The dream of playing tennis in Central Park...came true

Our last day in NYC had to begin with breakfast at a real diner! Martin and Kricke had found one close to the hotel the day before that came in handy (I haven't seen vey many genuine diners in New York so I'm glad we found one that close)

The breakfast was not the best breakfast ever though but at least we got the experience from dining at a diner!



Since the breakfast was kind of filling and not the healthiest one we had to walk it of in Lower East Side, Chinatown, Little Italy and Soho. All of those areas are not how you depict Manhattan. What also is fascinating with them is that they are very distinct in their character and don't cover many blocks.



Lower East Side.



A police officer that was directing traffic sent us to this popular doughnut place. We were still to full after breakfast to have a doughnut but enjoyed the cold drinks that they served.



Where are we? The paper map is not dead to tourists! I don't know how we would have survived without the free one we got at the hotel the first day.




Entering Little Italy after a smelly walk through Chinatown.

Kricke headed off to San Diego after lunch which gave Martin and I the opportunity to play tennis in Central Park. We had both bought new shoes for the occasion and managed to borrow demo rackets at a sport store near our hotel.



Martin is ready to play!



It was sooooo hot outside. We had to take many water and kissing breaks to survive the hour.

One of the players that took over our court had been staying at the same chateau in France as the Swedish king in 1970. Apparently the man we talked to had been mistaken for the king at one or several occasions during their stay which hadn't amused the king.



Our second to last must-see before leaving NYC was the Flatron building.



Our last dinner in New York was a good one! Cuban inspired!



We couldn't leave without visiting my favourite island, Roosevelt Island. Going there was more important than packing.


You get the best view of my favourite building, Chrysler Building from Roosevelt. Here you can also see the UN-building.

Unfortunately the southern tip of the island is still not finished (it is going to be a park) so you can't get as far down as I would have liked. I guess I have to come back for a third visit!




We have had an amazing time in an amazing city! I'm going to avoid coming back in the summer time though! But I will definitely come back!

Independence Day in NYC

Waking up on 4th of July felt no different than any other day. Getting out on the streets in the morning didn't feel any different either. I expected that every American would at least wear or carry something US-inspired but we did not see much of that at all.

The difference compared to previous days was the heat! No rain in sight and the sun really knew how to make it unbearable to walk around. We had to several stops through out the day to try to cool down.

Our first stop of the day was Top of the Rock, the top of Rockefeller Centre. As you can see in the picture below the top reaches pretty high up into the blue sky.



Rockefeller Centre from down below.

The view over Manhattan and surroundings was amazing. I'm glad we went up!


Martin and I with Empire State Building and WTC to the left of us.






Martin's panoramic pictures turned out great!

After a quick coffee we walked up to Lincoln Centre for more shopping at Century 21. We took a shortcut through Central Park and met this little fellow that was eating his lunch up side down.


A few dresses and skirts later we headed down to Meatpacking District for dinner and Macy's fireworks.



Cosmopolitan to begin the celebration!

We just finished our meal when the firework show started. Unfortunately a lot of the good spots to watch the fireworks over Hudson river were closed off so we missed quite a lot of the show trying to find an acceptable spot.



The crowd and the fireworks!

Walking or flowing back (because of all the people) to the hotel we discovered that the Empire State Building had been lit up in American colours for the occasion. Nicely done!



We passed through Times Square on the way to the hotel. It felt like it is the place to be at on 4th of July.



Before calling it quits we took a drink at a bar right beside our hotel. It did't take long before an American women spoke to us. The spontaneity to talk to strangers that both Americans and Canadians have but that Swedes lack is something I really like!

And then we were three!

Another day of exploring in New York!

We forgot about The High Line the day before when we had dinner in the Meatpacking District and therefore we began the day by going back to that area to walk its path. The High Line is a part of an old railway track up in the air that has been turned into a walkway. The walkway was nice but most of the surrounding is under construction so the view was not that exciting at least not for most of it.



The High Line is covered in vegetation these days, but you can still see the tracks underneath.


Parkin in NYC can often look like this.




It took awhile but I finally got back to the old jumping me on top of the High Line.

After a coffee in Chelsea Market we headed to Brooklyn for a nice view of the lower Manhattan skyline. I really liked Brooklyn last year and it did't disappoint me this year either. I think Martin enjoyed it too.


Southern Manhattan skyline in the background and a Swedish coloured inspired pop-up pool and beach in the foreground.



There is still a bit to go but the Brooklyn water front is being turned into a very nice area to visit and walk along.

The sun actually made a short visit while we walked around and had lunch in Brooklyn. But by the time we began our walk over Brooklyn Bridge it started raining again. It was difficult to share the narrow walkway with an umbrella among lots and lots of other umbrellas.



Lunch with a view in Brooklyn!



Me holding on to Brooklyn Bridge.



Another jump! Can you see the new World Trade Centre?

We took the metro back to Union Square for some additional shopping. When we reached the street level the rain had intensified. In my desperation I finally managed to find a pair of rubber boots! With high heels :) I began using them right away and felt very classy in my high heels :)

We returned to the hotel to leave our shopping bags and to meet our colleague Kricke who also is attending the conference in San Diego and who is joining us in NYC for two days.

There is no time to rest when in New York so we took Kricke out sightseeing right away. Our goal for the afternoon was to take the ferry to Staten Island and back to get a nice view of the Statue of Liberty for free. While on the ferry we also enjoyed the view of the southern tip of Manhattan with all its skyscrapers.



On the ferry with Manhattan in the background.



May I present to you: the Statue of Liberty!




We are on vacation, but can't let go of the globes!


Kricke is like me! He also does the self portraits!


Oh so beautiful!

Back at Battery Park we started looking for a place to have dinner. We were not very successful to begin with since there were no restaurants to be seen along our chosen path. We also got interrupted by intense rainfall twice, so intense that we needed to run and find cover. There were three wet and hungry Swedes that finally found a restaurant that would fill us up.




Raining intensely over New Jersey...




...and over us!

The rain had stopped by the time we finished the meal so we took the chance to get close to the new World Trade Centre building and Ground Zero. The area is still a construction sight so we couldn't really see much.




WTC from close!



WTC from far!




And SoL from far!

Our last adventure of the day was going back to Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights to watch the skyline of Manhattan in the dark. BEAUTIFUL!

I'm glad that I and Martin kept Kricke up for so long as we did because he apparently slept like a child until 8.30 AM the next morning (we only slept until about 4 AM our first night here).




Picture of the day!

Location:W 46th St,New York,United States

And out of the square came the sun!

We booked a hotel with breakfast included (it is uncommon here that breakfast is included in the hotel reservation) and were curious to try it especially since we waited for it for more than two hours since we woke up before 4 AM.
It was an okay breakfast with the basics that fills you up. The most interesting ingredient were the already peeled eggs that were heated in warm water.
After figuring out the day we headed out on another rubber boots and umbrella hunt. No luck this time either. I ended up buying earrings instead.
Next stop was my favourite place on Manhattan: Central Park. We walked in to it from the SW corner and zig zagged our way up passed Jackie Onassis reservoir to the tennis courts. On the walk I finally managed to buy un umbrella, one with a map over Central Park that I wanted to buy already last year. We also stopped for a hamburger lunch at the Loeb BoatHouse (the relationship of Swedish Princess Madeleine and her now husband Chris was discovered here).



Martin has the whole wide world in his hands!




Me and my umbrella!



Martin in Central Park by Bethesda Fountain and Terrace (known from many movies).



Lunch at Loeb Boathouse!

Martin was impressed by all the tennis courts (28 I think). We will try to play there on Friday if it not raining and we can buy two cheap pairs of tennis shoes until then.
The Guggenheim museum was our next stop (just when it started raining) Very cool building but that was about it. It was nothing like I remembered the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain, to be like. There it was more about your own actions creating the experience. This museum was more of a regular museum with art hanging on the walls. The most enjoyable was the permanent exhibition with paintings from Picasso and van Gogh.
I love the human social pattern and mind. While walking around the museum we saw this line up for the James Turrell-exhibition that never seemed to end. Since the line up was so long we thought that this must be something to see so we went to the end of the line and started the long wait. 45 minutes later we entered a dark room with black walls, four spotlights and a brownish rectangle hanging on one wall. We stood their for about five minutes starring at the rectangle. Then we joined the rest that had left the room disappointed and confused. What were we supposed to have experienced in their?
Well, Martin at least got to buy two nice Guggenheim inspired mugs and we avoided the rain because when we got out of there the sun was shining!
We slowly headed back to the hotel stopping for coffee and pastries, the best tennis store in New York (Mason's) and for a visit to Grand Central Station.



Martin does not like pictures with food. Can you tell?



Grand Central Station turns 100 years this year!



My favourite Manhattan skyscraper: the Chrysler Building.

Our feet were screaming when we came back to the hotel at 7 PM, but they didn't get to rest for very long since we wanted to have dinner in the Meatpacking District.
The sun left us by the time we headed out again. I of course left the umbrella in the hotel room so arriving at the Meatpacking District we choose a restaurant very quickly. But it was a good one, Fig & Olive. We were so full leaving the restaurant two hours later.



Our first glance at the new World Trade Centre building!



Martin with his excellent choice of a dinner dish!

Our last sightseeing stop of the day was Rockefeller Centre on the way back to the hotel. It was really lit up nicely last year, but not as nicely this year unfortunately. After that my feet and Martins groins just wanted to go to bed. So that was what we did!
Oh, I almost forgot! I bought this trips first Starbuck mug at Grand Central Station.

Location:W 46th St,New York,United States

In the middle of the night...

So here we are in NYC in the middle of the night not sleeping! And I thought we did a great job staying up until 9 PM yesterday.
Martin I began our trip about 24 hours ago. We got into Arlanda Airport with plenty of time we thought. But we were so wrong! By the time the gate opened we still hadn't left our bags at the bag drop. I've never seen a cue that long at an airport (about 50 minutes). I though checking in by yourself would speed up the process, but it certainly didn't yesterday.
We made it to the gate after the gate according to the signs was closed but were luckily let on to the aircraft.
The flight actually didn't feel eight hours long. I thought it was one of my better flying experiences. I don't think Martin agrees since he was freezing the whole way because of the air condition. I stopped feeling sorry for him when he was stubborn and would't use the blankets that were available.

We arrived at Newark at 1 PM, got on a bus to Manhattan a hour later and checked in at our hotel at 3 PM.
After leaving our bags in our hotel room on the 7th floor we headed out into a wet NYC to hunt for an umbrella and rubber boots (it will rain for the rest of the week so it is better to be prepared).



Me in a wet but humid Times Square!

We quickly discovered that Times Square is around the corner (maybe that is why the name of the hotel is Broadway @ Times Square). After a quick fruit smoothie at Times Square we headed down to Union Square for my favourite shoe store from last years visit, DSW. We ended up spending quite some time shopping around Union Square but ended up not buying an umbrella or rubber boots.


Trying on dresses. Martin were not allowed in so I had to take pictures to show him afterwards.



Me at Union Square, not looking tired at all :)

We were pretty beat by the time we headed back to the hotel to leave our shopping bags. After a quick bite to eat nearby we went to bed and fell asleep to the sound of the air condition quicker than you can say good night!
Still an hour until the included hotel breakfast opens. After that we are heading north towards Central Park. We will see how much the rain will force us indoors today though!

Location:W 46th St,New York,United States

Mr. Len

So for the uninformed! Let me introduce Martin (or Mr. Len) My boyfriend and travel companion!

Isn't he handsome? :)

Location:W 46th St,New York,United States

Pleasure followed by work (but hopefully still some pleasure)!

I'm very excited for another trip over the Atlantic Ocean to North America. Unfortunately this time I won't see Canada and Canada won't see me. But at least I will be closer to Canada than when I'm in Sweden.

The first week will be spent in New York exploring some of my favourite places that I discovered last year and hopefully add some more favourite spots. Unfortunately the weather forecast looks ugly, rain and thunderstorms all week so I may not do as many jumps as I usually do.

San Diego is the destination for my second week in North America. There I will attend the ESRI User Conference (ESRI makes ArcGIS, a geographic information system-software, that I use at work). I hope I will learn a lot and get new ideas that I can bring back home.

So buckle up and enjoy the ride!