New York day 11/12 September 2019

After Kate & Kean headed back to Cape Town I relocated from Brooklyn to Manhattan. For a first time visitor Brooklyn is a little far out of town. I wouldn't mind going back and spending some time exploring the fantastic Prospect Park, Coney Island, the Botanic Garden and other places around there. It's very different from Manhattan.

Midtown I stayed in a Pod hotel which was adequate at best. It was pretty expensive and lacked what I consider the basic amenities - bathroom (down the corridor), kettle, bar fridge. Not much to ask for, at that price. But it was central, so a lot of walking happened.  Rockefeller Centre was the first stop for lunch.

Lunch - Chicken Teriyaki Bun. Pretty good.

Grand Central Station - so familiar from the movies. It's huge - 48 acres and 44 platforms (and more being built)! More than any other railway station in the world. So impressive and the beautiful ceiling with the constellations in the main concourse - lucky they're used to tourists, as gawping happens..

Out early the next day, it was still pretty hot - mid 30's. I did a lot of walking this day - for a start, up to Central Park. 

Iconic New York scenes.

Trump Towers, big, brash, ostentatious.

The under renovation Apple Store on 5th Ave, just across from Central Park, with it's (temporary) iridescent wrapping is spectacular.

This statue is Sherman, his horse and Victory. He is credited with helping to end the Civil war and coined the phase 'War is hell'. I wonder how he is faring in June 2020?

New York is completely overwhelming. It's noisy, busy, unrelenting, so to find Central Park at the centre of this chaos saves the day. It's also overwhelming in it's own way in that it's enormous - 843 acres. I walked and walked and walked and walked, and still only covered a small portion of the park. I got lost too. But its green and cool in the heat, it's meant for people, there are benches and other places to sit. I loved it. And there is just so much to look at.

If you have a spare $3500, you can dedicate a paving stone to special cause/person/memory on the Gilder Run which will support the Central Park Conservency.

Hey, Christopher Columbus ...

Back to the glorious chaos ...