Jul 31, 2012

Waiting for the bus...


Bus station in Nashau, New Hampshire 

I just got back from a business trip to beautiful New Hampshire that I took on a Greyhound. The trip was about 24 hours each way and I was unable to get any sleep on the bus at all. I did enjoy the whole experience and the opportunity to take all these pictures, especially the pictures of people, which I mainly took on my trip home in the Cleveland Greyhound station. This was supposed to be a 5 hour layover, but I missed the Detroit bus along with 4 other nice people, all who were very confident that we were not supposed to get into the Detroit Express line. This taught me to not so blindly trust other people, even if they seem like they know exactly what they are doing! Because of this little mistake, I had to stay in Cleveland for an additional 4 hours, making it a 9 hour layover. I also got no sleep at the station too, but took lots of pictures, ate some fries, M&M's and drank a couple cups of coffee. When I was outside taking pictures of Cleveland from the station at dawn, a young lady started talking to me and she asked me where I was from because my accent had a "twang". Lol, I really thought my accent was relatively neutral, growing up in Florida, the melting pot of cultures. Well that was a nice Greyhound station, but the metal mesh chairs were not comfortable at all and I had to sit on my pillow. The a/c was turned down way to cold and I'm glad to be out of there!

I found the juxtaposition of the stuck in the 19'th century devout religious Amish people with the modern, hedonistic, colorful and high tech 21'st century society, which is full of sin and technological advancements quite interesting, as well as the lobby full of people who probably didn't seem very happy to this Amish family,  even with all these worldly objects surrounding them. Scroll down to see a few of these pictures.

I also learned that Worcester is pronounced Wooster and that a 24 hour bus ride is way more grueling than it seems like it would be, however the opportunities this gives to take pictures of people is priceless.

In some future blog posts, I will share the beauty of New Hampshire and maybe a few other places I also saw on this trip. Scroll all the way down to listen to some groovy music that I listened to a lot on this trip if you want to totally immerse yourself in this experience.

The first bus ride of return trip. This driver amusingly told me Worcester is pronounced "Woosta"

Man and his seeing eye dog in Hartford, Connecticut

Sitting in the back
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Worcester, Massachusetts Union Station w/ Christopher Columbus statue on lookout

Worcester, Massachusetts Union Station at dusk
NYC through the bus window with lens reflection over city

An Orthodox Jewish man catching sleep late at night, with his bike next to him

Floor reflecting the Arrivals doors in Cleveland Greyhound station

Cleveland, Ohio Greyhound station at dawn

Cleveland, Ohio Greyhound station at dawn

College kids in sleeping bags at Cleveland, Ohio

The sun is coming up in Cleveland, Ohio

Amish couple waiting for the bus in Cleveland, Ohio


Amish family waiting for the bus in Cleveland, Ohio

Amish man walking around the station

Behind the Cleveland Greyhound station in the smokers area at Dawn

Waiting patiently at Cleveland station

Cleveland at Dawn from the front of the Greyhound station

In front of the Cleveland Greyhound station in smokers area at dawn

People watching the Olympics in Cleveland , Ohio at dawn

Waiting patiently at Cleveland station

Bus parked at loading bay behind Cleveland Greyhound station through dirty bus window

Emergency Exit

The sky up there, through bus window

The lovely Detroit City through bus window


Detroit Motor City modern art deco building



Here's a little soundtrack to these pictures...
I listened to many of these songs on repeat during this trip.








2 comments:

Christine said...

You look so happy in your recent pics - glad to see it and I hope you're feeling better!

Robert Pickering said...

Maybe you should post Z.Z. Top's "Waiting for the Bus". That's what I kept humming to myself reading through your post.