In New York

It’s not​ the first time I see the New York skyline, but I got big goosebumps when my eyes discerned the Big Apple from Staten Island. We drove to the ferry and got the free ride to Manhattan. The city has changed in 7 years, the new World Trade Center is impressive. The 9/11 memorial outside is striking and left me wordless… We work our way up through Wall Street, Tribeca, Soho, Greenwich village, we hop on the High Line and make it to Midtown to see times square and around. The weather was cold and rainy, but on our next day the sky cleared up. We walked from the ferry to Brooklyn via the Brooklyn bridge. Then we went back to Manhattan for some noodles in Chinatown and a cannoli in Little Italy. We spend our evening in the One World Observatory on top of the One World Trade Center building. It’s a 47 second ride to the 102nd floor, the fastest elevator run in the world. The final estimated cost of $3.9 billion makes this skyscraper the most expensive in the world. It’s the tallest in the western hemisphere, reaching 546m at the tip, the observatory is at 382m. One the view, there’s a tall skinny building on the right side of the Empire State, it’s the tallest residential building in the world. The penthouse at the top is at the same height as the One World Observatory, it sold for 87 millions (the asked price was 100 millions).

These two days were a lot of work to get to and from Staten Island, with a bridge closure getting back to Walmart was taking us an hour drive late at night. On the third day we choose a Walmart next to a park and ride lot, just a short bus ride to Times Square. Once there we walk up Fifth Avenue, stopping at flagships like Nintendo and Microsoft stores, we eat at Five Guys and stroll in Central Park. The Metropolitan museum of art is still open when we get there, allowing us to see European paintings, medieval armors and the impressive Egyptian collection. I thought I would be able to see the great wave by Hokusai because it’s part of the museum collection, but unfortunately, the print is too fragile to be exhibited. We end the day at Beer Culture, a cool bar with a good selection of draft beers. We freaked out when a girl fell down having a seizure, but she ended up fine!