| Yesterday was a pretty interesting day,
| |
| | and that one of the main subway trains
|
| the weather was cool and overcast, with
| |
| | (the 7 train) is called "The
|
| rain coming in during the latter part of
| |
| | International Express" because it cuts
|
| the afternoon. A few weeks ago I had
| |
| | through all sorts of ethnic
|
| booked a meeting with one of the Big
| |
| | neighbourhoods.
|
| Apple Greeters, an organization of local
| |
| | A quick jump onto this very subway later,
|
| NYC volunteers that takes out-of-town
| |
| | which runs on elevated tracks through a
|
| visitors around the city and shows them
| |
| | good chunk of Queens, so you can actually
|
| local sights and shares local
| |
| | see the neighbourhood, and we arrived in
|
| information. The service is a great way
| |
| | Jackson Heights, an area with a lot of
|
| to link up with a local New Yorker, and
| |
| | Latin American immigrants and further
|
| best of all, it's free of charge.
| |
| | west we saw lots of South Asian (Indian,
|
| We were supposed to meet Suzanne, our
| |
| | Pakistani and Bangladeshi) stores. For a
|
| greeter, at 11:00 am at the 71st Street
| |
| | Torontonian seeing all these ethnic
|
| subway station, but we got a late start
| |
| | stores is not all that unusual, since we
|
| after breakfast and there were some
| |
| | have a lot of that in Toronto too, but I
|
| delays on the subway system, so we didn't
| |
| | am sure these ethnic neighbourhoods must
|
| meet Suzanne until 11:50 am. Suzanne is a
| |
| | be quite unusual and unique for people
|
| former highschool teacher, in her
| |
| | who come from smaller less international
|
| sixties, and a very friendly and outgoing
| |
| | places.
|
| individual. We felt bad about being late,
| |
| | We then took the 47 and 19 Queens bus to
|
| but she said it wasn't a problem at all.
| |
| | a neighbourhood called Astoria, where a
|
| She was extremely gracious and helpful
| |
| | lot of Greek immigrants congregate. We
|
| throughout our entire time with her.
| |
| | ended up having dinner in a little quaint
|
| Suzanne started the tour by taking us
| |
| | and cosy Greek restaurant called Zygos
|
| through a very upscale Queens
| |
| | Restaurant ("zygos" means "libra" or
|
| neighbourhood called Forest Hill Gardens,
| |
| | "balance") where we continued our nice
|
| which is a neighbourhood with private
| |
| | conversation with Suzanne, our local
|
| streets where local residents pay higher
| |
| | expert. Suzanne has been a greeter for
|
| than normal taxes for additional
| |
| | the last 12 years and has studied all
|
| services, such as more frequent garbage
| |
| | areas of New York City. She said she
|
| pickup etc. Suzanne indicated that these
| |
| | travels, by herself, into all areas of
|
| homes go from anywhere from US$ 1 million
| |
| | NYC, including Harlem and the Bronx, and
|
| and up. Everything was blooming and many
| |
| | she loves exploring and sharing the city
|
| local handymen, gardners and maids were
| |
| | that she loves with people from all over
|
| on the road. We also had a chance to
| |
| | the world.
|
| visit the old US Open Tennis Center which
| |
| | When we left at about a quarter to 7 pm,
|
| is located in an amphitheatre right next
| |
| | Suzanne had spent more than 7 hours with
|
| to the Forest Hill Country Club.
| |
| | us and we had really gotten to know each
|
| On from there we took a bus to the
| |
| | other quite well on a personal level. We
|
| Flushing neighbourhood, an area with lots
| |
| | also we ended up exchanging email
|
| of Chinese and Korean stores, where
| |
| | addresses and we extended mutual
|
| Suzanne treated us to same savory Chinese
| |
| | invitations to stay in touch and I said
|
| dumplings. All the time she explained to
| |
| | I'd love to take her around whenever she
|
| us the multicultural character of Queens,
| |
| | comes to the Toronto area.
|
