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Published: October 7th 2011
Hello again from - New York City this time.
Wednesday was another travel day mainly. We were driven to Baltimore Railway Station by Ted after saying our goodbyes to Nicki, Ainsley and Emmie, to catch the 174 train to New York Penn Station at 1048am. Amtrak isn’t quite as punctual as the trains in Europe that we travelled on 3 years ago but wasn’t too far out.
We said our goodbyes to Ted as the train pulled in and probably won’t see him again unless he brings his family out to NZ (but I’ve been proved wrong before about things like this as I’m constantly reminded by some). Ted and Nicki were fantastic hosts and it was just lovely to catch up with Ted again after 20 years. We are really looking forward now to meeting Ted’s Mum and Dad, Judy and Albert, in a few days when we arrive in Watkins Glen from NY.
The train trip was 3 hours and seemed to go very quickly with no hitches at all.
On arrival at Penn Station we managed to navigate our way, dragging cases and small back packs, to our hotel on East 32nd Street. It was about a 10 – 15 minute walk down West 32nd to E 32nd, about 5 blocks, so it wasn’t too bad.
The hotel is the Grand Union, an older places but reasonable. The bathroom is tiny but as we keep saying we are only at the hotel to sleep so it’s OK.
After booking in we wandered down to the subway and purchased a week long Metropass ($29 for unlimited use) and then we all got really brave and jumped on the train and went down to the Brooklyn Bridge. Found that OK and spent about two and a half hours walking over the Bridge one way and back again. Of course there were many, many photos and minutes of video taken and we stayed there until the sun had gone down behind the buildings (which are very tall!!!!) We got great views of many NY landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan Bridge, Empire State etc. etc. Everything is just so tall in the bulk of the City that walking around is like walking in big canyons.
Around 6.30pm we headed back to the train for the hotel but came across a very large protest march around the City Hall where there has been a protest for some time against the financial crisis. After taking that in for a bit we jumped back on the tain and headed for the hotel.
After a ‘rest’ and change of clothes we headed out for dinner and came across a very nice Mediterranean restaurant just up the road on E 32nd and sat down to an excellent meal of food from that area. Probably won’t be dining that expensively again but the experience was well worth it.
After dinner we just walked and walked and eventually ended up in Time Square and took in the sights (and shops) in that area. More neon lights and signs than even Hong Kong I reckon!!!! and that’s a lot. Another incredibly vibrant and busy place even at 11pm at night. (Yes, another late night).
Another great day on the big adventure of 2011.
Thursday was an early start with breakfast at a café across the road at 8am and then we were met at 9am by our NY walking guide. We had a 6 hour guided walking tour pre-booked and the four of us headed off with Sean on an incredible and relaxing tour of many parts of NY we might have found ourselves but not nearly as easily or with the local history and commentary that we got from Sean. I can’t even remember all that we saw by name but places like Wall Street, Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Greenwich Village, the meat packing district, Chelsea, The World Trade Centre site of the 9/11 tragedy and ended up walking on the Highline, the old railway line above the road that is now a restored public park.
It was 6 hours of a lot of walking but was again more than worth the effort. The Twin Towers site is not much to see at present. We couldn’t see the memorial at the bottom ground zero because of all the new building that is going on. It took the authorities a while to decide what to do but once the decision was made really fast progress has been made. The most ‘moving’ experience was spending time in St. Paul’s Chapel, a church right over the road from the Towers that survived the collapse and became the centre for a lot of the ‘pastoral care’ rendered to workers on the rescue and cleanup. Very humbling!!
We wandered around the Chelsea Market at the end of the Walk and then headed by subway to the Empire State Building. Found our way with good navigating by the girls and paid our $22 each and went up to the 86th floor observation deck for a breath-taking 360 degree view of the whole city as far as the eye could see and the fantastic weather meant it was a long way. Great photo ops!!!!! It was then back to the hotel early evening. We even found our way to the subway and then on the subway back to the hotel without getting lost!!!!!
Dinner was a visit to the Hard Rock Café in Time Square (and Joy’s official Hard Rock T shirt collection was added to) before we headed back to E32nd St on the subway (taking in the massive Grand Central Railway Station on the way) and the hotel.
Another great day in this huge city. Haven’t really felt the WOW factor that I thought I might but it is certainly a great place to visit. So big, busy and very diverse in it’s make up.
Will try and add some photos next time.
That’s the last couple of days. Another busy and full day lined up for tomorrow so sleep is the order of the day now.
Bye again from us.
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stephanie kitto
non-member comment
Hi Grandma and Grandad!!!!!!!
Mum and dad have been reading the blogs. I asked them what was NY.They told me NY is a short version for New york. How was your time in New York? Did you see anything i would like?We are in the school holidays and we are going to the Smurf movie next week and it is Jodus is having a party with his friends. Miss you Grandma and Grandad Love you lots and lots From Stephanie XXX