Concrete Jungle [Part 2]

Day 4

We were extremely enthusiastic when we got up this morning. After we lost most of the day yesterday, we had to make up for it today! First stop: 9/11 Memorial (yet again). This time we looked up the best route to get there beforehand. And guess what? We made it! The Memorial consists of two massive big pools made of dark granite. Both are located right where the Twin Towers once stood. There is water pouring out at the top and flushing down the black stone into a hole somewhere at the bottom of the memorial. It is a very somber and eerie place. The names of all the victims that died during the attacks are engraved in the stone. Thousand and thousand of names are bordering the memorial. Although a beautiful park surrounds the memorials it is still a very dark and eerie place. I was very astonished about how these blocks of stone created this kind of atmosphere and captured the feeling of deep sadness. While I stood watching the water flowing down the deep hole in the ground, I tried to imagine how the victim´s families and how New York´s citizens must have felt like right after the attack. I could not. Also, I was rather annoyed by people taking selfies of themselves in front of this memorial. I mean, why would you do that? This is certainly not the right place!

Luckily, the sun was shining and our mood was quickly back to normal. After we had lunch we took the subway up to Central Park. This huge park is situated between the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side. Of course, there was no way of exploring the whole park. That would probably take at least a couple of days! Still, we took a long walk around the big lake in the centre of the park called the Reservoir. The weather was perfect for walking. It took us about two hours to go around but I enjoyed every minute of it. This city can be very overwhelming, with its huge buildings towering above and its cars constantly blowing fumes. Being outdoors and escaping the hussle and bustle was really nice for a change. There are many museums located in the area around the Central Park, for example the Guggenheim, the Met and the Natural History Museum. We wanted to go and see at least one of them. It was decided to go for the Natural History Museum, not only because Sam and Carly study History but because it was what we were all very excited about. The museum is probably best known from the film “Night At The Museum”. It was truly amazing! The stuffed animals were put behind large glass with backgrounds that were hand-painted. Every little detail was sussed out with great care. There were footprints in the snow of the snow leopard exhibition and in the squirrel exhibition there were pieces of moss that that squirrel must have dropped while building a nest. It looked incredibly real. I was intrigued. I think that is very rare to experience a kind of childish excitement and amazement the older you get. Yet, this place definitely triggered that feeling in me. I loved looking at all those exhibitions and taking in every little detail. It read on one of the posters that the skeleton of one of the dinosaurs was originally carved of wood. Obviously, there were new findings about the dinosaur´s skeleton since then, so little adjustment had been made. Still, most parts of the skeleton that are still on display today are of the original wood carving! I could have spent hours, if not days in the museum. But we were on a tight schedule today, since we had tickets for a Broadway show. We only reserved the tickets the night before, choosing the cheapest deal we could get. We ended up buying tickets for Miss Saigon. I had never seen the show before but Christina, who loved the play swore that it was great. The guys were not really interested in going to a Broadway show. So, it was a girl´s night out instead! The theatre was gorgeous. Big fancy chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the floor was covered with plush carpets. People were dressed up nicely and they engaged in happy conversations while waiting for the play to start. The play itself was amazing! The stage setting was very captivating, constantly changing from the colourful streets of Vietnam to a Nightclub in America. Basically, the story goes like this: An American soldier falls in love with a Vietnamese prostitute during his service in the Vietnam War. Although the American GI wants to stay in Vietnam he is forced to return to America without the Vietnamese girl. The story goes on about how they reunite years later and eventually it comes to a dramatic end. I won´t tell you what exactly happens, in case you want to see the show for yourself. But I loved the way several political and historical events were intertwined with a sad love story. And being able to see the show on Broadway was a unique experience, too!

Day 5

Our organization skills did not improve. Originally, Dan Christina and I were to meet Carly and Sam on the Manhattan-side of Brooklyn Bridge around lunchtime. While we were waiting for Carly and Sam we had lunch in a nice little Italian bakery located in the Financial District. The little bakery was really busy. Clearly, this was because of their ciabatta sandwiches which were truly delicious! After a short while we received a message from the others saying that they took the subway going to the Brooklyn-side of the Bridge. Not again! We set off walking across the Brooklyn Bridge without them. It was so much fun! We took at least a hundred photos while posing with the skyscrapers of Manhattan in the background. Once we were in Brooklyn we took a break in one of the many coffeeshops that had WIFI. We tried messaging Sam and Carly, to see what they were up to, but we could not reach them. So, we continued our lone adventure. We wandered around Dumbo for quite a bit. I love Brooklyn. It is so much nicer than Manhattan. There are fewer tourists in Brooklyn, there are shabby brick buildings and very hip shops. We stopped off at a coppersmith who engraved bracelets, rings and labels. It was very fascinating watching him work. Next, we found several shops that sold secondhand clothing. The prices here were exorbitant high though. Finally, we went to a little bookshop that is pretty well-known among authors, which is why many start their book tours here. The choice of books on offer was not overwhelming but there were several books you would not easily find in a normal bookshop and a lot of them were even signed by their authors. After we finished our little shopping tour we headed for the Brooklyn Bridge Park. This is a small little park right on the edge of Hudson River. From there you have a fabulous view over Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge on one side and Manhattan Bridge on the other. We sat on the beach-like shore for a while watching the sunset over NYC. Somehow, this was ever so tranquil and very mesmerizing. We walked back to Manhattan by crossing over the Manhattan Bridge. The skyline was lit by a million lights and it looked just like one of those postcards you can buy in one of the many souvenir shops. I think I was slowly beginning to actually like this city!

Day 6

The last few days began catching up on us. We had not had much sleep, we did a lot of walking and the whole excitement of this trip was tiring us out. We ticked off most of the must-sees and now it was time for the must-dos. Christina´s mum is a great fan of a film that features a well-known shop selling wedding dresses. Therefore, we took the subway to “Kleinfeld Bridal” and took some pictures for Christina´s mum. Also, Dan wanted to go to a bookshop and the perfect place for booklovers to go to In NYC is “Strand” bookstore. This bookstore is located on the corner of 12th Street and it claims to home over 18 miles of books. I did not check whether this is true or not. But the number of books in this shop was quite astonishing! There were secondhand books for a dollar or two, recently published books and books so precious and unique they were put behind glass. If I was a local, I would definitely come here on a daily basis! Finally, there was only one thing for us to do: we had to eat traditional New York Cheesecake! And the best place to do so (according to Google) is Eileen´s Special Cheesecake. After reading all those positive reviews online I would have expected the bakery to be huge. It turns out that the bakery was a tiny little shop on Cleveland Place. Still, the Cheesecake was delicious! There was ordinary Cheesecake, Cheesecake with strawberries, raspberries or blueberries, Cheesecake with Pecan nuts, walnuts or peanuts and many more to choose from. I chose the Crème Brûlée Cheesecake with salted caramel. Gosh, it was amazing! We had to get back to our hotel soon after to pick up our luggage and head to the airport. Unfortunately, the airport was extremely busy, as everyone was travelling home for Christmas. Again, we were badly delayed. We did not get back to Toronto before 1:30 in the morning. Since the TTC (subway) stops running at this time we were forced to take a taxi. I did not really care to be honest, because all I wished for was to curl up in my bed.

I must admit that it took me some time to warm to New York, but I got to appreciate the city after all. Although I really enjoyed our trip to New York, I was looking forward to getting back to Canada. I loved the busy bustle and the great variety of things to do in this city. Still, it felt great being back in Toronto. People were wearing their Canada Goose coats (including the fur trim), they were driving big pick-ups trucks again and the snow was nice and fluffy rather than the slushy soggy snow in NYC. I really do want to go back to New York. Maybe next time with a little more preparation though, so I know what I am doing. In terms of long-term living I definitely prefer Toronto!