Advertisement
Published: September 8th 2008
We arrived in New York, and for the first time this trip we were jet lagged. Our trip from Istanbul via London had wiped 7 hours off our watches, but not our body clocks. When we arrived at our apartment it was 7:00 PM local time (you do the maths...). When we got up to our apartment the kids collapsed on the beds, Albert went to sleep still wearing his backpack !
Our apartment is on the Upper West Side Manhattan, only a short walk to Central Park. Most apartments in Manhattan are small. We didn't want to upset the locals, so ours is small (but functional) as well.
Our first day we went to the Empire State Building to the observation deck. You could see the whole island of Manhattan, and the huge amount of infrastructure that is contains.
We went on the Staten Island ferry, which also gives great views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty (and it's free !!). After this we walked our way through the financial district to the World Trade Center (WTC) site. There is a lot of construction going on, and it was very loud
and hot. The WTC museum is next to the site, and only opened recently. It mainly focuses on the losses that resulted from the events of Sep 11. It included displays listing those who lost their lives, photos, and a memorial wall. This was all put into perspective when a couple of days later whilst 'doing' breakfast a local told us of his Sept 11 experience. He was only 4 small blocks away when the first tower collapsed.
No trip to NY would be complete without a walk across Brooklyn Bridge, so we caught the subway under the Hudson River and walked back to Manhattan over the bridge. It gave another great perspective of Manhattan and the water surrounding it.
The day was rounded off with Times Square, NY library , and Grand Central Station.
On the trip so far we have vistited many parks, and Central Park is up there with the best of them. The quality and size of the park is incredible. It contains hundreds of small features that would take a lot to build and maintain. Manhattians don't have their own backyards, they have Central Park, and they are rightfully very
proud of it. It also has some of the best running tracks you'll find.
Bloggers (yes you reading this) , our trip is fast coming to an end. We are considering doing a blog where we answer YOUR questions about the trip. The idea may work, or it may 'die in the arse'. If you have any questions you would like to ask a family member (or the family as a whole) then ask away. The better the question/s, the better the response. The less predictable the question, the even better response. To ask a question leave a "Comment". Thanks.
Must go, there is time for one more visit to Central Park before we leave....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.144s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0392s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Tony
non-member comment
NYC
I absolutely love New York City, I happen to live in the East Village, if you get a chance you should go down there. In particular Astor place is a nice street :) The EV is full of art! Anyways I thought I would share a new site with you its called, www.baraaza.com Its a cool site for travelers to interact with other people. So check Out the East Village, and check out the site and tell me how you like them :) Tony