You step out of the building and a wave of hot air and a sea of sounds (traffic noise, chatter, construction sounds, sirens) hits you, and you immediately realize where you are! Finally, Manhattan! For about 3 minutes we just stood at the exit in a stupor, looking at the colorful lights, passing taxis, people running by.. Perhaps at that moment you realize that you have entered a completely different world! This is the dream!!

Having regained the gift of speech, we set off to explore New York at night. Times Square, Broadway, 5th Avenue.. Around one in the morning we reached Central Park, collapsed on a bench and realized that we had no strength at all. We lay there for about an hour, periodically nudging each other so as not to fall asleep. Having gathered some strength, we realized that we wouldn't sit there all night, because it was quite cool, we were hungry, and it would be nice to get some internet.. Can you guess where we headed? Oh yes, it was McDonald's in Times Square))

There we ate, warmed up, chatted on Skype with our families (it was already around noon in Moscow by then), and met another crowd of Russian students..

Around 5 a.m. we realized that we could continue exploring New York. Since we also had a tour of the Statue of Liberty planned, we headed south, to the Yellow Street area.

I must say that the center of Manhattan at night is a rather dreary sight: air doesn't penetrate there because of the skyscrapers, trash is scattered everywhere, there are bags that are taken out of all establishments in the evening, and at night they are picked up by garbage trucks.. in general, you can imagine what kind of aroma is there. Yes, perhaps, I remember that night most of all for the stench of garbage((

But when we left the skyscraper area, we ended up in the New York that I liked the most!

It was an area of small 4-5 story houses with porches and trees in front of them, sticking out of a small green square surrounded by asphalt. Almost at every door lay morning newspapers just thrown by the postman. At some point, it seemed that we had ended up in a scene from the movie "Bruce Almighty". Jim Carrey is about to come out of the entrance, bring out a red armchair, plop it down by the tree and show his dog where to go to the bathroom))

Enjoying such landscapes, we walked around the deserted morning New York and by 7 o'clock we walked to the famous bull on Wall Street, rubbed all the places we needed to get some money, and with a clear conscience went on a tour of the Statue of Liberty.

Well, honestly, we only went there so as not to think later: "How could it be, we were in NY and didn't see the Statue of Liberty". Yes, I won't say anything new – a huge green woman with a book and a torch =) that's it). On the way from the island, we completely passed out (after all, more than a day without sleep). They say we made a stop on another island, but none of the three of us remembers this.

Actually, our time in New York was coming to an end, we returned to Times Square (now by subway, since we could barely feel our legs), said goodbye to our third companion, since he was going to stay in NY for a couple more days (By the way, he stayed there, never reached his employer. He took a bartender course, occasionally worked somewhere, lived ten people in a 2-room apartment.. But he didn't complain, because for him the main thing was parties and fun. What he wanted to get from the trip he got and was happy. To each his own)..

We had a little time, so we went into a shop – I wanted to buy at least some clothes for the first couple of days. But it was a weekend and, seeing the line to the fitting room, I decided that I would manage.. We moved to the bus station. I don't know why we decided that the Bus Station is at the intersection of 42nd Street and 5th Avenue. I don't know why this address stuck in our heads. So, half an hour until the bus, we turn the corner where, in our opinion, the Bus Station should be, and.. we don't see it there! We walked around the whole block – there is no bus station!!! And this is not just some stop! It's a whole terminal – it's impossible not to notice! 15 minutes until the bus.. I remember that I have a guidebook for New York in my backpack, prudently given to us by the staff of the CMO (thank you!). We check the address – intersection of 42nd Street and 8th!!! Avenue! Well, we think – NY was built by smart people, what's it to us to run 3 blocks.. Damn those builders who squeezed three more avenues between 5th and 6th!!!!! We ran to the station, but it turned out that the entrance was on the other side, and the nearest way was through the subway. We don't have travel cards, there are lines at the ticket offices, 7 minutes until the bus.. Yes, on our second day in America, we broke the law by jumping over the turnstiles twice!.

Finally, we were at the bus station, flew into the luggage storage, grabbed our bags and ran to the required exit. We ran to the bus 2 minutes before departure. Well, now we could exhale, flop into a soft seat and head to our place of residence..