New York (part 4 of 4) (previously unpublished 2016)

I just found this previously unpublished blog post I created after my return from New York.  There was so much to see and do, and so many things I did that I actually ran out of steam posting it all!
Anyway, here's the unpublished content from 2016:
After my grueling walk the day before, I decided to take a chilled day in Central Park.  I knew it was big, but when I saw the map I decided the only way I was going to get around it was by bicycle so that's what I did.  It was great fun but there are traffic laws to obey!
Day 7 - Central Park

You always hear about how big Central Park is and you know it's going to be some sort of impressive, but when you see it in relation to the rest of the city like this, it is completely overwhelming.  If you are not completely understanding the photo, each one of those white lines is a block - and remember that NYC blocks are long!  There are several lakes, a couple of museums and a few swimming pools inside the park.

One of the swimming pools.  After cycling up the hill that goes alongside this I wish I'd brought my swimming costume!

My trusty steed and I after three laps of the park.  Bicycle rental shops are available all over the place and around the park there are actually guys just standing with picket boards advertising the various bicycle shops.  After they negotiate a special price for you that is usually different to the one advertised, they'll walk you to the bicycle shop because they work on commission.  I was a little edgy about following this random guy around a corner, but there were hundreds of people and police around so it wasn't too bad.

Riding inside the park where they have actual roads with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings because there are so many cyclists, carriages, rickshaws and other modes of transport.

Day 8 - I took  trip to see the Wall Street Bull.  There were so many people taking photos of it, I couldn't even get a clean shot sans my fellow tourists.  Then I caught a ferry a short walk away, to Staten Island so that I could view the Statue of Liberty without paying the extortionate rip off fees that the local tour guides were charging.  

The ferry itself is a finely tuned system.  I was completely blown away by the sophistication of the system.  You pretty much walk onto a platform, which you soon realise is the actual boat.  The safety announcements are made, and off you sail.  

The ferry passes the famous, but completely underwhelming Statue of Liberty.  I'm not dissing anyone's national icons, but seriously, did you know the statue measures only 93m/306ft - and that includes the base/pedestal it stands on?  To put that into perspective, Big Ben in London, is 96m/315ft.  I guess, when all is said and done, size really does matter! Hollywood always makes Lady Liberty look huge, and I therefore always expected that it would be around the size of the Eiffel Tower (which by the way is 300m/984ft - to give you some more perspective!).  Still, it was quite a mind fuck seeing the statue we've seen on just about every single movie we've seen since we were only a few feet tall ourselves!  I would strongly recommend doing the Staten Island/Statue of Liberty thing.  It was still well worth it.

When I arrived at Staten Island, I didn't really know what to do with myself.  I hadn't really through that far ahead to be honest!  When I got off the ferry there were loads of busses going to the beach - that sounded good enough to me, and off I went. 

The beach itself was absolutely glorious.  Beautiful sand stretched out for miles, a quaint little residential area to walk around in, and an unexpected European produce shop too. 

After a few hours, I met a wonderful elderly couple (whom even 4 years after returning from NYC, I remain friends with on social media).  They told me all about the gangs on Staten Island, the people who are apparently buried in the construction of the bridge, and the Irish/Italian street wars.  They invited me to dinner a few hours later, but being a single, white female, I figured it was probably best if we went out separate ways.  I thought really did think they were the coolest couple, but my mom kept messaging me, explaining this is how people end up in snuff films, so I regretfully took a rain check.

Honestly, I don't know where NYC gets its reputation for being rude and unsociable, because I have to say, there was seldom a single day that went by that I didn't end up meeting someone new.  Everyone was so helpful, kind and polite, and one morning I even had breakfast with a genuine NY paramedic who happened to be sitting opposite me in a breakfast cafe and invited me over. That was pretty cool too! He had some cool stories to tell about 9/11 in particular!

Random arty, voyeur shot of someone's back garden peephole because it would be rude not to!

Day 9 saw the more political and touristy things the city has to offer such as the Chrysler building, United Nations HQ, Grand Central Terminal (the most beautiful and impressive train station I've ever seen!), the Flatiron Building (which is a architectural marvel - I'm a bit of a buildingphile), and the famous Rockefeller Center.

A genuine NYC ambulance and yellow taxi cabs - just like on the movies!!

Of course, my son would have killed me if I didn't make a stop at the famous Chipotle.  I can verify that the food is indeed the bee's knees!

Flatiron Building - how cool is it??

The gorgeous Grand Central Station - again, just like in the movies! This little freak's mind was truly blown by it all!

Then it was time to visit the United Nation Headquarters. Security was tight, and you have to go across the road to the visitor's building first to get scanned and checked in.

Inside the UN building

A further walk around the city brought me to the Amish Market - healthy heaven (I could happily live in there  - only after I systematically work my way through the whole of NYC's famous foods though! So many calories, so little time! :P ).

All that walking made me hungry and I stopped by Wendy's to see what all the fuss was about.  I'll be honest - I was well impressed.  It was a pretty darn good burger.  Then again, I think NYC probably has the best food on the planet.  I could see my waistline increasing on a daily basis! Just close your eyes and don't think about the calories - they might not see you either and you might get away with it! :P

Day 10 - IHOP breakfast, a walk through Chelsea (which was probably the place I would happily live if my life were a little more simple!), and the High Line Park which is a park built on an old rail station that peers over the city - very cool and a little off the beaten tourist track.  It was really interesting, and I would highly recommend it!

Highline Park - I don't know why more people don't mention this when visiting NYC! It's awesome.  You can read more about it, and see a few more pics here: https://www.thehighline.org/

Saw these in a local shop.  Imagine if we had these in England? I'd be pissed by my second cup of coffee on a daily basis! I teach secondary school so maybe this isn't such a bad idea? :P

Pretty cool clear Pepsi which I took back to England to impress my unimpressible teenage son. He was pretty impressed!

Another interesting thing about NY: sky writing to advertise stuff.  I thought this was well cool.  In South Africa, when I was a kid, planes would fly over the beach with messages of love and marriage proposals.  I haven't seen anything like this as an adult so I was pretty excited by it - even if it was just silly adverts.

Finally, I had just to stop at Popeye's Chicken.  Little Nicky fans out there will understand! 

It really was good! I tried to sneak some home for my son in my bag, but 'chickened' out at the last minute in case I got arrested :P.  Hey, everyone who travels gets paranoid sometimes!