45 MINUTES! Plus, new scenery

Last night I discovered something new: A different route to work. I left work to meet friends for dinner in Hoboken, which is across and up the river from lower Manhattan. I had already known of people working in Manhattan who live in Hoboken or drive to Hoboken, park, and take the PATH into Manhattan. Also, many other commuters take trains to Hoboken, and then across, so that wasn't really new. But, I discovered that the ride on the one train was roughly 10-15 minutes into Hoboken from work! Including the walk to the PATH trains and buying a ticket!

When I met the one friend, Bob, at the restaurant, we all decided meet at a different restaurant. So, Bob and I took the Light Rail (a new-ish train) up to Port Imperial and then the bus up to City Place to have Greek with Anna (our blonde Greek waitress) and our partners. What was exciting was realizing the actual transportation was roughly 35-40 minutes point to point.

I tried the reverse route this morning out of curiosity, though I had done the same once before in a rush and it had taken me about 1.5 hours to make the trek. I knew better where to go than the first time with incorrect connections. It took me a grand total of 45 MINUTES to get to work this morning. Plus, I was outdoors a little more than usual, and had a little more useful walking - for instance up huge flights of stairs. All in all, this is a new route to work that might be better in the long run, or at least will be better if I need to stay later at the office, yet be home quickly. It's so cool to me to incorporate new excitement into my commute, which I already find so exciting and fun!

New People & Places

In my previous Daily Commuter post with the new route to work, I mentioned taking the train from Port Imperial to Hoboken and across into the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. It's a pretty interesting route and here's why (aside from taking less time to get into the city).

When I switch from the bus to the Light Rail, I'm outside for a bit at a new station. The train comes out of a huge, old tunnel and I face Manhattan's skyline as the train departs and passes by the bus I just deboarded. The train passes through the backend of Hoboken and it really reminds me of Europe in great part, especially Germany and Frankfurt; the scenery evokes so much nostalgia and warm feelings of years gone by traveling and working throughout Europe.

The Hoboken Terminal reminds me of many of the European train stations and has been in existence for over 100 years. Walking through the terminal, I have visions of older, more romantic times where people used trains as their primary mode of transportation between cities and to work.

Once we get into lower Manhattan, we actually enter the hole of the World Trade Center, something I mentioned in earlier posts about 9/11 - think about it every day. When we entered the hole, I saw people across from me turn to look and inspect the area, the walls, the metal and cement debris piles, and the workers milling about. It made me both sad and hopeful simultaneously - hit with bad memories, but knowing that things can only get better.