New York! Steaming, bubbling and overflowing, and you want to see it in just 3 days? No! Impossible! But we tried anyway.
We had never been to New York, so we tried to enjoy these days as a "stopover". We landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where the first problem immediately arose: how were we going to get our oversized boxes to the hotel? The taxis aren't "equipped" for them, and the drivers were not exactly keen to take us.
The solution: a 3-day subway pass, and on the side a city map the size of a map of Switzerland, to walk through Manhattan on foot. Already now we realise what might be waiting for us in this big city!
It would take too long to describe every sight in detail, so we'll stick to what stays in our memory:
A hop-on hop-off tourist bus tour, with lots of stops where you can get on and off as often as you like.
5th Avenue on foot, from the Flatiron Building to Central Park.
The Empire State Building, at 381 metres (443 metres to the tip of the antenna), is the tallest building in the city until its successor, "One World Trade Center", is finished.
From the observation deck we enjoy a gigantic 360-degree view.
On foot towards "Ground Zero", with the museum in memory of the victims, then "Wall Street", the world's financial market, and on to the Brooklyn Bridge.
See the New York skyline from the water!
We treat ourselves to a breather and book the 3-hour Manhattan "Full Island Cruise". Manhattan is an island, surrounded by the Hudson River to the west, the East River to the east and the Harlem River to the north-east. Sizzling in the sun on the upper deck, we let ourselves be "shipped past" under 7 bridges, past 5 boroughs and more than 25 famous sights. Sailing close by the "Statue of Liberty", we too manage a close-up of this gift from the people of France to the United States, unveiled in 1886.
The Intrepid Air and Space Museum is a decommissioned US Navy aircraft carrier on the bank of the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan. The aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, converted into a museum, displays a wide range of military aircraft of all kinds, as well as other historic exhibits from the US Navy and from aviation and space travel.
You definitely mustn't miss "Little Italy" and "Chinatown". In "Chinatown" you feel as if you were suddenly in Asia. As far as the eye can see there are billboards and street signs of Chinese origin. Lots of street vendors, next to fish stalls and Asian restaurants, line the streets.
New York City, with 8.3 million people, is the largest city in the United States and one of the largest cities in the world. Its population has doubled since the beginning of the 20th century. Since 1825, thanks to its location on the Atlantic Ocean and the Hudson River waterway into the interior, the city has been the port of arrival for immigrants from all over the world. Its further development made New York the largest industrial city and a financial metropolis.
New York has countless architectural sights, 500 galleries, around 200 museums, more than 150 theatres, many department stores and over 18,000 restaurants. The city is considered the cultural and artistic centre of the American East Coast, and beyond that sets the tone worldwide in these fields. Almost all the cultural sights are in Manhattan. Here the cityscape is dominated above all by the skyscrapers.
Our verdict on our "NY stopover":
You have to have seen it.
All very impressive.
