Images of New York

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My third day in New York and I'm having a great time, although unfortunately my cold still hasn't abandoned me.

The hostel is just so nice and as it's so small and informal you basically know (or at least recognise) most people by now.
The two owners, Sam and Hiroshi, are also really cool and will not hesitate to sit down to have a cup of coffee and chat with the "guests" for a while (if they have time), they really enjoy what they are doing.
They also have a quite interesting story to tell of how they ended up in New York and started a hostel (they are both Japanese but haven't lived in Japan for almost 20 years).

The other people staying here are also very nice and friendly! A big hello to Armin, Zenn, Akiko and all others if you are reading this. I hope you had a safe journey back home!

I have tried to explore New York as much as I can, but the city is just so large and you get tired of all the walking and travelling up and down Manhattan.
Today I visited some of the more ethnical neighbourhoods of New York such as Chinatown, Little India, the trendy SoHo, and Greenwich Village. Lots of character in all of them.

Yeasterday I did a bit more of the tourist stuff such as a visit to the viewing platform on the 86th floor of Empire State Building and a boat tour on the Hudson River.
I read in my guidebook there is a ferry from Lower Manhattan (next to Battery Park) to Staten Island which passes many sights of interest (Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island etc), and very conveniently it was free of charge.
Quite a few people actually went on the 20 mins journey to Staten Island, then off the boat on Staten Island, through the ferry terminal, and on the same boat again for the 20 mins journey back (they require all people to get off at each end).
Very good value for money I must say 😉

Yeasterday evening I also saw The Producers on Broadway. Absolutely hilarious!!
They made fun of the Swedes though by having a blond girl named Ulla in the play who apparently spoke English with a Swedish accent. Well she did manage to say God dag properly! The Americans probably thought it was authentic though :p

Tomorrow I'm off to sunny California and Los Angeles!
I also hope my cold will finally leave me in peace, I'm getting sick of it!

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Photos

Manhattan!!
Lower Manhattan seen from the Empire State Building.

Macy's
The world's largest department store

The hostel
The nice livingroom/lounge/TV-room/computer room in the hostel

The hostel
The "reception" and the small kitchenette.

The hostel
Not only the hostel is nice, the guests are as well!!

The hostel
One of the two owners of the hotel, Hiroshi. He is actually from Nara where I hope to go when visiting Japan in October.