CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

Today started after quite the long night’s sleep. I’m used to the constant drone of a highway, but the city that never sleeps dishes up a whole cacophony of noises through the night, including but not limited to, slamming doors, horns honking, and people talking. Too bad this place doesn’t have thicker walls. But thanks to this, I know that I ought to invest in a pair of ear plugs for future travels (bright side!).

A bright and early morning dawned at 8:00am and Starbucks beckoned. With one right around the block, it’s hard to ignore that siren’s call. A grande caramel macchiato later, we got on the subway heading for the Financial District, where we walked up from the busy streets of New York and on to the rather serene walking path across the Brooklyn Bridge.

One of my favourite movies is Newsies, and has been since before I can even remember. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge has been on my list of New York must-do’s for almost as long, since Jack Kelly, Dave, and Boots walk over the very same bridge to invite Spot to join their newsboys cause.

The bridge, though certainly changed in the hundred and twenty years since that movie was set, is still such an icon and simply and incredible experience. We walked from New York to Brooklyn in about a half hour, with plenty of stops for pictures. Watching the river beneath with its plentiful boats, feeling the breeze whip across your face, and seeing the skyline of the city spread before you is an experience not to be missed.

We emerged on the other side to a much more chill side of New York. Business suits transformed to casual clothes. Concrete jungle welcomed green space with a park just off to the side following our exit of the bridge. We crossed through that park to the subway again, taking it to visit the facade of the 78th Precinct, which served as the outside shots of the 99th Precinct in Netflix’s Brooklyn 99.

Armed with more photos and a desire to head back to the Met for lunchtime, we boarded the subway again and once again flew across the river – this time on the Manhattan Bridge, which crosses the river next door to the Brooklyn Bridge.

We took the subway all the way up to the American Museum of Natural History, where we stopped for a few quick pics of the facade – Night at the Museum made me do it – before looping back around to hit the 91st Street Garden (or, rather, the West Side Community Garden, as it is known to anyone who doesn’t live inside of You’ve Got Mail).

Unfortunately, the West Side Community Garden is closed to non-members, but we still got a couple pictures of where Tom Hanks confessed his identity to Meg Ryan at the end of You’ve Got Mail.

From there came our first foray into Central Park. We walked around the reservoir in the middle of the park. Being inside that incredible green space is a total transportation: you’d never guess you were inside one of the biggest cities in the world. But the way the skyline shoots out from behind the trees doesn’t let you forget, either. New York shone in the sun as we walked along the reservoir and emerged on the Upper East Side. We made our way to the Met and spent several hours combing their exhibits, from Ancient Egypt to European painters to Ancient Greece and Rome and back again. Even musical instruments!

We saw some wonderful views of the skyline from the Met’s rooftop bar (fair warning: no food offered up there anymore). We enjoyed cafeteria-style dining at the museum’s Eatery, and then sat on the steps to take it all in for a few minutes before catching the bus to the Empire State Building.

We arrived around five o’clock, which turned out to be perfect: the place had hit some kind of lull and there were basically no lines to enter or exit for our entire visit. On our way out, we saw people queued up for the elevator to the 86th floor, and were incredibly happy we’d gotten in when we did.

We bought tickets for both the 86th and 102nd floors, and although the 102nd floor isn’t strictly necessary (the view is not staggeringly different), it does offer a more straight-down view on the city spread at your feet, and does satisfy the thrill-seeker a bit as you can feel the top of the building shifting slightly in the wind.

On the 86th floor, we noticed rain coming in from New Jersey, and it was so very cool to see the storm move across the river and cover the west side of the city before we finally came down from the 102nd floor. In a stunning juxtaposition, the east side of the city was dry and in fact the sun still shone through the clouds. I was enamoured watching the city become shrouded in darkness as the clouds rolled in. The drama of the storm made it such an incredible experience that I’m not even a bit sorry that i missed seeing the view at sunset (although that would be amazing and if you have the chance, I would absolutely say to do it).

Every attendant was super helpful and very friendly as we made our way up and back down the Empire State Building. The experience we had in timing, assistance, and view was stellar and completely worth the money.

We walked out of the building into the rain and, boy, was it teeming!

Thoroughly soaked, we hopped the subway and rode two stops – one too many, so we got back off and headed back by a stop until we reached the place we were actually supposed to get off the train. The rain had died down to spitting in that time, though, so fortune continued to smile down on us.

We got into our accommodations and cleaned up before heading out for dinner at Lasagne Ristorante (about half a block from where we stayed!). They have a fabulous spinach lasagne and their specials menu was excellent, too. I had the Chicken Scarpariello with a wonderful glass of Italian Pinot Grigio. Gorgeous chicken, succulent sauce, and wonderful Italian sausage paired with roasted potatoes. Just what the doctor ordered.

We finished our leisurely meal and headed back to our room, where we have settled in for the night – early again, but very much needed. Here’s to a better night sleep and another fabulous day to write about tomorrow!