Back to Toronto.

When the plane landed at Pearson Monday afternoon a huge grin was to be seen upon my face. Home! Toronto! Yay!

Sunday afternoon I went off on my own in New York. I took the subway over to the Met, sampled some of it, walked around Central Park and then down Fifth Ave., and eventually made my way back to Brooklyn for dinner and hanging out with DN and JA. Good day. Although I saw almost nothing in New York and didn't really finish my research, I'm happy with how things went. It was great to hang out with DN---he's better than a museum or art gallery any day. And this way I have an excuse to go back to the city. I should go with my mom or something. That'd be fun.

Here are a couple shots of the park. It was a gorgeous day, and lots of people were out. Dogs and children and locals and tourists.Early Monday morning I packed up and headed off to JFK airport for my flight back to Toronto. On the AirTrain, one stop from the airport, I realized that I was going to the wrong airport!! Crap! I stupidly assumed that I was flying out of the same airport I flew into. But no. So after pondering what I should do, I decided to take a cab to LaGuardia and hope for the best. Good thing I was at the first airport 2 hours ahead of my flight, so I got to the second one with plenty of time to spare. Plus, LaGuardia is small, so it was really quick going through everything. On the cab ride over I even got to see---from the Van Wyck Expressway---parts of the city I hadn't seen: the flying saucers and that big globe thing from the old world's fair at Flushing Meadows, and Shea Stadium. All's well that ends well, but hopefully I've learned my lesson. Never assume and always double-check that you're going to the right airport!

The flight itself was uneventful and on the same little regional jet that I flew over on. (Less than 40 seats.) I was clever (and lucky) and picked a single seat, to avoid having to sit beside someone who would take up all my space, like what happened on the way over. The plane flew right over Manhattan and so I got to see the island and some of the other boroughs from the air. It was awesome. The big buildings and Central Park really stand out, as does the brown ickyness that is the East River. And then as we approached Pearson I got a fantastic view of the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara, and pretty much the whole of Toronto. Amazing stuff, and maybe even makes me feel a little better about having paid too much (in my mind) for the flight.

New York is great but it's really a shame that the city is so polluted. My nose was stuffed up the entire time I was there, and one day back in Toronto and everything's all cleared up. Washington Heights (in northern Manhattan) and DN's neighbourhood in Brooklyn both smelled like dirt, and I'm sure this is the smell of pollution. It was kinda gross. (Central Park didn't have this smell.) After nearly two years in the city, DN still loves it, but is tired of all the people, the noise, and the pollution.