Written by Quinn Trahant|
Photos by Quinn Trahant|

New York, New York is the complete opposite of Clinton, Connecticut. The small town next to the water that is Clinton does not have the same fast-paced, buzzing energy you feel when walking through the city. New York City is a place that has to be visited-and luckily, it is very easy to get there thanks to Metro-North trains out of New Haven.

This past Friday, I journeyed to the Union Station to catch a train to Grand Central. But before that, I needed to know what time my train left. Luckily, there is an easy way to check times via the Metro-North website. My train was leaving at 1:45, so I decided to leave at 1:00. It is very easy to get there and only takes around a half an hour. Once you arrive, you park in an adjacent garage and take a ticket that calculates your rate based on how long your car has been there. It was crowded that afternoon, so I had to park near the top. After you have everything you need from your car, make your way down to the train station to buy tickets. The average cost of a round trip train to Grand Central from New Haven is $33.00, not too much money at all. There is a Dunkin Donuts in the station too which is perfect if you’re catching an early train.

Once you get to the right track where your train will be, you wait with everyone else. Once the train arrives, let everyone off first and then board. You can sit wherever you’d like, and the seats are pretty comfortable. The train takes approximately 2 and a half hours with multiple stops in other towns like Milford and New Canaan. The train was nice and smooth, I mostly slept and listened to music. Finally, you reach the last stop. Grand Central station is beautiful and full of people.

When you step out onto 42nd street, the feeling is amazing. Right away, I went to John’s Pizza for lunch.  The food is great. After that, I walked around for a bit and then went to a New York Knicks game. They lost, but being in Madison Square Garden was amazing. After that I ate dinner at Chick-fil-A and caught the 11:30 train back to New Haven. There are limitless things to do throughout the city, and it is nice to know that is is easy to get there and back whenever I want. I will definitely be taking many more trips to the Big Apple, starting at Union Station.