On 8th February, a cold and crisp morning, I boarded a RIPTA bus with fellow exchange visitor Anne to visit Newport, RI. Prior to visiting, all I knew was that it was a popular holiday destination with rich Americans in the late 1800s/early 1900s meaning that there were lots of fancy houses to gawk at. The bus meandered down to the Atlantic Ocean via small towns named for places in England (Bristol and Portsmouth – it’s called New England for a reason!) and eventually we got off in the centre of Newport. Compared to Providence, where there are lots of small shopping arcades spread over the city, Newport felt much more like the style of town I’m used to: town hall and some office buildings, plus plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants all located around a couple of streets near the middle. The shopping area reaches down to the harbour which was pretty, but deserted it being not exactly prime sailing season.
Newport Harbour – not as warm as it looks!
Our main plan was walking the cliff walk, which goes around the headland past many of the aforementioned fancy mansions. The weather was amazing, sunny but fresh, and it was great to be breathing the fresh sea air and watching the brave surfers who were out on the waves. There was also the first peek at the houses (all of which were unbelievably enormous and mostly unoccupied).
Once we had reached the headland we made our way back along via Bellevue Avenue to admire the front of the swaggy buildings. The local architecture did not disappoint: the only way I can describe it is like a street, but every house is somewhere that could belong to the National Trust. Alternatively like being in a Hollywood studio where every plot has a different stage from a period film. Although some of the houses are old (1860s) they look like they were built a decade ago, which added to the feeling of being on a film set.
After all that fresh air and walking we were both hungry. Luckily we managed to snag a table in a cafe that was so popular there was a huge queue out there when we’d walked past just after arriving. There, I experienced my first pastrami sandwich which was almost as enormous as the houses of Newport. A short wander through the town centre and it was time for the bus home.
Y’all know I am a big fan of public transport. As this was an excursion with lots of bus trips, I’ll take a moment to discuss some of the differences between taking the bus in Rhode Island vs the UK. Firstly, to stop the bus, you pull a dangling yellow chord which hangs along the windows, rather than a push button. The first time I ever got a bus in the US I had to slyly watch other passengers to figure out how to get the bus to stop. The other difficulty is how subtle the bus stops themselves are – tiny signs the size of an A4 sheet of paper that are stuck onto telegraph poles: these are almost impossible to see from more than 5m away, and contain NO information. No timetables, no information about which buses stop there, no nothing, just a sign that says RIPTA buses. This makes it pretty tricky to navigate a new city! Even more significant stops which have shelters don’t have any information. Even on the bus it can be hard to see these stop signs and work out how far along the route you are. I’m putting my GCSE geography and DofE skills to good use every time I hop on the RIPTA. One great thing about the buses here is that they are free with my Brown ID, meaning that the day out in Newport costed nothing (excluding my ginormous pastrami sandwich).
Me loving life on t’other side of the Atlantic
Trailer for the next post (coming soon I promise): My solo weekend jaunt to New York City with highlights including museums, a Broadway show, lots of walking and maybe some classical art memes.
Adventures of a Mathematician 