I love Boston.  I love Cambridge even more.  But sometimes it’s nice to take a break and do something random, do something spontaneous, do something… like go to New York!

As I mentioned in my previous post, my exam schedule for this semester is really strange.  I had a two-part Spanish exam at the beginning of last week while it was still Reading Period, and a 15-page Celtic History final paper due Friday afternoon.  Now I have an entire week of nothing before my next two exams, which will be Economics 10 on Saturday morning and Government 20 on the following Monday afternoon.  I suppose that most students, given all of this time, would either waste it or use every second to study.  I decided to give myself a break after a week of hard work before the second week of hard work by going to visit some friends in New York.

This might sound drastic and only a little crazy.  I do admit to being on the spontaneous side of normal, but really it was very easy and not at all hard to do.  Being from Pittsburgh, I’m not used to easy travel unless it’s by car to either Ohio or West Virginia or by plane to anywhere worth going.  It turns out that in New England, there is plenty of affordable public transportation that can take you almost anywhere!

After I decided I wanted to go to New York for the weekend, I looked up ways of getting there.  Amtrak has a fast-moving three-hour train ride there for about $90 one way.  While this no doubt would have been both comfortable and quick, I decided that I really wasn’t willing to hand over that kind of cash for a quick trip.  So I looked up bus routes, and lo and behold Bolt Bus has a four-hour ride from Boston to New York for only $15!

The trip itself was also easy!  I took the T (Boston’s subway system) directly from Harvard Square to South Station, where it was a two-minute walk to the bus terminal where I boarded my bus.  The Bolt Bus had Wi-fi and power outlets so I could watch endless numbers of movies on Netflix and stalk my friends on Facebook.

Before I knew it, I was there – dropped off right outside of Penn Station!  But while New York was awesome, I found that I really did miss Cambridge.  The great thing about going to school in a city like Cambridge is that it’s a lot more manageable in size but there is still always more to explore.  But, if you’re ever looking for something crazy and spontaneous to do… New York is just a $15 bus ride away!