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