Our hotel room in New York is about as small as it could be, and about as big a contrast to our log cabin as possible! We sleep on what is described by Nicki as "a milkcrate with a sheet on pretending to be a bed". But the location is great, a 10 minute walk from Central Park and close to the Subway.
Our first morning was spent at Ground Zero as we caught a small glimpse of the enormity of impact of 9/11. 8 years on (is it really 8 years?) there is huge work going on to restore the whole area with hundreds of people active, and yet there is still foundation work going on. The devastation and amount of work to clean up and restore the area is hard to grasp, let alone to build again. It seems the plans are to establish a new icon as a statement of survival of America, as a country and concept.
Food has been a big surprise for us. New York is of course packed with Mac
Donald's, KFC and Burger King, but it's also jammed full of great deli's with such a wide selection of food and emphasis on fresh and healthy. Paying 8 dollars for a sandwich feels a lot, but when it's toasted and full of fresh roast beef and cheese, it feels fair enough (Ok, I didn't go for the healthy options... Nicki went for Seafood Bisque, also delicious).
We headed to Grand Central station and sat looking over the huge open, bustling atrium reading the New York Times. Then onto the Rockefeller Centre and an amazing view of the city from the 67th floor just as the sun set. Nicki's pictures captured everything.
Finally we set off to Greenwich Village, a beautiful part of the city which still keeps sense of New York's origins. It's hard to believe that 100 years ago, most of New York was just 5 stories high (similar to Amsterdam) and Greenwich is still devoid of skyscrapers. Friendly too – as we wandered around, a guy stopped in the street, asking if we were looking for the subway. We got talking and he recommended us a great restaurant called Jane's Tavern – fantastic food and a paper tablecloth perfect for playing hangman – what more could you want? And we've found that New York's reputation for unfriendliness has not proved true at all, we've only encountered kind help and smiling faces when we've asked tourist questions.
Great food and coffee, free Internet, bustling streets, a million yellow cabs and a beautiful sunset.
Our first morning was spent at Ground Zero as we caught a small glimpse of the enormity of impact of 9/11. 8 years on (is it really 8 years?) there is huge work going on to restore the whole area with hundreds of people active, and yet there is still foundation work going on. The devastation and amount of work to clean up and restore the area is hard to grasp, let alone to build again. It seems the plans are to establish a new icon as a statement of survival of America, as a country and concept.
Food has been a big surprise for us. New York is of course packed with Mac
Donald's, KFC and Burger King, but it's also jammed full of great deli's with such a wide selection of food and emphasis on fresh and healthy. Paying 8 dollars for a sandwich feels a lot, but when it's toasted and full of fresh roast beef and cheese, it feels fair enough (Ok, I didn't go for the healthy options... Nicki went for Seafood Bisque, also delicious).We headed to Grand Central station and sat looking over the huge open, bustling atrium reading the New York Times. Then onto the Rockefeller Centre and an amazing view of the city from the 67th floor just as the sun set. Nicki's pictures captured everything.
Finally we set off to Greenwich Village, a beautiful part of the city which still keeps sense of New York's origins. It's hard to believe that 100 years ago, most of New York was just 5 stories high (similar to Amsterdam) and Greenwich is still devoid of skyscrapers. Friendly too – as we wandered around, a guy stopped in the street, asking if we were looking for the subway. We got talking and he recommended us a great restaurant called Jane's Tavern – fantastic food and a paper tablecloth perfect for playing hangman – what more could you want? And we've found that New York's reputation for unfriendliness has not proved true at all, we've only encountered kind help and smiling faces when we've asked tourist questions.Great food and coffee, free Internet, bustling streets, a million yellow cabs and a beautiful sunset.
