New York City … the Big Apple!

Here we are. It is time to explore one of the most populated cities in the world and the financial center of the United States. This is another of the cities we’ve had the pleasure of seeing in the movies and on TV and now we have the chance to explore it for a short time (only three days), but long enough to give us a good idea of how amazing it is and a desire to come back soon.

Getting a cab in New York City upon arrival

Our trip started in Washington where we took a bus that lasted 4 hours and gave us a good first view of the city at the end of the day. We were very surprised how quickly we entered the city as we were expecting some traffic jams but after arriving in Manhattan, where the bus dropped us, it then took us about two hours to get to the place where we had booked to stay for the next 2 nights with Airbnb. We stayed in Brooklyn and the large number of metro and train lines caused us to make a mistake. We were staying on Dekalb Avenue and we thought that the closest train station would be Dekalb Avenue, but we were wrong. That metro station was almost 2 kilometers away from the house. As we were already a long way from the metro station, it was late and we were hungry, we took a taxi to the house.

That night I tried something that I had wanted for a while … a slice of pizza in New York. It was good, but there must be better.

Next morning we got up early and left the house feeling eager to explore as much of the city as possible.

The first place we went to was Central Park and the weather followed us the whole morning. During the visit we had to split up and I stayed playing with Noah while Ruth was trying to get the best shots of this enormous park. For an hour Noah was enjoying the park with me and we tried a hot dog and a burger right in front of the Natural History Museum where he was amazed by the gigantic dinosaur in the main hall.

After that the three of us we walked through the park and we were lucky to stop and see a funny presentation by three guys who were amusing passersby. The guys were so good that they must have made at least 1,000 bucks from the people who were watching them.

Continuing through the park we stopped at different places that we had seen on TV. It was a very pleasant afternoon.

As we left Central Park we stopped by the famous Plaza Hotel, although not for long (because Ruth did not let me stay longer 🙂 ). Then afterwards we went to 5^th Avenue to collect our tickets for the Empire State Building, that we eventually visited later that night (here is the article for the Empire State Building visit).

By this time, Noah was already very tired and I let him sleep in my arms while we were walking around between those huge skyscrapers. It was impressive to see such enormous buildings.

After that we went to the south of Manhattan to catch the ferry towards Staten Island.  This is a pleasant, short trip on which you get to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island very close up.

The day was almost over, but not the night …

The next stop in New York City was the World Trade Centre where we got to see the new buildings and the beautiful memorial. I had some mixed feelings while sitting in front of the building, just because I was appreciating the tall, modern buildings but also trying to put myself there on the tragic day of 9/11. It is impossible to even imagine how sad that day was for the American people and everyone else following that event.

From the World Trade Centre we moved to the vibrant Times Square. We used to live in London where they have Piccadilly Circus, but Times Square is really something else. All those lights, people, restaurants, theatres and cinemas make it a MUST-see in New York City. For a quick stop for some dinner there is no better place than Times Square. Fast food, junk food, health food … you find all that there. Take your pick.

It was getting late so it was time to go to the Empire State Building and make sure that Noah enjoyed just as much as we did without getting too tired. It was almost 1am and it was a difficult task.

Click here to see our article about the Empire State Building

As we did almost everything that we had on our list on that very long first day, the next day we took things a little bit easier and just explored the city with our friends Rodolfo and Tatiana who took us to an Italian restaurant for lunch in the trendy area of NolIta, as well as for some ice cream and a quick visit to some other neighborhoods like Chelsea. As the next morning we were travelling to Miami, that was the end of our visit to New York City because we were spending the night in a hotel close to La Guardia airport, from where we were departing to Florida.

But before leaving the city, a last stop at the beautiful Grand Central Station…

Thanks New York City for giving us so much in such a short time and we are sure that we will come back pretty soon.

Next stop, Miami!