Visiting New York Part 2: Back to NY

During the summer of 2014, me and my girlfriend Renate were visiting New York for the first time. After a quick day trip to Washington D.C. we were back exploring New York.

We took a wonderful trip on the Staten Island Ferry, soaking in the sun along the way.

It was not easy getting good pictures of the city, due to all the other tourists’ selfie sticks sticking out all around the boat. Here’s our best ones, and there’s even a selfie stick in one of these.

When we were in New York we almost exclusively walked anywhere we were going. Up and down Manhattan, we walked walked walked. We could have taken the subway, but there was so much to see in the city. If we had taken public transport we would have missed out on so many great sights.

One day we even walked all the way from our hotel near Hell’s Kitchen, in to see Grand Central Station, over the Queensboro Bridge to Queens, down to visit the Doctor Who themed The Way Station bar in Brooklyn, before heading back to Manhattan.

New York is a melting pot of cultures, but also of cuisines. So at one point we had dinner in Chinatown, before walking over to Little Italy to have gelato for dessert.

When we were in New York we felt we had to try watching some baseball. So we went to a New York Yankees match. Neither of us are big sports fans, but this was such an American thing to do! At one point we even bought an actual bucket of sliders and fries!

The atmosphere was great at the stadium, and we had a great time. But for the sport itself, I’m still no fan. It seemed like ages between each time the players were actually active on the field, with the announcers and Jumbotrons filling time between plays. I still have “Jeeeeeeter!” stuck in my head after every time the Jumbotron flashed Derek Jeter’s name on the screen.

After the match we wanted to check out Coney Island.

I think the amusement park is more for the locals than anyone visiting the city. I found it far more interesting to explore the city. But it was very fun walking around by the sea in the sun, so I don’t regret the time we spent there.

Towards the end of our vacation we started to spend more and more time in and around Central Park. We had done all the big touristy things we wanted to do. Now we just wanted to relax in the park.

So we would walk back-and-forth between cafés and the park. Reading books, solving crosswords, soaking in the sun, and of course taking pictures.

All in all this was one of the best vacations we’ve ever been on. I have so many good memories of this trip. I’d love to visit again someday!

BTW: Renate picked out the pictures I have included in these three posts for a professionally printed picture book of our journey that she got me for Christmas in 2018. It’s a really nice present, and it also made it much easier for me to write this post, since she had already picked out the best pictures amongst hundreds.

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