Day 746: New York

On the 14th December we departed Washington D.C and set off for New York. Again we travelled with Mega Bus, tickets costing $2 USD each including an optional $1 reservation fee. This journey was only 4 hours which was nice in comparison to the usual 6.

Turns out the journey was 5 hours in the end. When considering we also had a hours train journey to arrive at Mega Bus, looks like it was a 6 hour journey after all. Unfortunately as the journey was meant to be 4 hours we didn’t have a scheduled break stop so we were a little cramped/stiff by the time we arrived.

After five and a half hours on the coach due to heavy traffic we also experienced an extremely busy city. People and cars in all directions. The major delay was due to an accident in the city. As we lined up for our next bus we had no idea how long it would be before we were in our bedroom for the next few days.

Finally we reached our accommodation (took even longer than necessary as the pavements were icy!). We were staying in a huge house (6 bedrooms just downstairs alone!) with a nice man called Richard – costing $203 CAD for 4 nights. Richard seemed to be transforming his house into a hostel type environment as he was setting up social media pages marketing the bedrooms and he also had a vending machine in his kitchen?!

Our bedroom was spacious and Richard kindly provides breakfast should you want it. After what felt a very long day we found a near by supermarket and shut off for the night.

After a good nights sleep we took the bus into New York City costing $3.50 USD per person, one way.

First we headed to Times Square. There was so much to look at and do it was quite overwhelming! We popped into a few shops, we didn’t buy anything but what with the flashing advertisements on the big screens and all the promoters in the street we felt it was nice to look around. Times SquareTimes SquareTimes SquareCold day in NYC Times Square!John in Times SquareMeg in Times Square

After some more walking and some more picture taking we headed for the Rockefeller Building where there was a ice rink set up for the festive period.

The Rockefeller Ice Rink The Rockefeller Christmas TreeThe Rockefeller tower

After some more sight seeing and some more walking we reached the famous Grand central train station.Inside the busy Grand central train station.

Of course, we then had to visit the Empire State Building, the impressive 102 story skyscraper.

We then went on the High Line Walk which is a free 1 mile walk around part of the city. Whilst on the walk the snow showers began! The snow started to fall quite heavily and continued for the rest of the night. John the photographer capturing the city scenes. Caught in the snow!

On our second day in New York we jumped straight onto the bus to go to the city centre followed by the metro to take us to the ferry port.

We managed to get a single ride ticket for $3 USD each rather than buy a metro card. This train would take us to the South Ferry.

We then boarded the free ferry which is a 25 min ride around the Staten Island is where we could view the impressive Statue of Liberty! We were glad to have got a spot on the very busy ferry where we could see the statue. It was very cold and windy so taking our gloves off to take a picture made our hands numb – but it was worth it! View of part of the city from the ferry The Statue of LibertyBraving standing outside in the cold to be able to get the best pictures!The Statue of Liberty in the background – the stranger who we asked to take the photo was a little slow!

After departing the ferry we took a walk into New York’s financial district where we found Wall Street. We then continued on to see Brooklyn Bridge.

The famous Wall StreetNew York stock exchange building Financial district Christmas tree!Brooklyn BridgeUs with Brooklyn Bridge

We then went to see the 9/11 memorial which was beautifully done. Every individual name of the people who have passed is engraved onto the wall. The memorials are huge as they are the same size of the base, where the towers once stood. The 9/11 Memorial

Next to the memorial was the world trade centre where the building is designed to look like it goes up into infinity- impressive!If you stand underneath the building like in this picture you can’t see the top!

We then decided to try ice skating! It cost $20 USD each ($15 if you have your own skates). To start with we couldn’t leave the sides and it was rather embarrassing so see everyone gliding around and us holding the railing for dear life. However you are allowed 90 mins on the ice so after an hour we were wizzing round like all the others – don’t think we are quite ready to audition for Dancing on Ice! We had a brilliant time and a real laugh we were so glad to have tried out the ice rink. The ice rink Our skates on ready to go!Trying to balance on the ice whilst trying to take a photo! Once we got used to it we were wizzing around

Once we had returned our skates and traded them for much comfier trainers we headed for China Town. As the name suggests the streets were filled with Chinese restaurants, supermarkets, clothing stores and a few dodgy fake designer shops. We didn’t buy anything but it was nice to look around and have a glimpse of Asia again. Enjoying NYC at night, especially the Christmas decorations China Town

Right next to China town we found the Little Italy area. Little Italy was full of restaurants of all types of cuisines. Even though it was a Saturday night we were really surprised to see every single diner jam packed regardless of how small or big it was. Little Italy

After walking a little further out we found the famous ‘Friends’ building exterior. Friends wasn’t filmed in the apartment block itself but the exterior of the building is well known from appearing in the show too.The famous shot of the exterior of the Friends Flat

To round off the evening we took a walk back through Times Square to see the city by night. The city was even more manic than the day time with both people and cars. We stopped off at ‘Arbys’ to get John a buffalo chicken sandwich then got back on the bus to call it a night. We had yet another wonderful day! Times Square at night time John with his Buffalo Chicken Sandwich from Arby’s!

On our final day in New York we were sad to be choosing our final activities but happy to of had such a fantastic time during our stay.

Before we could enjoy our last day we had to withdraw money from the bank and also find a library to print our details for the flight the next day. All of which sounds like easy jobs but of course it was fairly time consuming.

Later on we managed to find a well known and well recommended cheese cake shop. John had been looking forward to this cheesecake for a while so it was a real treat. We shared a slice of plain and a slice of devils chocolate. We decided to eat it in Times Square.Famous Cheesecake shop called JuniorsEating cheesecake with a view!

After wondering around Times Square we headed to Central Park which was really beautiful with patches of snow on the grass and the lake that had frozen over. We continued to walk until it got dark. We then headed back through Times Square for the last time. We were feeling pretty sad to be leaving New York as we had such a wonderful visit. Walking around Central ParkThe lake completely frozen over New York City from Central ParkAnother Christmas market not far from the park

Before we caught the bus back to our accommodation we tried a New York hot dog, costing $3 USD. The hot dog is another popular snack that appeared regularly in street vendors stalls. John trying a New York hot dogBusy Times Square!

We are sad to be leaving New York but we are pleased with our time spent in the city. Later on we caught the bus back to our room to pack up for our flight the next day. We both agreed New York is one of the best places we have visited.

On the 18th December we were due to fly out of New York, at 10pm! As we had to check out of our accommodation at 10am we had more than enough time to kill. We took a walk down to one of the cities viewing areas to stretch our legs and enjoy the view for the last time. We then treated ourselves to a hot drink before heading back to the house to collect our bags. Now onwards to Ireland!