The trip of a lifetime has begun!
On Wednesday morning we left Chicago and arrived in New York City around mid-day. We Uber’d from LaGuardia Airport to “The Lodge at Red Hook” on the south side of Brooklyn, just a ten-minute walk to the cruise port at Pier 12. We spent the rest of Wednesday checking out the Red Hook area, around the hotel. Red Hook is rough on the eyes, but we felt completely safe. It seems to be an area that is in transition from industrial/manufacturing to more residential.
On Thursday, we set out from the hotel by 7:00am. We took a ferry boat from Brooklyn to Wall Street in Manhattan. We walked through the financial district, went to mass at Our Lady of Victory Church, made use of the “Hop On-Hop Off” bus, visited the 9/11 Memorial, Little Island and the High-Line Greenspace, had New York style pizza for lunch, visited Times Square, Trinity Church, found a geo-cache and had a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s Deli and then took the ferry back to Brooklyn about 12 hours after we set out! By the time we went to bed, we had each walked more than 30,000 steps!!
On Friday, after a hot breakfast at the hotel, we took the NYC bus to Brooklyn Heights. After completing some business, we set out to walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was so cool. We couldn’t help but think though, of the thousands of people who walked across the same bridge except in the opposite direction, on the morning of 9/11 as they tried to escape the tragedy behind them. We visited Alexander Hamilton’s grave during a second visit to Trinity Church. We went to mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral and then did the self-guided audio tour. We have visited A LOT of churches over the years, but this cathedral is the most beautiful and grand of any we have seen. We visited Central Park, bought ice-cream from a street vendor, and had a free slice of pizza for lunch. Then we set out to return to Brooklyn. We rode the subway (x3), once in the wrong direction, and then hopped on the ferry (x2) before arriving back in Red Hook. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and made our way back to the hotel. Today we each walked in excess of 25,000 steps.
There is no way we could possibly give justice to New York City in a single post. We found the city to be clean, safe and friendly. There is SO much that should/could be covered; the people, languages, smells, pigeons, food, transportation, vendors, shoes, architecture, handbags, scaffolding, drivers, construction and history. The city is a cacophony of sounds. We don’t recommend trying to do it all in 2.5 days, like we have, but some time in the BIG APPLE is better than no time at all. It is surely a city to experience.
Tomorrow (Saturday) we set sail on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 for a nine day transatlantic journey from New York to Southampton, England. To say we are excited is a huge understatement! Please pray for a safe journey for us!
Stay tuned for an update from the middle of the north-Atlantic!!
We RVery Blessed
The Statue of Liberty behind one of the NYC ferries. These ferries run all day at frequent intervals! Did you know that if Lady Liberty wore shoes, they would be size 879!!!
These cobblestone bricks are all throughout the city. Imagine what they would say if they could talk.
The “Charging Bull” near the Financial District. Legend has it that if you touch the bull, you will have good financial prospects. You’ll notice that the nose and horns are well-touched. So was it’s anus!
This it one view of the 9/11 North Tower memorial. It is a surreal place to experience. There were thousands of people in the memorial area, yet it seemed quiet.
New York style pizza from Rosetta’s
This is all that is left of the Cunard Line Pier 54 gate where the Carpathia ship docked on April 18, 1912 after rescuing passengers from the ill-fated Titanic.
A shot of Times Square from the top of one of the “Hop On, Hop Off” busses
Our first-ever pastrami sandwich! Yum!!!
A visit to Katz’s Delicatessen was on our “must-do” list! We waited in line for 40 minutes for a $27.00 pastrami sandwich. They have 8 “cutters” who slice the meats for you. The lower the cutter number, the more experienced they are. Was it worth it? Sure, just for the experience alone! And…Neither of us had ever had a pastrami sandwich or a knish before!
This was a very unique vendor cart. This lady has a seamstress cart! It was complete with a sewing machines and an ironing board!
New Yorkers must like to eat! Food vendor trailers similar to this one are EVERYWHERE!!! There is at least one, sometimes up to five, on every street corner. They sell everything from international food, pizza, breakfast, ice-cream, desserts, hot-dogs…you name it, they probably sell it!
The Manhattan skyline is in view as we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. From Brooklyn to Manhattan is a 1.1 mile walk. The bridge was built in 1883.
This is the walk-way of the Brooklyn Bridge. Again, if these boards could talk…
One of New York’s residents. They have no fear of people at all and will literally walk right up to you, especially if they think you have any food!
The NYPD has a vast array of different vehicles. This one has to be one of their smallest!
This is the headstone for Alexander Hamilton’s final resting place in the Trinity Church graveyard. Alexander Hamilton is famous for a lot of things; he helped draft the US Constitution, passed the New York BAR Exam after only six months of schooling, he was Secretary of the US Treasury, founded the Bank of New York, established the US monetary system and fought in the American Revolution! Yeah…a pretty impressive guy!
St Patrick’s Cathedral was built for the large Irish immigrant population arriving in New York in 1879.
The doors of any Catholic church always have a story. These have enough stories for an entire book. It took 44 craftsmen, working for 82 weeks to design/build the doors. They each weigh 9000 pounds! It takes two people to open each door. In 2012 the doors were removed for cleaning. It took a 55-ton crane to lift the doors off of their hinges and secure them for refurbishment.
A view of the interior of the church from the narthex.
Sensory overload…that’s an understatement. This cathedral is absolutely beautiful. More than 5.5 million people visit the cathedral every year. There are six masses EACH weekday and eleven each weekend between Saturday Vigil and Sunday!!!
One of the NYC MTA busses we rode on.
We bought a two-day pass for the “hop on/hop off” bus. We made great use of it. They have a gps audio tour that plays through complimentary headsets.
This is one of the coveted NYC Yellow Cab medallions. The medallions are limited in number, just about 13,500 and come at a cost of $80K!!! Each car runs 24/7 with drivers leasing the car for eight-hour shifts. UBER and LYFT have had a significant impact on taxi-driver revenues.
What can we say…we are “New” to the New York Subway system. We took the subway three times and once in the wrong direction. Busses and trains cost just $2.90 per ride, so our mistake was well worth the experience!
