Another Beautiful Day in NYC

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October 27, 2013



We awake the next morning confident we’ve pretty much beaten jet-lag. There is a definite advantage to breaking our return journey; and splitting the time difference into two manageable chunks is seeming like a very good idea.

Thanks also to the clocks going back at different times here and in the UK it means that we only have to deal with a four hour time difference rather than a five, which is certainly better than the usual nine (although we don’t get to benefit from that lovely Sunday morning feeling when gain an extra hour!).

We eat our bagels and get out and about, ready to explore the city a bit more. We mix up our transport options, getting a yellow cab down to Brooklyn Bridge returning that evening by via of the subway. It is cheaper to get the subway but not significantly so as there are 4 of us and in fact a shorter distance would have been cheaper by taxi.

We cross Brooklyn Bridge on foot. It’s obviously a popular thing to do ‘cause the world and his wife seem to be doing it. It’s not unlike the experience of crossing San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge except now we’re on foot trying to stay out of the cycle lane as best we can despite the fact there are way more people than the walking lane can reasonably hold! A couple of stalls selling tourist stuff line the path, which doesn’t help, but on the plus side the prices are excellent and we purchase some mounted prints at $2 each for the boys’ bedrooms as well as decent metal key chains for £1 and fridge magnet/bottle opener for $2. Not bad at all.

We explore a bit of Brooklyn passing a few leafy residential streets with pumpkins and flowers decorating many of the entrance steps.

And then it’s back over the bridge and onto the Staten Island Ferry for some fantastic views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

Three months of travelling does drain the funds somewhat so any way to save a few pennies, as well as not wishing to fall into the inevitable tourist trap, has to be a good thing and the Staten Island Ferry is free. The ferry is huge so the concern as we waited in a massive group of people was short lived as there was plenty of space to mill around once on. And if you don’t get to see everything on the way out then you can better place yourself on the return trip!

Another beautiful blue-sky day so we made the most of it with some great shots. If you’re not bothered about climbing the Statue itself (which seems to involve lots of money, lots of queuing and lots of booking well in advance) then the Staten Island Ferry is as good as the expensive boat trips that take you to the island.

Once off the ferry in Manhattan it was an easy subway trip back to our hotel. Another visit to the Fairways for food and we’re all very happy to crash back in our hotel room. We’re loving NYC but there’s something about big, noisy cities that totally drains you of energy and none more than Manhattan. I’m sure it took less out of us to climb the 853 metres up Grouse Mountain than an afternoon of wandering around NYC!

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Photos

Manhattan Skyline
From Staten Island Ferry

Brooklyn Bridge
From Brooklyn

Lady Liberty
Statue of Liberty, NYC

Brooklyn Ice-Cream Factory
Brooklyn, NYC

Manhattan Skyline
From Brooklyn

Wall Street
NYC

Statue of Liberty
NYC

Manhattan Skyline
From the Staten Island Ferry