Finally, after talking about going to New York, I was finally there. The days were filled with an incredible amount of walking and exploring in a city that is just bustling. I feel like one can wander the streets of New York for a year before they can say they've truly seen what the city has to offer. Below you will find photos from each of the 9 days that I was there. All of the photos were shot on my Nikon D90 with an 18-105 kit lens. To make this blog reading experience more enjoyable, I offer you three very different songs about New York. Taylor Swift, Jay Z and Frank Sinatra.
Day 1
No better way to bring some blood back into the legs from a long flight than with lots of walking. We spent my first day in New York exploring in the neighbourhood of Flushing, which is where I was staying, and then transitioned our way to Central park. Getting out of the underground metro at Central Park was were it finally set in that I was in New York. The busy streets, masses of people, and of course the Towering sky scrapers all connected into one.
Day 2
Day two marked the venture into Times Square. Having seen the place in countless movies, TV shows and photographs, I kind of expected it to be a lot brighter, like Vegas. It certainly had a tonne of people there though. We also went to MOMA for Free Fridays and got to see some iconic pieces of art. We also went to have lunch at The Breslin which holds a Michelin Star rating. We don't have the Michelin Star system in Canada so I was curious as to how good a Michelin Star restaurant would actually be. In short, very good.
Day 3
We were originally gonna visit Coney Island on Saturday, but there was supposed to be a thunder storm that day, so we had to alter our plans. Instead we headed to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in the morning and then headed to Brooklyn after. The main reason for going to the Intrepid Museum was to see the Enterprise Space Shuttle. Totally geeked out here. The Enterprise was the first space shuttle to go into space and one of four space shuttles in the world. It was just an amazing thing to be around.
We then left the museum to head to Brooklyn by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. The weather had turned out to be fantastic as we walked across during the sunset. We had dinner at Grimaldi's where I got to try some authentic New York Pizza. I'm still drooling over it today.
Day 4
Day 4 began with a visit to Manhattan's China Town, one of three China Town's in the city. It was crazy. I've never been to a China Town this busy and packed before. It was also very large. The last time I was in a China Town this crazy was when I was in China. Before lunch we headed out to find the out of service City Hall Train Station. The station itself is over 100 years old, and the architecture is just beautiful. You'll see the image below as a blurry dark image of some archways. I was just happy I captured something. Here is a good picture of it. We followed up with Shake Shack for lunch. Apparently the place is extremely popular as we lined up for 45min for a fast food burger. Not bad at all though. We then visited the World Trade Memorial. Despite the fact that it was nice and sunny out, and that there was plenty of people there, the place just seemed kind of eerie. The day was completed with a walk through Wall Street. I thought Wall Street would be a lot bigger. I also didnt expect that the Wall Street Bull would be so popular. It is possible that more hands touch it's balls than a pole on the metro.
Day 5
The worlds fourth biggest church was rather underwhelming. This was mostly because of the massive pillars they had inside, as well as a giant installation that took up the centre of the church. New York is full of amazing church's but the I didnt find the biggest to be the best.
With a quick stop by Central Park we headed to Highline Park, which used to be a railway. We finished the day by checking out the New York skyline on the Top of the Rock Observation Deck at the Rockefeller Centre.
Day 6
Day 6 began with one of the most touristy activities that one can do in New York. We took the free Staten Island Ferry so we could get a nice view of the Statue of Liberty. After liberating this mighty feat from our to-do list, we headed to the renowned Milk Bar of Momofuku. The day was capped off by visit to yet another amazing New York Church.
Day 7
We waited 50min to have brunch at Clinton St. Baking Company and it was so worth it. After lunch we did a little shopping in SoHo before taking the tram to Roosevelt Island. The Island was a peaceful place to end the day with some nice views.
Day 8
My last day in New York was spent in New Jersey. The highlight of being on Hoboken was probably hearing someone say "Hey, How-yuh doin'?", but I suppose the view wasnt bad either.
Day 9
We didnt spend too much time in the city on the last day of the trip. I instead opted to have my cousins take me around their own neighbourhood which they grew up in. It was really great hearing the stories of their childhood while walking through the very place in which it happened. It felt like a special way to end what was an amazing trip. I'll be back for sure!
