PA is lovely, fertile in the valleys, been raped numerous times for forest products, coal and oil and current being messed by fracking.

Lancaster is sort of the action central for Amish...there are a couple of sects, some very luddite and others no so much.
Worth doing some reading. Every young person has to leave the community for a year and have to choose to come back.

We have extensive Amish nearby and there communities extending down to Mexico. I always wave to them when I pass them on the motorcycle and the kids light up.

We are here now. Left Toronto this morning, currently riding the train to New York. We have enjoyed Toronto and Niagara, but the high cost of supplies in the stores there came as a big shock. For instance a small loaf cost about £3+ in the shops we saw. Ouch

search your gadgets for dollar tree.

Surprise surprise there ain’t any in Manhattan.

Some great views along the Hudson River.

Not a surprise. There is a dollar store in mid-town manhattan though.

jamest wrote:We are here now. Left Toronto this morning, currently riding the train to New York. We have enjoyed Toronto and Niagara, but the high cost of supplies in the stores there came as a big shock. For instance a small loaf cost about £3+ in the shops we saw. Ouch

Where were you staying? I never pay more than $2.50 cdn for a half loaf of good bread.

Macdoc wrote:PA is lovely, fertile in the valleys, been raped numerous times for forest products, coal and oil and current being messed by fracking.

Lancaster is sort of the action central for Amish...there are a couple of sects, some very luddite and others no so much.
Worth doing some reading. Every young person has to leave the community for a year and have to choose to come back.

We have extensive Amish nearby and there communities extending down to Mexico. I always wave to them when I pass them on the motorcycle and the kids light up.

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felltoearth wrote:

jamest wrote:We are here now. Left Toronto this morning, currently riding the train to New York. We have enjoyed Toronto and Niagara, but the high cost of supplies in the stores there came as a big shock. For instance a small loaf cost about £3+ in the shops we saw. Ouch

Where were you staying? I never pay more than $2.50 cdn for a half loaf of good bread.

We were staying at Veeds on Peter Street, just north of Wayne Gretzky's restaurant which is apparently famous? Of course we didn't know the area though obviously you local guys know where to go to get the best deals on stores, but the few stores we happened upon in our area were all very expensive compared to home. Not just bread, almost everything seemed about 3 or 4 times the price we pay in the UK. The confusing thing about it was that when we ate out the prices were far more reasonable, almost on a par with home. Of course we were only there a few days.

We've only been in New York for 24 hours but we've experienced a similar situation here (about a 10 minute walk from Times Square), in that there seems plenty of reasonable/cheap places to eat out, but in the two mini markets we've been in most things seem expensive. For instance, a dollar for a single apple; about 3 dollars for bread; 5 or 6 dollars for a box of breakfast cereal; $4.50 for a tub of butter. I guess we're being fleeced because we're staying in the tourist area.

We arrived late last night but visited Times Square. Quite a place on a Saturday night. Loved it. We really enjoyed the vibe in Central Park today too, followed by a visit up Top of the Rock. What can I say about those views!

Oh, one more thing: I can't find a pie/pasty or pork pie anywhere. What's wrong with you guys?

Aren't pasties the things that go on nipples?

jamest wrote:

felltoearth wrote:

jamest wrote:We are here now. Left Toronto this morning, currently riding the train to New York. We have enjoyed Toronto and Niagara, but the high cost of supplies in the stores there came as a big shock. For instance a small loaf cost about £3+ in the shops we saw. Ouch

Where were you staying? I never pay more than $2.50 cdn for a half loaf of good bread.

We were staying at Veeds on Peter Street, just north of Wayne Gretzky's restaurant which is apparently famous? Of course we didn't know the area though obviously you local guys know where to go to get the best deals on stores, but the few stores we happened upon in our area were all very expensive compared to home. Not just bread, almost everything seemed about 3 or 4 times the price we pay in the UK. The confusing thing about it was that when we ate out the prices were far more reasonable, almost on a par with home. Of course we were only there a few days.

We've only been in New York for 24 hours but we've experienced a similar situation here (about a 10 minute walk from Times Square), in that there seems plenty of reasonable/cheap places to eat out, but in the two mini markets we've been in most things seem expensive. For instance, a dollar for a single apple; about 3 dollars for bread; 5 or 6 dollars for a box of breakfast cereal; $4.50 for a tub of butter. I guess we're being fleeced because we're staying in the tourist area.

We arrived late last night but visited Times Square. Quite a place on a Saturday night. Loved it. We really enjoyed the vibe in Central Park today too, followed by a visit up Top of the Rock. What can I say about those views!

Oh, one more thing: I can't find a pie/pasty or pork pie anywhere. What's wrong with you guys?

People pay a relative lot of money for convenience in midtown Manhattan. I can sympathize with them, it's not like inner city deliveries are easy or cheap. I know the cabs are famous, but it's also cargo van central there, because they're easier to manouver. Around here there are very few cargo vans, even among contractor types. I half-joke that there aren't many cargo vans because there isn't much cargo. Heading south I see the procession to more and more cargo vans as I approach Boston, and it's peak in New York City.

Convenience stores every where are expensive.
US is not much on meat pies ....hot dogs and sausages tho I imagine there are the some mexican offering.
Always look forward to a kangaroo pie when I get home to Cairns.

Maccers is best for cheap food and boring....especially breakfast and the wifi is most always decent.

https://ny.eater.com/maps/best-cheap-eats-nyc

How long are you where you are.

Bagels are popular in New York

Loads of choices

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaura ... _York.html

https://foursquare.com/top-places/new-y ... ood-trucks

Leaving for Indianapolis tomorrow!
Woooooo Gen Con 2018!!!

There's meat pies (of the Portuguese variety I think) at many of the carts that sell hot dogs and kababs, but they're not very good. There are some great food trucks that aren't garbage, usually the ones selling lamb over rice or falafel and usually at night. But they are expensive. Food pretty much everywhere in Manhattan is expensive, unfortunately. Two Bros does good dollar slices, but it ain't high art. Best pizza is in Brooklyn and Queens. But Manhattan isn't the place to cheap out on food. Do yourself a favor and go to Katz's deli for amazing pastrami on rye!

And as mentioned, we are known for our bagels so if you can find a real shop that has a bunch of different flavors of cream cheese (chipotle or scallion's my personal favorite), you'll see the best that particular kind of food has to offer. I'm generally not a fan, but definitely had better bagels here than anywhere else.

You got rats on the westside, bedbugs uptown, what a mess, this town's in tatters, my brain's been battered, splattered all over Manhattan - Mick 'n Keef

We've got rats everywhere. And roaches, don't forget the roaches.

I'm generally not a fan, but definitely had better bagels here than anywhere else.

Try Montreal

For pies in Manhattan, go to the Tuck shop for Australian style 'gourmet' pies.
Closest one to you is 570 Lexington Ave, Lex and E 51st.

SafeAsMilk wrote:We've got rats everywhere. And roaches, don't forget the roaches.

I saw my first NYC cockroach this year.

Sendraks wrote:Leaving for Indianapolis tomorrow!
Woooooo Gen Con 2018!!!

Not a huge city but a neat downtown area. you could check out a Golden Corral buffet if you get a chance. It's a chain but they're usually good.