| Since our plane landed nice and early we had virtually | | | | Park, mostly on Lexington and Fifth Avenues. We |
| a whole day left to explore yesterday. The weather | | | | walked by the (apparently just closed) famous Plaza |
| was pretty nice, quite sunny when we started, | | | | Hotel and into the south end of Central Park, a |
| although it clouded over a little and was a little on the | | | | masterpiece of landscape design and 850 acres of |
| cool side, it never got much above 15 degrees | | | | much-needed recreational space by the famous |
| Celsius.Around noon time we hopped on the Q | | | | landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead. We only |
| subway line, which is literally 5 minutes from our bed | | | | explored the south end, including the Dairy and Sheep |
| and breakfast, and we made our way into Manhattan. | | | | Meadow and headed out onto Central Park West with |
| The subway actually emerges at the Manhattan | | | | all its stately apartment buildings, including the Dakota |
| Bridge and we got a good look at the Brooklyn Bridge | | | | Building, in front of which John Lennon was shot in |
| and the south-eastern tip of Manhattan.We decided to | | | | 1980. The Strawberry Fields hillside garden was |
| get off on Times Square, figuring that this would be | | | | dedicated to his memory.Everything is blooming here |
| pretty good place to start exploring NYC. Times | | | | right now, and New York City is definitely a few |
| Square, with all its neon advertising signs, and | | | | weeks ahead of Toronto in terms of the horticultural |
| promotional displays is something else. The sidewalks | | | | cycle. Something was in the air, and I had to sneeze |
| were totally full of people strolling and tons of | | | | about a hundred times, and by the end of the day we |
| promoters were handing out flyers for broadway | | | | both had to pick up some allergy medication since we |
| shows, comedy shows and other entertainment | | | | were both battling major hayfever symptoms.Then a |
| events. There is so much advertising in the Times | | | | brief hop on the subway later, we popped up again in |
| Square area with lights and displays blinking | | | | Greenwich Village, a beautiful neighbourhood of |
| everywhere, that the individual advertisements actually | | | | brownstone townhouses and took in the ambience. |
| started to run into one another in my mind, probably | | | | We ended up at a nice little restaurant on 7th Avenue, |
| not the effect the advertisers tried to achieve. Indeed, | | | | called "Pennyfeathers" where we had a beautiful |
| the hustle and bustle in this area is huge and can get a | | | | dinner in an enclosed porch so we could take in the |
| little overwhelming.We strolled around that area for a | | | | street life.A couple of subway rides later we came |
| while, and walked by Rockefeller Center, although we | | | | back to our temporary home in Brooklyn where we |
| did not get to explore the whole complex. Then we | | | | dropped into bed exhausted from all the walking, trying |
| tracked down Grand Central Terminal and walked | | | | to catch up on a bit of rest for the next day.Susanne |
| through this grandiose historic train station which | | | | Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and |
| opened in 1913. There are over 100 commuter train | | | | Transitions( Travel and Transitions deals with |
| platforms at Grand central and they all run off a | | | | unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, |
| glorious central concourse.The east side of Grand | | | | real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers |
| Central opens out almost straight onto the Chrysler | | | | and travel experts, insights and reflections, |
| Building, and considering that I am a huge fan of Art | | | | cross-cultural issues, contests and many other |
| Deco skyscrapers, I had to go inside this 1929 | | | | features. You will also find stories about life and the |
| masterpiece. As a tourist you can only access the | | | | transitions that we face as we go through our own |
| lobby, but the central area with its ceiling mural and the | | | | personal life-long journeys.Submit your own travel |
| authentic Art Deco elevators (and their doors covered | | | | stories in our first travel story contest( and have a |
| in wood marquetry) are definitely worth a little | | | | chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the |
| detour.Then we snaked our way up towards Central | | | | Amazon River. |