New York City - a Quick Visit

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I was traveling to New Jersey for work, so I decided to take a couple of extra days to tour Manhattan while so close by. Conveniently my hotel in Secaucus was near a bus route that was a 30 minute ride into Manhattan’s Port Authority bus station. While waiting for the bus Sunday mid-morning I met up with three Swiss men there on a marketing business trip, which were staying at my same hotel in N.J. and also took an extra ‘free’ day to tour Manhattan. They had no specific plan however for seeing the city, and since I had some ideas and a loose plan, we decided to hang out together for the day. It was great to have some fun and interesting traveling companions and made the evening much more enjoyable!

The day was beautiful, a perfect 75 degrees and sunny skies with a sprinkling of clouds. We started out our day with a noon departure of the three-hour Circle Line sightseeing cruise around Manhattan. The cruise was an excellent introduction to the city; it took through the five boroughs, under the bridges, past several major landmark buildings and allowing us to catch a glimpse of the Chrysler Building, and of course for a close up of the Statue of Liberty. Afterwards we took an afternoon stroll through SoHo, taking in the sights, shopping, and doing some bakery sampling along the way. As it was getting towards dinner time we cruised around Chinatown and neighboring Little Italy, trying to narrow down our dinner options. We settled on a place in Little Italy, Amici II on Mulberry St., that advertised everything was fresh house-made, and we were not disappointed; I think that was the best Italian meal I’ve ever enjoyed. Although we were all a bit tired at this point, I talked everyone into going up to the top of the Empire State Building for a nighttime view. It was great, there was no line and we sailed right up to the top within minutes of our arrival there. The views were fantastic and everyone was glad to have made the effort. We ended our night with a quick walking tour of the lights and nighttime activity of Times Square and a drink at the Hard Rock Café.

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