When I realised we had an 8 hour layover in Newark airport I knew we had to leave the airport and see some of America! NYC looks pretty close from Newark but looks can be deceptive and I was nervous about getting there and back in traffic. So we decided to go and see Newark (the town) instead.
We took a local bus from Newark airport to Newark downtown, which was inexpensive and, it turned out, a good way to see a cross section of the city. The bus cruised down Broad Street past houses and green spaces and into downtown. This didn’t seem very salubrious at first with “cash for gold” shops and discount stores, but this turned into high-street chains the nearer you got to the centre. Sadly we didn’t have time to explore properly but we had a little walk and then realised we were starving so grabbed a quick lunch in Subway. It didn’t feel unsafe per se on the streets, but it didn’t feel entirely safe either, and I was hesitant to get my camera out.
And that’s about all we did! In retrospect that sounds pretty anticlimactic, but at least we got out of the airport! Where would you go if you had 8 hours to kill in Newark airport? Would you risk the trip into NYC for a precious hour or two in the big apple?
On our way back home we transitted through Newark again, but this time I was feeling ill so I mainly hung around the airport clutching my stomach. In search of fresh air we made our way onto the roof of the car park and watched a beautiful fiery sunset. As we stood there, snow started to fall. It was a lovely end to a wonderful holiday! Apart from the tummy ache obviously.
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