BROOKLYN – There’s a highway sign not too far from my house that directs drivers towards New York City.

When I was little, and we would approach that sign on our way home, I would frequently ask if we could go to New York City instead. The answer was always no. This wasn’t an unreasonable answer; New York City is about 6.5 hours and 390 miles away from that sign.

On Saturday I passed that sign and was actually heading to its destination. On Sunday my parents and I completed the journey that took us to my apartment building in Brooklyn Heights.

We made a dry run on Saturday night because we wanted to see the neighborhood and I wanted to drive over the Brooklyn Bridge and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The directions we had were to go through Staten Island and over the Verrazano.

Don’t go this way! It’s a much longer ride and very confusing at some parts. It’s also much more expensive because there are many road tolls and a $10 bridge toll heading westbound. Instead, use the Brooklyn Bridge and Holland Tunnel.

After a short stop at my apartment building, we headed towards the bridge. There are well-marked signs in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. The approach to the bridge is fantastic. For the longest time all you can see is the Manhattan Bridge. Then you curve to the left, and all of a sudden, the bridge is right there in all its gloriousness with its two granite towers.

This nighttime ride across the bridge was more special than usual because this weekend was the bridge’s 125th birthday. The arches were illuminated in blue and red light instead of the usual white.

The other benefit of the Brooklyn Bridge/Holland Tunnel approach to Brooklyn is that the toll is only $8 heading eastbound through the tunnel.

Now, back to my apartment. The building is called a ‘sliver building’ and they weren’t joking. My apartment is 9.5 feet wide and is half the width of the entire building. The living area/bedroom space is roughly the size of a room in one of the quads on campus.

There is a large bathroom, two large closets with dressers inside and a kitchen area with a sink, stove, oven, refrigerator, pantry, microwave and ample shelving. So in every way, shape and form, my living arrangements are better than expected. I’m not sleeping in the living room while my roommate sleeps in a bedroom, so life is good.

I could have brought so much more stuff with me – not that I need it – but I really tried to bring only essentials since I anticipated a room about half the size of what I got.

Everything I could possibly need can be purchased not too far from my building. I’m really excited about this. I’ll have to purchase only what I can carry when I go shopping. There’s no driving to the grocery store here.

I’m glad to be doing lots of walking again. That’s one of my favorite things about cities, perhaps because walking places is something I don’t do at home. No one does in my community. We didn’t have any sidewalks for years, and the sidewalks we have now connect you to a small number of places and line only one street.

But here, you can walk anywhere. I walked to the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday afternoon for a walking tour on the bridge. The tour was part of the birthday celebrations. I learned about caissons (an airtight space below the riverbed where workers removed silt so the towers could be built underground), the granite and limestone used to build the bridge, the four wires that hold up the bridge and the history of the roadway.

The other adventure I’ve had so far was going to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The promenade is an area for walking that was built on top of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. It has gorgeous views of the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan (all the way from the tip of the island up to Midtown with views of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building) and the east river bridges. It’s a perfect place for watching the sunset, so I know I’ll spend lots of time there.

Expect a column about working in the city next week, as this column will be sent to press before I can write about my first day of work. I’m sure there will be many other adventures to be included, especially since I am off to my first subway ride this summer (to find out how long it takes to get to work) and to have a picnic lunch in Central Park.