick drink and sandwich at their cafe then bed by 9pm local time (4am Greek time!).

I am wide awake at 1am my body telling me that I have slept over to 8 in the morning. I grab my clothes and laptop and head downstairs to the cafe to catch up on some work. The cafe is closed, the vending machine is broken and I am dehydrated. After a chat with the guys on reception I head out on to the mean streets of NYC to an all night Deli 2 blocks away. It is nowhere near as cold or as mean as I expected; the confidence rises.

After four hours I think it would be a good idea to try to get a little sleep. Returning to the room I am greeted with loud snoring, an over-powering smell of alcohol and someone crashed in my bed. To make matter worse he has taken the pillow and blanket from his own bed as well! To complain could cause problems so I wrap up in some extra clothes and improvise a pillow.

Friday 12th November

The stench got too much so I was up again at 7.30am. Breakfast and a long walk in Central Park to clear the head. It really is quite beautiful in the ‘fall’.




It’s my grandson’s 4th birthday in a month so I thought to get him a present, something purely Yankee. I had heard that the best Toys’R’Us is just off Times Square so I might as well do the tourist thang and some shopping.

You have seen the NY subway in movies; it’s not like that anymore, very clean, safe and no graffiti; that came as a surprise. The other surprise is how easy it is to navigate around the city once you understand how the streets are organised. The avenues run north south and the streets run west east with numbering starting with 1 at the southern tip of Manhattan. If you ask I could now take you to 230 W 49th Street!





Back to the story; subway to Times Square and the huge milling crowds of tourists. Toys’R’Us was big and a big disappointment; toys that interest for a few minutes, not much more – and big shipping costs – back to the drawing board for a pressie for Fynn. I had a long wander around the area including a good photo of the Empire State Building. Then an evening meal in a traditional burger before taking in a show on Broadway. If you get the chance go see ‘Fela’ (I think it has also just opened in London; the story of one of my musical heroes who became a political activist against the brutal dictatorship in Nigeria. It sounds a weird subject but the singing and dancing alone make it quite a spectacle.

Saturday 13th November

Yeah, I have beaten the jetlag. After my exertions of yesterday I slept a full 8 hours and got up in time for breakfast at the hostel (they end it at 9.30am – what!!).

I deserve a lazy day.

Josh has a new smart phone that knows where he is and where to find nearby stores, coffee houses, restaurants, etc., with star ratings for them all. It’s mind-boggling but I think that I can live without one especially as it wouldn’t tell me much on Crete! Having said that we head off for lunch to a place half a mile away that has a 5 star rating. A good job we had the address or we would have missed it. A tiny place with just 4 tables, very friendly, the owner and chef is enthusiastic and inventive with the menu. It deserves its 5 stars.

We agree that it is art museum time as the ‘Museum Mile’ is just a half hour walk away across the other side of Central Park. We find the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan but both have queues of tourists and charge a bit too much for entry so we satisfy ourselves with photos of the exteriors.



Josh & I both have work to catch up on; me this blog and him his presentation at the Hostel Conference (hehe - I’m glad I finished mine a week ago!). So we have a take-away from the hostel cafe and I go out and buy a bottle of good wine but not before I finish work – Josh still has a lot to do on Sunday!!

Sunday 14th November

For breakfast I had my first even bagel; not a life changing event but I hear they were better in the good old days.

Josh still needs time to finish his presentation so I decide to get some serious mileage in ready for hiking in Panama. Through Central Park to the East River and over to Ward Island. Beautiful warm November weather.




In the evening we head Downtown for the New York hostel reunion. While waiting for the others I have my first ever Starbucks coffee – it will be my last ever – horrible.



In the photo, from the left, Rebecca, Mindy, Dave, Josh, Loretta and Tom who flew in for the gathering from Minnesota. What a load of fun which then turned into a pub crawl of the East Village. About the last thing I remember was ordering a round of Irish whiskey!

Sorry today’s blog is a little late; I know that you understand and I expect no sympathy.

I’m at the World Hostel Conference for the next 3 days leaving the hostel here at 8am and do not expect to be back until late. The next update will probably be on Thursday or Friday.

Monday 15th November

After a slow start to the day Josh & I just get to the conference venue in time for the opening speech at 4pm. There are about 160 hostel managers and owners from all over the world; other than Josh I also know Iuliana from Romania and Brian from Ohio who were both in Plakias in June.

The opening is followed by an open networking reception. After an hour of pressing palms and half a glass of wine I’m ready to go. At the subway station I make a mistake and get on the Uptown Express; this train does not stop at my station! So instead of getting off at 103 Street I have to travel up to 125 Street then cross over and get the slow train back to my stop.

I spend an hour changing my presentation for the following day to include the Plakias reunion last Sunday night.

Tuesday 16th November

I am nervous about making my presentation; but so are Iuliana and Brian who also talk today. Some of the talks are too much new technology for my tastes or they are really only applicable to large hostels. Who, for example, wants a $2000 passport scanner and all the bits that go with it!

I‘m due on at 3pm but I am asked if I will let Soraya from Spain go first as she has to get to Boston this evening. My talk goes well (How to create a social hostel); they laugh at the jokes and ask a few questions afterwards.


My presentation.

As soon as I step off the stage a guy comes up and thanks me for an interesting presentation and shoots off to the toilets. A woman then comes over and congratulates me and tells me that the guy who has just gone is the travel correspondent for the New York Times – wow!

At the end of the presentations we head off as a group for a tour and party at the New York Hostelling International Hostel; the largest in the USA with 672 beds. It has been well put together but is sterile with no atmosphere. A few glasses of wine to relax and it’s time for bed.

Wednesday 17th November

A bus takes us from the hostel to the conference at 8am. Another full day of presentations.

Instead of going for lunch with the others I decide to walk across the nearby famous Brooklyn Bridge and get a takeaway lunch afterwards.



Manhattan from brooklyn Bridge

At 6pm we all pile into 3 big school buses, yes, the big yellow ones you see in the films, to go to the Brooklyn Brewery. A few ‘samples’ of their very good beers and I’m ready to go.

Overall a worthwhile 3 day conference with many new contacts; but was it worth travelling all that way? Just for the conference – no. But the conference, the tourist thing in NYC and then on to Panama – yes.

Thursday 18th November

I have an appointment for coffee with Rebecca at 11am. I go for a leisurely stroll through Central Park to meet her. It’s a big park and it takes more than an hour to walk from one end to the other. We spend the morning in Schwarz toy store; she shopping for her nearly one year old and me on my continued quest for Perudo for Will and a 4th birthday present for my grandson, Fynn. Again no luck with the Perudo, they don’t even sell loose dice! However, I did get a present for Fyn and so we race to a nearby Post Office and then down into the subway. I have an airport transfer at 1.20pm and it’s nearly 1pm already. Would you believe it; we get on the express train again and so it 1.15pm before we get back to the hostel. I grab my bags and wait, and wait! Eventually I ring the transfer company and they have got the times wrong – aaaargh!

Fortunately a Chilean guy rushes out of the hostel at that point and tries to hail a taxi. We are both in luck – he wants Newark Airport as well. We get to the airport in plenty of time but the dumb taxi driver tries to overcharge us; we simply tell him to go get the police if he has a problem, after a load more shouting at us he leaves.

And so on to Panama which I will continue with a new blog page. Simply to say that I arrive at Hostel Mamallena around midnight; Will is waiting. Three hours and many shots later it is time for bed.