Another day, another entry in the seemingly interminable NYC Diaries, otherwise known as that thing where I blog my travel journal from the trip I took to New York City with the Man in October half term. We had an excellent time and I wrote a lot of it down at length, and now I am editing it slightly and posting it here. I know it's long, but I wrote it for me, and it's going to be lovely to look back on this and scrapbook it one day! Links to other days are at the end, but for now, here goes Day 5.
Radish fact
of the day: The seeds of radishes can be pressed to produce oil and while this
is not suitable for human consumption it is a possible source of biofuel.
I woke at eight with the alarm but dozed for a
bit. I got up to make tea when the need finally became overwhelming and we had a
cuppa in bed. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows (yay!) and so I
volunteered to do the bakery run so that I could enjoy the sunshine and get
some neighbourhood pictures. The Man offered to make more tea while I did this
before I got the chance to insist that he make more tea while I was gone.
The neighbourhood was lovely on a Sunday
morning; people out in their Sunday best, I suppose going to church, and I
cheerfully good-morninged people in a way that you just can't in London. I enjoyed looking at the beautiful Brownstone
houses with their picturesque stoops: so many are decked out with flowers and
autumnal decorations or wreaths, and quite a few pumpkins are making an
appearance in anticipation of Halloween. Add in a few golden fallen leaves and
you have the epitome of a New York morning in the fall.
Plus the bakery had fresh banana and walnut
bread which for me trumped cinnamon rolls and was absolutely delicious.
After breakfast we set off to see a bit more of Brooklyn. The
air had a nip but with a scarf and a pair of shades the sunshine was wonderful. After a slight subway blip courtesy of yours
truly, we emerged on the Manhattan side of Brooklyn bridge, with the structure
in question towering above us. We, along with basically every other pedestrian
and cyclist in the city, began our amble over to the other side.
As I said, the weather was glorious and treading the
wooden boards of the walkway was just wonderful. Manhattan arrayed itself in
gleaming towers behind us, framed in the mathematical regularity of the
bridge's wires, and Brooklyn beckoned in front of us. We navigated other
tourists, stray bicycles, street sellers and selfies (ours and other people's)
on our way and watched Manhattan give way to water, and water give way to the
park on the Brooklyn side. I think these panoramas from the bridge are my
favourite of all the ones in New York.
Once we had crossed the bridge, we skirted
back to the shore into the area known as Down Under the Manhattan Bridge
Overpass (or, somewhat unfortunately in my opinion, DUMBO). I'd never been down
here before but the views were spectacular and we strolled the little waterside
park, taking in the Manhattan skyline and the soaring structures of the
Brooklyn bridge to the south and the Manhattan bridge to the North. Lots of
people were out making the most of the autumn sunshine.
We headed along the shore to Jane's Carousel,
an old fairground ride, almost one hundred years old, that has been restored
and housed in a glass box by the side of the river. It too had tremendous views
of the skyscrapers. At $2 a go, there was no way I was passing up
a ride and the Man fancied it too, so we paid at the booth and were given little
tickets each with a different carousel horse on. Crazy grey horse (him) and
poncy brown horse (me, as the Man let me pick and poncy brown was funny).
The ride whirled and the music played and the
horses went up and down and pictures happened. Amused. It was fun!
Sadly all things carousel must come to an end,
and so we left the horses to find our next adventure. We were heading for
Prospect Park but on the way passed the Brooklyn Roasting Company so we stopped inside for a hot chocolate and a coffee; no
prizes for guessing which drink belongs to whom. It was basically hipster
heaven with tons of artisan coffees, a bare, industrial, shabby chic vibe,
upcycled, refurbed furnishings and beards. We conquered a sofa and enjoyed a
sit down.
We took the subway to Prospect Park, after my
second subway-reading malfunction of the day (two for two, good going Smith)
and emerged into sunshine with a sweeping expanse of leafy green before us.
It was beautiful with lots of the leaves
taking on a tint of yellow or orange, and wide sweeping paths laid out for
cyclists and pedestrians with plenty of room for everyone. We wandered along taking in the views, coming
across huge spreading trees and a lake smothered in green, and after a bit,
we could smell the scent of hot food drifting on the breeze.
We followed it because, y'know, lunch.
Also because our vague wanderings were not actually vague, and the food market Smorgasburg was our destination. Smorgasburg is
a bit of a Brooklyn institution and is made up of around a hundred street food
vendors who set up stalls in the park on the weekend to feed hungry park
wanderers and anyone in the general vicinity who fancies it. My research had
told me it was usually busy, and this was the last one of the year before
winter sets in.
There were long lines but a lovely atmosphere
and if you could imagine a street food, you could probably find it. We did a
lap of all the stalls to whet our appetites and then while the man opted for
Japanese and chicken wings, I queued for tacos and tortilla chips at the
Japanese-Mexican fusion taco place we had spotted at Chelsea food market. Yum!
The queue (or line in NYC) moved quickly and
before long we were perched at the side of the path, picnicking along with
everyone else and I was happily tucking into fabulous adobo chicken tacos. YUM.
They disintegrated everywhere which made them taste better. In the interests of
a full review, I don't really get where the Japanese part came in but I couldn't
bring myself to care while stuffing my face with tacos and ultimately it sounds
good to say Japanese-Mexican fusion so it works for me.
After lunch we peered at more food stalls
before Craig pointed at a sign on the one opposite our picnic spot. It took me
a couple of seconds to catch his gist, but when I see a sign that says
hot-apple-and-ginger-cider, I don't need telling twice. So we had a lovely steamy
cup of appley goodness each, warming on the inside and out. I had thought that
particular stall, which was peddling Asian salad rolls, just wasn't very popular but when
I got there it turns out that the reason there was no queue was because they
were sold out of everything. They were having a good day!
We ended the afternoon strolling hand in hand
round Prospect Park. It was lovely weather and I enjoyed just watching life,
being there with the Man, and spotting curious pets.
It seems that New Yorkers are absolutely nuts
for their dogs and even more so for dressing up said dogs. I have seen a dog in
little red shoes (four of them, obvs), numerous dogs in knitted jumpers, a dog
being pulled along in a little basket while the owner did the actual walking,
and even someone taking their cat for a walk. Or even a climb as this
particular cat was in Prospect Park scaling a statue and the owner was stood
underneath holding the end of the lead.
We went home for a cuppa, necessary after a
long day's rambling, but we were glad we had saved these outings for today as the weather had been pitch perfect.
After a bit of a chill we set out for some
cocktails and our reservation at The Mulberry Project. We wondered through
Chinatown and Little Italy, enjoying the atmosphere, the lights and the people
dining at tables which flowed right out into the street. So we walked right
past it and had to double back. The Mulberry Project is in an unmarked basement
and it was only by hopping down the stairs and peering through the doorway that
we realised where it was. We didn't need to worry about reserving a table! We were pretty
much the only people there and opted to sit out in the garden, as the weather
was mild enough. It was fun to sit and natter and we put away a couple of
cocktails each and I dealt with most of a plateful of calamari. The cocktails
were tasty: I had one with rum, pear, lime and ginger, and a second with
tequila and orange and chilli. Other things too but I can't recall. Yum!
To round off the night we climbed the Top of
the Rock. After a mishap involving us wondering around the network of arcades
that make up just the lobby of the Rockefeller centre, we eventually asked and
were told we could get tickets down in the basement. Which seemed counter-intuitive when what you want to do is get to the top of a tall building.
The observation decks on the 68th, 69th and
70th floors are open until midnight every day of the week, and it was
surprisingly busy! NYC clearly loves its airport-style security so we queued
up, avoided the souvenir photo opportunity and were guided by the extremely
cheerful staff to the lift.
As we rode up the sixty-odd floors, we looked
through the ceiling of the lift which was clear and we could see the lift shaft
rising above us, illuminated with columns of blue lights and as we shot
upwards, it seemed that the roof came down to meet us.
It was chilly up at the top and my skirt had a
Marilyn moment or two, but my goodness what a view! Everything twinkling below
us in a starry carpet of lights stretching away in all directions. It was
wonderful to see: the skyscrapers dominated, filling in little squares of light
in the darkness. It was hard to see the streets at all at the shadowy depths of
the buildings' canyons, and Manhattan no longer looks like an island as the
inky night time waters are lost amid the twinkling highways and buildings.
The Man later said that this was one of his favourite things on the whole trip. We both agreed that the view is better than
from Empire State Building. However, the Empire State Building is the one you
have to go up. Because history.
Anyway, it was beautiful and we circulated the
three levels enjoying the outdoor top floor for uninterrupted views, and the
inside lower floor (a mere 68 stories) for warmth. Selfies were duly taken. And
we got a particularly good view of the Empire State Building.
We descended the tower again just before
eleven, pausing in the lobby for a quick selfie with a picture of Trump for
purposes of comedy.
Then we rode the A train all the way home for
a cup of tea!
Kisses xxx
P.S. If you are fascinated by this saga, or really want to know more about radishes, you can find Day One here, Day Two here, Day Three here and Day Four here.
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