Martin um die Welt: New York City

Montag, 24. August 2015

New York City - a visit with Peter

After saying good bye to Franzi at the airport, I had dinner together with Peter. Then we went to South Station to catch our overnight bus to New York City. I knew it was going to be cold due to the overuse of A/C. Still, pullover and long jeans were not sufficient... moreover, the bus was uncomfortable and the driver crazy. Although the bus started almost an hour late, we were half an hour earlier than schedule in NYC. At 4 am even the Times Square was almost empty - only a few cleaners and us. Luckily the Hilton Garden Inn was right next to Times Square. We left our luggage there and went to explore the city together. From Times Square we went to Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building. Then we watched sunrise over the East River and enjoyed a New York bagel breakfast at Daniel's Bagels. We then took the metro to Lower Manhatten. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and along the East River promenade in Brooklyn. I really like it here :) Back over the Brooklyn Bridge we then walked to Ground Zero and visited the 9/11 memorial. Our feet carried us further down to Battery Park where we then entered the Staten Island Ferry to get a good view of Lady Liberty and the skyline of Lower Manhatten. Interestingly, the crowds were tiny and hardly noticable... much more relaxing than during my earlier trip in May. After that ride we visited Wall Street and got a burrito for lunch near New York's city hall. The metro then brought us to Madison Square to see the Flatron Building. From there we walked back to Times Square. After the short night and the long walk we checked into our hotel and had a 2h nap. At the evening we hopped on the metro again down to One World Trade Center (OWTC). We bought tickets earlier online, but the lines were small anyways. I read some reviews before and most people said that OWTC is less good than Top of the Rock or even Empire State Building to get a nice city view. Well, I have been to Top of the Rock during my earlier trip in May and I have to disagree. I found the views to be more spectacular. It surely helped that there were not many people and getting a spot to take photos was not difficult. Again, I timed our visit to start during sunset and finish when it is dark and one can see all these amazing city lights. I especially liked the view down passed Lady Liberty to Staten Island and the view of Brooklyn and Manhatten bridges. These are better than the views of Central Park from Top of the Rock. So the only thing you really miss is the open air experience. That's why I'd say it is on par with Top of the Rock. After taking plenty of pictures, the metro brought us back to Times Square where we enjoyed the lights before we went to Rudy's Bar & Grill, which now is my bar to go in NYC :D
The next morning (24.08.) we checked out and walked from Times Square to Columbus Circle and picked up coffee, muffins and crossaints on the way. A breakfast picnic in Central Park is a good start in the days :) We walked to Berthesda Fountain and then back to 5th Avenue. From there we passed the Rockefeller Center, beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral and Grand Central Station before we visited the NY Public Library and Bryant Park. In the latter we sat down to enjoy some sun. We then had lunch at Times Square and went for some shopping. Later we picked up our luggage from the hotel and Peter took the bus to JFK Airport, while I took the bus back to Boston... time flies...