Day 1 - Saturday 7th March 2020

Welcome to the latest holiday that we have taken to New York!

Train into Leeds

The opportunity arose once again to help Smiti with looking after her cat Simon. I had some annual leave to use before April and we felt able to squeeze another holiday in, this time in March.

We had been quite sensible and got most of the packing done during the week. On Friday, we had a quiet evening and managed to get to bed pretty early so we could get up on Saturday. It was cold and dry so we were able to walk up the station with our bags.

Arriving at the airport

Unfortunately, we were unable to get some nice coffee and breakfast like we did last year, as the train was delayed. We ended up being half an hour later into Leeds than we planned, and therefore had to make a quick connection to the train to the airport. We picked up a quick coffee and muffin from within the station.

Check in at Manchester

The journey was uneventful over to the airport. We checked in, Kathryn couldn't check in online beforehand. She had been selected for extra security checks, a first for us. Usually we fly through, but she also had to be searched at the gate later on.

We also had another minor crisis as we went through security. I was getting my lip balm out of my bag to put in a clear bag. And I inadvertently dropped my passport between the bench for putting your bag on, and a bin which was alongside it. We had to summon an airport worker, and for about 10 minutes I was getting rather anxious. Thankfully, I used the laptop case I had to slide between the bench and the bin to knock the passport out. And then we were on our way.

We did a bit of duty free shopping, and we actually lost track of time. We were walking to the gate, with about half an hour to go until our flight (which was actually already boarding), and we had our names read out on the tannoy for the final boarding call! Quite exciting!

View approaching Canada

Canadian coastline

Afternoon tea on the plane

Everything was fine, we boarded the plane and there was still about 45 minutes on board until we finally took off. The flight time was 7 hours, pretty boring and uneventful. I actually fell asleep for a while, bit I was disappointed to find it was only for about 5 minutes. I read a book for a while, and Kathryn managed to watch 3 movies.

View of Long Island as we approach to land at JFK airport

Entering arrivals hall at JFK

The descent was a little shaky. The pilot warned us in advanced that there was a bit of wind at the airport. But we landed ok and soon were into the arrivals area of immigration. We were using the visa we had from last year that is valid for 2 years. Therefore, we were able to get through security in about 15 minutes. Once we had figured about how to use the self service machine.

Waiting for the subway at Howard Beach station

Waiting in the sunshine

We grabbed our bags which were already unloaded from the plane and headed our to the airtrain. We had to do a bit of on the spot planning as there was an issue with the subway. We had a nice wait in the sun for the train. We should have been able to go direct to where Smiti lives, but instead we had to change to a different train, and then take a short walk.

Changing subways due to maintenance work, cold and sunny

Subway going over the Williamsburg Bridge, from Brooklyn into Manhattan

Walking the last little bit to Smiti's appartment

John Street, our home for the next few days

I can't remember how long in total it took, but I'd say about 2 hours from leaving the arrivals hall, to arriving at Smiti's. We were able to spend about an hour and a half with her, before it once time once again for her to leave to travel back to the UK. We ordered a Chinese take away for dinner. We went to bed about 9p.m. which was about 1a.m. for us.

Chinese take away for dinner

Day 2 - Sunday 8th March

Today was a very nice and relaxing Sunday. The US went into daylight savings time today. The clock change happened when we were last here in the autumn. Unlike the EU, the US changes at a different time. This is rather fortuitous for us as it now meant the time difference was 4 hours, instead of 5. Still, that still meant that getting up at 7am was the same as 11am for our bodies!

Sunrise from Smiti's appartment

We took advantage of this and went to get breakfast at the local cafe which is Kathryn found last time. It was quiet inside, although we know it is a popular spot. The other thought going on in the back of our minds is, "how much quieter is it because of the Covid-19 fears?". Anyway, for now we were happy to get a table and served quickly. Albeit for a couple of other tourists, there was no one in the cafe the entire time we were there.

Early on a Sunday morning, the clock change meant quiet streets

Hole in the Wall coffee shop

Scrambled egges for breakfast

Waffles for Kathryn's breakfast

I had some really nice scrambled eggs, which were done a bit like an omelette. Kathryn had waffles. After we had finished, we wondered over the a Whole Foods, which is the nearest thing to a supermarket we can find here. There is lots of delis and convenience stores, but if you're not careful you can end up paying very high prices for stuff. It was still only about 10am, and there was no-one about.

9/11 memorial

New arts centre under construction

We walked through the 9/11 memorial which was pretty deserted, and the new mall they had built alongside it. It was sunny and the breeze was quite cold. The forecast however for was about 4 degrees this morning, rising to 15 this afternoon. We wondered around a got the things we needed. The selection of food is quite something over here. Virtually every fresh fruit and vegetable imaginable. Still, we only spent about $80 which I suppose is about the weekly food shop.

We came straight back to the apartment with the shopping. Kathryn commented that carrying the shopping bags was a deterrent for the tourist guides. I suppose we were doing a good job of looking like locals at this point!

Simon helping me read the paper

We had a bit of rest after getting back, before heading out again. This time we walked down to the East River, the shoreline facing towards Brooklyn. From there, we walked all the way around to tip of Manhattan to the Hudson River on the other side. We ended up at the mall, which was now open, to buy some cupcakes and get some wine. We saw lots of dogs and runners about.

Walk along East River, Brooklyn Bridge in the distance

Highway the runs along East River

Wall Street Stock Exchange, in the sunshine

Last year we got some really good wine and so we went back to the same shop. The nice man in the shop recommended us a couple of US bottles. We then finished the loop back at the apartment. We rested a bit more, before Kathryn cooked dinner. I got the blog started and wrote about yesterday. We had salmon and vegetables.

Dinner

Warm weather on the way

For the evening, we headed out to a nearby bar called Manhatta which is on the 60th floor. It's one of the tallest buildings in the Financial District in the Downtown area of Manhattan. So the views are really good, and we're thankful Smiti told us about this place. As most observation decks in NYC are $40-ish, it makes more sense to come to a place like this. Although the drinks about about $20 each, they are really good and you will get two of them for the same price as you would have spent at the observation deck.

Street entrance to Mahatta bar

41st and 5th cocktail (a bit like a margarita)

Another cocktail, can't remember the name

View of bar and restaurant

View of bar

View uptown from Manhatta, East River to the right

View uptown, Empire State Building in the middle

The atmosphere is also really good. We sat at the bar, and lots of people were coming and going. It was much quieter than the last time we were here. Maybe just because it was a Sunday. We stayed from 5:30 to 8am, which was enough time to see the sunset at 7:30 and watch the skyline change from day to night.

Night view towards Statue of Liberty

Top down view of Wall Street and Stock Exchange

Street view as we walked home

Day 3 - Monday 9th March 2020

Today the weather had impoved quite a bit, and the forecast was for sun and temparetaure of about 20 degrees celsius.

We have seen the Statue of Liberty using the Statten Island Ferry on the past few trips. So on this occasion, we decided to pay the fare to visit the island and see the statue up close. It is just a short walk from Smiti's place to Battery Park where you get the ferry. It was already very sunny and warm by the time we got there. It was shortly after 9am.

We got through the airport style security and made it straight onto the boat. It was only a short wait before we left. It was a short journey too over to the island.

Once we arrived, we headed straight to the museum to have a look around before the crowds got too big. There was quite an interesting exhibit, detailing the planning and building of the statue. We then walked around the island, enjoying the sun and the views. We took a few photos before boarding the ferry back to Manhattan.

We had a quiet afternoon. I caught up on some work I needed to do. We headed out for an early dinner at 4pm. We went to one of our favourite restraunts around here, for some mexican food.

After dinner, we went for a walk around the riverside, back to the appartment.