First-years, Bwog summons you from your groggy Sunday morning hangover. The air is warm and crisp, the sky is blue — perfect for an afternoon outing to Staten Island.

Well, the destination is not so romantic (Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island is home to New York’s refuse), but the journey. Oh the journey. The half-hour long (free!) ride on the Staten Island Ferry is calming and gentle, you can watch the city skyline and Brooklyn’s bridges shrink against the horizon, as the Statue of Liberty and sleek Verrazano Bridge come into view.

The boat is always laden with camera-clicking international tourists and Staten Island commuters — prime territory for people watching — and travels from the ferry terminal downtown (get off at Whitehall St. on the R train– the 1 doesn’t run to South Ferry today) to the newly renovated terminal on “the Island”, as natives call it. The area immediately around the terminal at St. George may warrant exploration, but Bwog reccommends staying only until the next ferry to Manhattan arrives. Buses to other parts of Staten Island are few and infrequent, and it is not exactly a walkable borough.

Ferries run every half-hour on the weekends; check the schedule before you set out.