New York, New York : Part one Manhattan

April 29, 2018

New York, New York : Part one Manhattan

April has been a little crazy. After a week away in France I was home for three days before jetting off again, this time to America. I was going to run a booth at a conference in Washington for work but managed to fit in a stop over on the way to New York, a city I have always wanted to visit and I wasn't disappointed. I did ask OH if he wanted to come but he's been to NY before (he's even played at CBGBs twice in the 90s) so I flew out on my own and was looking forward to exploring this city I have been dreaming of going to since I was a teenager.

I had two full days to explore but knew I had to be organised and have a list of where I wanted to go. So first up Brooklyn Heights with views Brooklyn Bridge, with the Williamsburg Bridge behind it. Also love the fact that the area of Brooklyn Bridge is called Dumbo. I'd seen lots of images on Instagram which had peaked my interest. I always thought Dumbo referred to the elephant, after all Barnum marched a heard of elephants over Brooklyn Bridge when it opened, but it turns out it stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Who knew!!

So I headed in what I hoped was the right direction and found this, the view I was looking for. Manhattan in all it's glory.

I've cheated a little bit with this image as the camera was ultimate zoom, and the image has been seriously cropped but I could see her, the State of Liberty in the far distance. Looking back on these photos it's all a little bit surreal that I was actually there. It's all so iconic it just doesn't seem real.

There was a really cool walk way which meant you could meander down to the river front over a freeway and through to the park.

It was pretty cold in NY, about 2 degrees and winter still had it's tight grip on the city (they had had snow the week before) but there was some signs of spring such as this blossom.

But back to that view. I took so many pictures but you can't have too much of a good thing.

I found myself trying to find the views of Brooklyn Bridge which I've seen on Instagram. I failed miserably but I love this image of the bridge reflected in one of the new buildings which is springing up in the Dumbo area. Gentrification is on a global scale it seems.

Heading back to the subway I enjoyed some of the more life size architecture. I must admit I was surprised to see wooden houses in the middle of Brooklyn but this is only because I associate the skyscrapers and brownstones being the buildings in NY as these are what I see on TV.

Once I finished exploring Dumbo I jumped back on the subway to head into Manhattan soaking up the sights which were random and varied.

I was wondering around the Soho area just soaking up the vibrancy of the city.

I did find myself getting a little bit obsessed with the fire escapes on the buildings.

I've seen water towers but usually on cartoons (I'm specically thinking of the 90s classic Animaniacs!) so never really thought they were real, or still existed but the city was full of them. This one I spotted from one of the terraces at the Whitney Gallery.

A friend suggested visiting the Whitney Gallery for the views and she wasn't wrong. There were at least four terraces you could access to enjoy the scenary.