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2018 New-York

{New York City} The Brooklyn Bridge and the Intrepid Museum

by Elsa 11 May 2018

The sky was so blue that Saturday that we changed our plan (which was visiting the American Museum of Natural History). Thanks to being jetlagged, we were up and ready and on our way to the Brooklyn Bridge at 0700AM!

Brooklyn and its bridge(s)

A rather quick subway ride and we were soon at the High Street Station. From there we already had a view on both Brooklyn emblematic bridges i.e. the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. Two very different types of bridges, but so nice!

The Manhattan Bridge, with its distinctive metallic lace.

The Brooklyn Bridge and its stone arches.

But, first things first…BREAKFAST! We found the local Starbucks (a very posh Starbucks!) and we sat on a bench between both bridges.

What a glorious day, one of my favorite moments: sitting in the sun with coffee and muffin in hand, watching joggers pushing strollers or walkers with their dogs (who were very interested in our muffins!).

We stayed there for a while then moved on. We didn’t see a lot of Brooklyn actually, but we enjoyed it so much that we might take time to explore it another time.

From Brooklyn to Manhattan:

You can read some lines of Walt Whitman’s poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” on the railings.

A jogger took our picture! So nice of her!

We went back to the bridge, found the staircase easily and up we were! I advised my crew (husband included!) to stay on the pedestrian lane.

It was so hot already, but what a pleasure to suck in the ambiance of the bridge. What a sight! The walk is just over a mile or so.

Once the bridge behind us, we noticed that it was still early in the morning so we chose to go and visit the Intrepid Museum.

The Intrepid Museum

We took the subway (line 4 to Grand Central then 7 to the terminus) and we got off at Hudson Yard, a brand new station amidst construction/reconstruction of a whole district.

We ambled down to the Hudson. Oh what a nice and sunny day to be close to the water. Lots of joggers/cyclists this morning (on their own lanes!).

The walk to the museum is short and we quickly saw some planes above trees!

Once again, our Explorer Pass came to be handy since we got our tickets on the express line.

For navy-, aircraft-, and submarine-lovers, this museum is a must-visit.

Picture taken by a nice Japanese family

We stayed quite a bit there and braved ladders (low clearance!) and even went into a submarine, the Growler.

By the way, before entering the Growler you must pass a test: going through a tiny door (so be small or flexible!). Take a look at Miss G in action…

We also saw the shuttle and the Concorde.

All in all, we enjoyed this visit a lot. A not-so-quick tour to the gift shop and we were back to the Tryp Wyndham for a rest. We chose to walk there under a scorching sun ( ouch…sunburns for me!). It was a rather quick walk, about 20mins.

A short pause and we were off for new adventures since it was only 0230 PM!

The Teen wanted to visit the Museum of Modern Art-MoMA, so off we went…to be continued in my next article!

Did your teens ask for visits while in New York (I must say that I didn’t see the MoMA coming!!!)?

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11 May 2018 0 comment

2018 New-York New York 2018 Travelling

{New York City} From JFK airport to Manhattan

by Elsa 5 May 2018

Even before booking our flights through Expedia, we had looked at the most convenient airport around New York. Obviously, booking a hotel and having absolutely no idea how to reach it from the airport and the cost of the ride would have been reckless in my opinion since costs can add up rather quickly with 4 passengers.

We chose JFK because it was the most convenient for us and it really offers wide array of transportation means.

Here’s a quick guide about them.

Finding the right transportation means is very personal actually since it depends on how many passengers you are, if you can/want to carry your luggage, etc. We didn’t make up our minds until the week before and we chose the taxi.

Now we know that our hotel is right next to a subway station that has a direct line to the Airtrain (but carrying our luggage down the stairs or around the crossroads to find the elevator might not be our first choice…!).

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5 May 2018 0 comment

2018 New-York New York 2018 Travelling

{New York City} Financial District and Empire State Building

by Elsa 1 May 2018

Battery Park was the place I left you. It was a really hot day, almost summery. We had no definite plan so we wandered in the Financial District.

But first, which movie features this buiding? (answer at the end of the article!).

Financial District

I really enjoyed stroolling teh Financial District with my Cartoville guide in hands. This little travel book is full of maps and it really helped us decide to walk from one point to another.

The Financial District was rather quiet in this early Friday afternoon.

A church??? Amidst the skyscrapers!!! What a sight!

The Financial District is rather enjoyable actually, especially when it’s so hot. Buildings cast their shadows on the streets and it was pretty nice.

We walked to ‘Reflecting Absense”. I was deeply sad at that point and we left rapidly.

A short stop at Jeff Koons’ Red Flower fountain. It’s so cute!.

We walked north to the City Hall. S O M A N Y people on the Brooklyn Bridge!!! .

I was amazed to notice that most of the things we wanted to see were at walking distance. It was so nice to walk instead of taking the subway.

We had a look at the official/governmental buildings in the neighbourhood.

What is funny in New York is we were always looking up!

We started to be a bit tired so we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. I can only advise to buy the unlimited MetroCard: so easy to just hop on a subway.

After an hour in our room, we left for a visit to the Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building

I wasn’t so sure about the queue at the ESB. I had read awful TR’s about the queue being soooo long….well, in April, at 5PM and thanks to our Explorer Pass, we had absolutely no queue at all. They scanned our Explorer Pass and up to the top!!!

86th floor…I’m afraid of heights…I started my visit right in the middle of the room…then I slowly made my way to the windows…then got out to observatory.

The view there was amazing. You can really experience population density, various types of buildings, and the neverending building.

One World on one side…

…Central Park on the other side with the highest apartment building in Manhattan (with the most expensive flats too!).

Some golden roof…

…and a K-shaped building?

I’ll end this series of pictures (courtesy of my husband with his EOS 7D with one of my favorite buildings: the Chrysler Building.

Once down (and alive!!!), it was high time we had dinner (we never had lunch during our New York trip, just Starbuck-on-the-go early in the morning!). The kids really wished to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe’s, but it was crowded. We ended up at Bubba Gump’s, once again. Miss G wanted to have a look at the Disney Store so we spent almost one hour there while she was deciding which Ufufy she would like to buy (BOGO…we ended up with…12 Ufufy’s).

We were tired so decided to call it a day. We were tucked in bed at 9.30PM!!!

Since the weather forecast was “summery” for the day after and “winter-like” for the Sunday, we changed our plan and decided to take a stroll on the Brooklyn Bridge, early in the morning on Saturday.

Answer to the question: it’s the MIB’s entrance to their HQ!

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1 May 2018 0 comment

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