I have
been thinking of writing this down for quite sometime, but didn't get the time
and patience until now. This is more of a travelogue than a note, but since I don’t
have the habit of writing a blog or anything, I just thought I will write it
down here.
My first
trip to the US, that too all alone, was on March 18th, 2014. That was the first
time I had been to the T2 Terminal of Mumbai and it was fantastic. Dejoy came
to see me off and I almost cried, because I so badly wanted him to be there
with me for the trip. My flight was via Amsterdam (Schiphol airport) where I
had a couple of hour’s transit time. So I thought I will just explore the
terminal and ended up in a liquor store. Then suddenly i remembered about a coffee
liquor I had had at a friend's place and I always wanted to buy the same. I
went looking for that and finally got it, Bailey's Irish Cream :) I checked the
price and decided to check out in the US also before purchasing. You know I am
a miser :P The result of this exploration was that I ended up having 2 small bottles
of Bailey's in my flight from Amsterdam to Boston :P
At Boston,
I was supposed to go in a shared taxi, which my boss had already booked, to my
hotel in Reading. I had no clue how to find the taxi since there was no number
or anything. All my immigration and customs was kind of cake-walk for me though
I was a lot tensed about the same. When I was waiting to collect my baggage, I
got a call in my phone from the taxi person asking me to come out through a
specific gate. I understood bits and pieces of the same and found out the gate
and went out. I saw one person standing outside with my name board. I went up
to him and he told me that he is the cab driver. I got a bit confused because
what we had booked was a shared van! Realizing my confusion, he told me that
there is nobody else to share a cab with and hence I can go in a single cab,
all alone.. I was not sure whether I should be happy or sad about this! I am
getting a cab all for myself, but then I am going alone to a new place, in a
new city!!
I finally
reached my hotel, Extended Stay America at Woburn, Main Street. They gave me a
room on the second floor with a nice view onto the main road. It was almost 3
PM there and I still felt freezing cold inside the room which made me put my
room heater in full power! I was not supposed to sleep off then because of the
whole jet lag stuff and hence decided to just walk around before it gets too
cold. There was a market basket just
opposite my hotel and I decided to go there and may be pick up some dinner
also. When I had decided to make this trip, I did get a lot of shopping
requests from people asking me to get things from US, mostly electronics stuff.
I am not a techie person and hence I had no clue what I wanted from US! But
this supermarket trip made me realize that I should be getting a lot of sauces
and spreads from there!!!! :D
Next day
was my first day in office and early morning Gary called me up to let me know
that he will be coming to pick me up at around 8 AM. That was the first time I
was meeting my manager in person! He is a really nice guy to work with, I
should say. I was really happy to see his black sleek Audi :P We reached office
and the parking was a bit far from the office building. Gary had told me to
wear all my woolen but I didn’t quite understand why he said that until I came
out of the car. It was all sunny outside, but the wind was freezing cold. I
felt my fingers crumbling! I have no idea how I covered that distance from the
parking to the building entrance! I couldn’t feel my legs! Once inside office,
it was comfortable though I took some time to become normal! I met with all my
teammates, George, Suzanne, Cathy, Lesley.. It was good to finally have faces
to all these names! That evening a few of the Indian folks in Reading office
called me for dinner. It was a good Indian restaurant, I don’t remember the
name though. Abitha picked me up from my hotel and I met with Sreeram, Viral,
Santhosh and Ram. Mostly tamilians and I enjoyed the food and the company J
Rest of
the weekdays went fine. One day I had dinner with Nuvs and Gary at an amazing
restaurant at Burlington named ‘Not your
Average Joe’s’ . I still savor the taste of the yummy pizza I had from
there. I met with Edmund with whom i work most of the time. One day I went out for lunch at Mandarin, Reading with Gary
and Suzanne. It was a lunch buffet and I really hogged! One of the days, we left office a little early and I decided
to walk to the nearby Woburn mall. It was almost 2 miles from my hotel and the
walk towards the mall was nice. Did some shopping also. But the return ended up
to a scary business as the roads were empty with no sign of humans around. It
was just 7PM in the evening!!
On Friday, Suzanne was asking me about my weekend plans. I did want to go out on weekend, but didn’t really have a plan.
Suzanne was a doll and she sent me all the information she could get hold of
about the subway routes, taxi contact, things to do and see at Boston etc. I
felt that she badly wanted me to explore Boston! I had also asked a friend of
mine and she had given me a list of places to visit. In between, Dejoy planted in
me this idea of going to New York over the weekend! I checked out the buses and
trains, but it was all full and hence dropped the idea. Abitha asked me to join
her for a party she was planning to go to, but I didn’t feel like and hence
declined the same. All confused and sad from that fact that I was all alone
there, I decided to do nothing and stay back in the hotel! Thanks to Dejoy for
pushing me to drop that plan and do something over the weekend. So Friday
night, back from office, I started my planning for the next day.
I
understood that the only mode of public transport near my hotel is the MBTA bus
service and that it’s not there on Sundays!! So I had one day in hand to cover
the entire Boston! I understood that timing and planning is the essence!! The
first bus is at 7 AM and I have to start then. First I listed down all the
places I want to visit in Boston and then I mapped them in Google maps and
understood the distance between the places and also the mode of transport
available. I must say, Google maps is such a life saver, so is the Google
navigation in phone!!! Finally after 3 solid hours of Googling, I came up with
a detailed route map and plan! This first step itself made me so proud and
happy! I went to bed feeling accomplished.
I woke up
at 6 AM since I had to catch the first bus at 7 AM from the stop right opposite
my hotel, Bus number 134. This is the only public transport which connects
Woburn to Wellington area. The grab and go breakfast in my hotel was really
handy. My first destination was Harvard Square and for that my plan was to get
to Wellington Subway station and get into the Redline from there. The bus came
at around 7.10 and I got into the same. It was pretty empty. Now comes the
funny part! There is no ‘conductor’ in the bus and I was totally confused as to
how to get the tickets. While getting in itself, the driver did ask me something
which I didn’t understand. I ignored him and sat in a seat. Later, after
observing some fellow passengers getting in, I understood that the driver
himself is the conductor:P I went up to him and told that I want to go to
Harvard square and hence want to get down at Wellington. He told me to get down
at Medford and take another bus (Bus 96) which directly goes to Harvard square.
I paid him 2 dollars. That’s another funny part. Irrespective of where you are
getting down, the ticket is of the same rate; 2 dollars!
I reached
Harvard square at around 8.45 am. It was really cold outside. I walked through
the lanes and reached inside the Harvard campus. It was so divine and peaceful
inside. I saw the famous John Harvard statue. That is when I realized the major
problem of traveling alone, nobody to click your photo! Finally I asked some
tourists who came that side to click one for me. I never thought that would be
the only photo in my whole US trip with my face in it!!! L I went through the full
campus, saw the engineering block, museums, labs and also classrooms. It was a
pretty long walk and I was hungry! So I picked up a sandwich from one of the
few cafes which were open at that time and walked to Harvard station in the Red
Line. I was also planning to buy Charlie card from there which can be used in
the bus and trains instead of giving money every time; we can load the card
from any station and use. Suzanne told me about this J
So fully
loaded, I took the Redline from Harvard to Park Street and from there green
line to Copley. After getting down at Copley, I walked towards Prudential
center. Thanks to Google maps for this information and navigation. While I was
walking towards Prudential, I noticed a lot of people dressed up in different
characters walking alongside. It was really amusing and I understood that there
is some costume party happening at the exhibition center over there. I had a
tough time figuring out the entrance to the Prudential center because of the
crowd over there. Inside the mall, I realized that my phone is getting drained
very fast because of the navigation and I decided to charge my battery. I found
out the loo in the mall and went in looking for a plug point. It was more of a
dressing room than a washroom, I felt! There were lots of girls and ladies
coming into the room to get ready for the costume party I had mentioned before.
It was really fun to see them coming in looking extremely normal, going out
looking ravishing and unique J
After
checking out some shops at Prudential, I decided to go to the Macy’s at
Washington Street. Got into the green line at Copley and then got down at
ParkStreet and walked to the Macy’s. I always wanted to visit a Macy’s... I
wanted to buy something for Dejoy from there, was looking out for some nice
shirts or jackets. It was all highly priced and the conversion math gave me a
headache!! Finally I identified a session of informal blazers which were on
sale. They were all awesome looking and I wanted to pick one for Dejoy. I
didn’t knew his size as per the UK scale over there and hence made a video call
to him through Skype. I showed him all the options I had and asked him to
select. I also sent him pics so that he get a better idea. Finally I selected one
and went to the billing counter. There was a long queue over there, still I
waited patiently. Finally my turn came.
There was
a happy looking middle aged guy at the billing desk. We wished each other and
he asked me whether this is my first time in the US! I said “Yeaaahh”. He was
so excited to hear the same, he told me in that case I deserve a gift!! I
thought he is kidding.. He told me “Say the magic word,, You know it dear” and
smiled at me… Then I remembered my officemate Sidd telling me that in the US,
the staff at department stores can give you awesome discounts. So I thought, “What
magic word should I say!?” I decided to choose the safest one though. All
excited, I said “Please, sir” and boom straightaway I got a discount of 20
dollars!! That was a steal……. Dejoy was on Skype with me and he couldn’t
believe that I got the blazer at that price. He asked me run before he catches
me :P :P I did run :D
The moment
I got out of the Macy’s, I realized that it rained while I was inside. The city
looked so beautiful and different now. My next destination was Faneuil Hall
marketplace located near the waterfront. As per the map, it was walkable
distance and weather also supported that option! So I walked from Macy’s towards
Faneuil and on the way I saw the busy life of Boston. Cars speeding, people
walking in all directions and magnificent buildings. By the time I reached
Faneuil Hall, I was hungry! I roamed the place for sometime but quickly decided
to have my lunch and then do all the shopping. My friend Sandhya’s friend had
suggested a restaurant in that area and I mapped to Durgin Park. When I reached
the place, the entrance looked a bit shady. It was not a fine dining or
something. The stairs to the restaurant upstairs was really scary for me! 
I found an
empty table in a quiet corner of the restaurant. I purposely chose that place
since I didn’t want any locals to get ‘shocked’ with what I eat and the way I eat!!
The waiter boy was quiet surprised to see a girl alone in there. He asked me at
least twice or thrice whether I am alone or I am expecting someone. I remembered
the scene in Friends where Rachel dines alone and gets judged for the same :P
Anyways, when it comes to food, I don’t care whether I am alone or whether
anyone is gonna judge me! So I decided to hog as usual :D Based on the
recommendations I received, I ordered a New England clam chowder and Lobster
roll. Yummy it was, I must say….
Happily
fed, I moved out of the restaurant. Did some random shopping in the South
Market area, saw the famous Freedom Trail.
My next
target was North End, Boston which was a residential area with a lot of Italian
population. Suzanne had told me that I must visit the same for 2 reasons. One,
awesome architecture and second, amazing pastry shops.
While
walking through the streets at North End, I came across a beautiful church
also. Structurally it was very different from the kind of churches I had seen
and was also very serene inside.
Finally I reached
my dessert destination, the Mike’s Pastry J I had no
issue in finding out the place as I could see the crowd from half a mile away!
God, the place was shit crowded which makes one doubt whether all of them are
visiting Boston for the first time like me! There were long queues (Yes! Multiple
queues!!!) and I was not even able to see what is happening at the counter!
I realized
that this endeavor of mine is going to be really time consuming but I decided I
will wait patiently. At the end of the day, it’s for foooooooooood J
Finally my
turn came and I didn’t even get a good chance to understand the menu completely
because people behind were rushing me. So I ordered the most popular thing they
offer, Cannoli.. Also ordered a lot of cupcakes, ricotta pie and a few pastries.
I didn’t get time to think whether I am going to eat all that, I just ordered
blindly. I got my boxes and I struggled my way out happy and content J
That was
my last destination for my one day trip. Since I was using public transport,
time was very critical as the last bus to Woburn left at around 5.30 PM from
Wellington Station Bus Bay. I already lost significant time at the pastry
store. Hence I rushed to the metro line. I took the Orange line from Haymarket
to Wellington station. In the train, there was an announcement that, since
there was some construction going on in the rail lines, the last station would
be Sullivan square! Hmm, that’s trouble. That means I am gonna lose more time
now. So I got down at Sullivan square. There was an MBTA bus arranged which
took all passengers to Wellington station. There was again long queue for the
bus and I got into the second trip that left. Finally I reached the Wellington
bus station and asked around for the 134 bus route. They pointed me to one bus
stop and said the last bus will come in 15 minutes. By then, it was around 6.00
and it was getting very cold. I started getting a little scared too! When you
are alone, scared, cold and waiting, time seems to run super slow. It felt like
I have been waiting for years for my 134!! Finally it came! Everybody got down
as it was the last stop for the inbound journey and now the bus will return
after a few minutes. I got inside, there were only a couple of people who were
there with me inside. After almost 10 minutes, the driver took the bus and I was
suddenly a lot calm. I mapped to my hotel in my phone and was making sure that
we were on the right route!! Only a few got into the bus during the journey.
By the
time we reached half way through the distance, I noticed that only two people
were left in the bus now. Me and another female. That was odd given the fact
that we are yet to cover half the distance. In another ten minutes, the driver
stopped at a bus stop and turned back and told us something. I didn’t understand
it at all and I assumed that he was talking to the other female. I looked at
her and she also looked confused. The driver again said something and this time
I almost understood. He said that that was the last stop of the bus!!!
Ok, now I am
really scared. How can this be the last stop!! I asked him the same. He said
this is some ‘shorter version’ of 134 and it ends at that point. I asked
whether there is any other bus that will come, he said he has no idea. The bus
drivers over there can be people who do this for part-time and hence might
not be aware of any specifics. We got down and he took a u-Turn and
left!!
It was
almost 7PM in the evening and I was standing clueless on the footpath in an
unknown place with an unknown woman! 7PM in Mumbai is nothing, people start to
live at that time only, but 7PM in a countryside in the US was totally
different. I couldn’t find a single human being around apart from the 2 of us.
That lady looked equally scared and she was trying to make some calls. I didn’t
bother to do that since I knew everyone who care about me would be sleeping
peacefully in India at that time….. To add to the already messed up scene, I noticed
that we are standing opposite a cemetery with lots of trees and it felt like a Hollywood
horror movie setting!!
I was
thinking about all the different options I have. I can try to get a cab, but
there was no Uber or anything in that area. My hotel folks had given me the
contact details of a few cab agencies and thought I will call them. Another
option was to call Gary or Suzanne but I quickly decided that that would be my
last sort. Then it struck me that before doing any of this, I should confirm
whether there is any bus which is gonna come now. I decided to ask the lady.
She told me that she has no idea and she is trying to get a cab. I thought I will
go with her, if she is ok with that… But she told me she has been trying for some
time and no cab is ready to come all the way there to pick her up.
So we decided
that she will try for the cab option and I will see whether any bus is there. I
had no clue how though. My only travel guide throughout the entire day was
Google maps and it was not showing any feasible bus option. Suddenly I remembered
that Dejoy had installed a lot of Boston apps on my phone before the day of my
travel. I had no idea what all apps he had put, but remembered him telling me
that there are apps with train timings, bus timings etc. So I frantically
looked through the apps in my phone and came across an MBTA app!!!!! I opened
the same and Voilaaaa… That’s exactly what I was looking for. It had a map view
of all the buses around you along with the number (like Uber). The first thing I
saw was #134 and I saw one bus on the map coming towards us. It was
sooooo happy. I told the other lady that there is a bus coming and we both
waited eagerly for the same. We waited for like 10 minutes and there it was…
134 Bus….. But… in the opposite direction…… In the excitement in finding out
the nearest bus, I didn’t check whether it was inbound or outbound. We wanted
an outbound one whereas the one which I saw on the map was inbound!!! The lady
gave me a blank smile!
Anyways
the fact that there was an inbound bus at that time gave me hope. I kept
checking the app every second irrespective of the fact that my battery is
getting drained at exponential rate. Finally I found one J There was an outbound 134
coming in our direction. Hurraaayyyyy…… I told the lady and we both started
looking at the app screen without even blinking our eyes as if if we blink, the
bus is going to vanish!! We tracked the bus until it reached us. Happy and
relieved, we both got into the bus…………….. I reached the hotel at around 8.30 PM
and I was soooooo happy. I felt like I accomplished something and felt like
Ross who found a new meaning for life after the ‘near death’ car backfire!! :P
I wanted to tell the whole story to Dejoy but I knew he will be sleeping….. I
had an amazing dinner from the Sichuan Garden restaurant nearby with the
awesome Mike’s pastries as dessert.
I had no
plans for the next day as it was Sunday and there is no 134! So basically I am
stuck. Then in the morning, I got a call from Suzanne and she said she has to
drop her kids for some coaching and hence will be coming this way and can pick
me up for some shopping. She said she wants to go to TJ Maxx and I was more
than happy to join her. So we went to TJ Maxx, then to Target and later to Lindt Chocolate store. I picked up candies for Mayu and chocolates for my office friends. I enjoyed the ‘Shopping
Day’ too. In the evening I went to the AC Moore craft store across my hotel and
did some shopping for both my moms…
The next
day when I reached office, everyone was asking me about my Boston trip as
Suzanne had told all of them. They were soo surprised that I covered all that
in one day! Of course the bus story remains hidden………..
