New York

Backblipped Saturday 7th December

The alarm was set for 4.30 so we could get out on deck to watch us arrive into New York. Our cabin was on the same deck as the Observation deck below the bridge so we didn’t have far to go after throwing on coats and shoes over our pjs. The deck was pretty busy but we found enough space to take many many shots of lights in the distance despite the people at the railing not giving up any space!

We came under the Verrazano narrows bridge and made our way slowly towards our dock in Brooklyn. We lasted about 30 minutes in the cold before heading back to bed where we slept for another 3 hours. Cabins had to be vacated by 9 so we had time to get organised and head for breakfast before disembarking at our allotted time of 9.45.

Found our cases easily and joined the queue for immigration which moved quite quickly. The taxi queue took a bit more time but it didn’t take too long before we were in our cab heading through a tunnel to Manhattan.

Our hotel was in the financial district just across the street form the 9/11 memorial pools and visitor centre and we were lucky enough to get checked in straight away. Unfortunately although we were on the 18th floor we didn’t have much of a view but it was quiet. Room was lovely and I was able to get unpacked before we headed out for a wander. We didn’t get further than the bar on the corner, O’Hara’s, where we enjoyed a lovely pint of Guiness. The bar has become a bit of a mecca for first responders and the bar is decorated with badges from everywhere across the world and they have a book behind the bar showing the devastation that happened on that dreadful day.
The barman was very friendly and the vibe in the bar was of a great neighbourhood space.

After our drink we made our way over to the
Occulus centre where we marvelled at the Wildlife Wonders sculptures before making our way over to Chinatown for a bargain lunchtime special. Stuffed we walked on to Little Italy before heading to Greenwich Village where we popped into the Chess Forum. It sells chess sets in the front and the back is set up with several chess tables. There were only 2 customers but on previous busts every seat has been filled.

Onward to Washington square park followed by the Strand bookshop which has more modern books on the ground floor and acres of older secondhand books in the basement. I bought a jigsaw.

A quick look at the Christmas market in Union square and we headed back to our hotel via the subway. We stopped off for a quick drink at the bar and might have stayed a little longer had it not been a little crowded with the after work crowd.

Spent an hour or two chilling in our room trying to decide if we wanted to venture out again to the movies but we stayed local and ate in a different bar across the square.