We stayed at another AirBnB place, as far uptown as you can get before you hit water, in Inwood. It was a great apartment, but because it was a bit far from the NYC action, it meant staying out ALL DAY instead of popping in for an afternoon rest before heading out again for the evening. That, in combination with jetlag, and our propensity for going to bed early at the best of times, meant that we never "went out" at night in NYC. This seems to disappoint some people, but I was okay with it!
What we did do in NYC was a whole lotta other stuff. We started at the bottom of Manhattan - the financial district.
We had a squiz at Occupy Wall Street, which was massive and impressive and inspiring.
We rode the Staten Island Ferry, ate a sandwich, and then came back.
It's free! And look what you see:
We walked through China Town, Little Italy, and the Lower East Side.
I like the golden croquembouche next to the Buddha.
We went to Times Square, because, I know, but it's what you do when you're a tourist in NYC! Our primary goal was to find cheap theatre tickets, but those suckers are still damn expensive, even when they're half off! So we skipped the theatre. And we skipped cheap comedy, after getting bullied by a guy trying to give us a "great deal" to comedians "of the same caliber" as the hilarious (sarcastic NOT) Wayans Brothers.
I pretended to be Tina Fey at Rockefeller Plaza.
But I kinda liked Lego Atlas better than the real one.
We window-shopped along 5th Avenue. Even the mannequins are hipsters.
Andy ate a chilli he found growing in Central Park. I don't know how wise that was.
Also, Central Park!
And Chrysler Building.
And UN - which was such a let down. After insane security, and leaving a backpack after it had been scanned and searched, we found that you had to pay something like $15 each(!) for a tour. So we looked in the bookshop and then collected our backpack and left.
The Union Square Green Markets were similarly expensive, but much more fun. And, free samples!
Highline Park is totally cool.
The Museum of Natural History misleads you by saying "entry is free, donation only", but then making you pay at a cash register, with people who look disappointed in you for paying less than the suggested amount even though the museum closes in an hour and there's no way you can see all the dinosuars let along everything else.
Washington Square Park was all fenced off - no getting close to the arch! Or the fountain!
Coney Island was sunny, and sandy, and totally surprising.
(And of course Andy touched the water - his first touch of the Atlantic!)
But the most exciting part of all (besides the food, which I will give its own post), was this black ninja squirrel we spotted!! We ended up seeing more in DC and Canada, but hello ninja squirrel!
3 comments:
I hate rude plane passengers, on our way back, toby had a women doing a similar thing and I had a woman put her knees in my back (even with my seat fully up), so so rude and uncomfortable!
Can't wait to hear about your nyc eats.
You had such beautiful weather, hurrah! I never did the going-out-at-night thing in NY either, as being a solo female traveller, it didn't feel like the safest option. Plus, I was super happy snuggling down in my hotel or hostel room with all the vegan junk food I'd collected from various Whole Foods and Garden of Edens during the day :P
Ninja squirrel! Those are the best kinds of squirrels...
Oh what amazing pictures! This might even be my favourite travel post so far :) (Although I did very much like Switzerland too...and in fact all of the rest.)
Also, I too didn't go out in NYC at night because I (a) don't do late nights and (b) only had 4 days and (c) was by myself. And I hate people who put their seats all the way back on planes for extended periods of time. So mean!
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