NYC 2020: 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.