My trip to Nepal started on Tuesday. I knew I had to fly in one airport and out the other for this leg of the trip, but I was so convinced that I was flying out of Dulles Airport and into National that I forgot to check. So I took the bus to Dulles, fortunately arriving there 2 hours before my flight time, only to find out that actually, I didn't read my itinerary, and I was flying out of National. Thereby ruining the entire convenience of National.
I wasn't too concerned because I had a 7 hour layover in New York and there are flights there all the time, but I didn't want to have to pay the $50 fee to change my flight. Plus I was looking forward to my trip to the Botanical Gardens. Fortunately my bus trip back into the city counted as a transfer so I didn't have to pay the $6 to go back. (Why the 5A is $3.10 going to Dulles and $6 going back is beyond me). I did get a taxi from Rosslyn, and ended up making it there just after the deadline for 30 minute check-in had passed, but fortunately they were able to get me checked in at the Delta Shuttle desk and I wasn't even the last person on the plane! Once again, Delta showed itself to be a competent airline and National once again proved that it is the best airport in DC. Even if you were able to get through security that quickly at Dulles, you wouldn't make it to your plane on time because of their stupid set-up! (Did I mention I hate Dulles?) Also, my checked bag made it on the plane! I figured it had enough time to meet me in New York, but I saw it come off the plane in New York, so that was exciting.
In New York I took the subway to the Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn. It took me a little bit of time to realize that the A train, which is the one you catch at JFK, is an express train, but I figured it out in time to transfer to the C train and avoided anymore stupidity for the day (I've realized I need to budget for making stupid mistakes while traveling).
The Botanical Gardens are very pretty. It was warm, but it was nice just to walk outside for a couple hours before sitting on a plane for 14. I was really impressed with what I saw in the middle of New York. I think the rose garden was my favorite, but I also liked the "natural" (e.g., woods) part, as well as just walking barefoot through the grass. I was tempted to go to the Brooklyn Museum instead, since it does have some cool Egyptian stuff, but I was glad I made the choice to be outside.
No comments:
Post a Comment