New York trip, 4 Oct - 11 Oct 2006 Part II

On Saturday we set off along the Hudson River, heading north. The trees, which had been mainly green coming out of New York, gradually turned into the loveliest fall shades of amber, gold, copper and bronze, the further north we went. We stopped at Vanderbilt's mansion, which overlooks the river, to enjoy the gorgeous views:

But the best was still to come, when we arrived in Saugerties on the Hudson River - our B & B was this absolutely fantastic cottage, set near the amazingly gorgeous Esopus Creek. Thomas and I took I-don't-know how many pictures when we arrived, in the last half hour of daylight:

And again the next morning in the glorious dawn:

The proprietors' son lived on the premises in a little apartment off the kitchen area, and he prepared the most spectacular breakfast the next morning:

A bit hard to stir after that, I must say, but we had to, because we were leaving to go driving around the area for a while before heading back to New York City. I can heartily recommend staying here - the location is great, the proprietors are really friendly, and the house itself is well equipped and very nice.

Anyway, we headed off into the glorious day - first stop was the Saugerties Lighthouse. You have to walk a mile or two to get there, through wooded marsh landscape, with gorgeous views of the Hudson and surrounding landscapes on each side - it's like a little peninsula jutting into the river. The Lighthouse itself is now a B & B, and I'd say it would be pretty cool to stay there, but expensive too. I would prefer Esopus Creek though :)

After that we went off into the wild, and took a couple of wrong turns getting further into the Catskill Mountains. We ended up in this tiny village at a diminutive post office and got out to stretch our legs. A woman drove up with her friend on a golfcart-like vehicle and asked us if we were planning to rob the post office? Very very funny!

The region was very beautiful, all addressed in autumn frocks - we found the place below by chance, simply following a sign on a whim, and as you can see, it paid off. Lake Onteora was fantastic!

All in all a really great weekend! Now, back to the city.....

Monday morning, the Columbus Day parade is coming up and we're in Bryant Park near the New York Public Library with a coffee. *Aaah* Nice! I can't really remember exactly what we did that day, but I know it involved walking. I do remember where we spent the evening though - on top of the Empire State Building. Fair play to mum who is afraid of heights, for getting up there! She said afterwards that she wouldn't have missed it and it really was spectacular.

We arrived on the 86nd floor platform as the sun was slowly descending over New Jersey and we stayed until it was fully dark. Seeing the lights of New York come out was a breathtaking experience and we didn't really get tired of looking at them, especially the Chrysler Building, probably my favorite New York landmark (not in the picture, which is of lower Manhattan, with Brooklyn to the left and New Jersey to the right. You can also see the Statue Of Liberty in the distance).

The next day, our last full day, we went for a boat cruise around Manhattan. That is to say, we had to double back and couldn't do the full circle because of tidal issues. It was a really cool trip anyway though, under many bridges, and a wee detour to say hello to Lady Liberty:

We ended the day with a relatively brief visit to Central Park (which is enormous), before heading off to our last dinner together.

*sigh* What a week!

Now, in my next post, I promise I'll get back to finishing the report on the Barcelona trip......

New York trip, 4 Oct - 11 Oct 2006 - something else I did while blog was hibernating

My sis and her beau stayed in New York for six months last year, as part of an exchange program between her Danish company and an American firm. The rest of the posse took that as an excuse to cross the pond for a visit, which we (mum, dad, bro and me) did in October 2006.

We arrived on a Wednesday and had planned to rent a car for the weekend to go north into the Catskills for some lovely fall foliage sightseeing. All in all, we had a fantastic week, but I have never walked so much in my life. Worth every step, though.

New York is an amazing place to be, because it's so incredibly huge, and every time you turn a corner, there's an awesome building or landmark you've probably seen a dozen times in movies or on TV. I couldn't live there, because it's too big and I would feel like an ant in an enormous colony, without face or name, but I definitely did enjoy this visit. I think each day held its own set of incredible experiences for us, as well as just plain old good times with the family, without entering even one museum! The weather overall was just too nice, you had to be outdoors - the walk across Brooklyn Bridge, the sunset from Empire State, the harbour cruise and the upstate weekend trip - simply amazing.

Mona & Thomas had a wee small (and I mean that very literally) flat in Brooklyn, where Anders and I would be sleeping - mum and dad were in a B & B up the road. The week in brief looked like this:

Wednesday: Arrival and wee look at Brooklyn
Thursday: Walking tour with Thomas: Canal Street, Five Points, Chinatown, South Street, Little Italy, SoHo, Greenwich Village.
Friday: Walking to Manhattan over Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, Financial District, Battery Park
Saturday: Driving north along the Hudson River. Vanderbilt's Mansion. Staying in Saugerties on the Hudson
Sunday: Saugerties Lighthouse, driving into the Catskills. Lake Onteora, Bear Mountain, Mid-Hudson Bridge. Back to New York City.
Monday: Bryant Park, Grand Central Station/Chrysler Building, Fifth Avenue, going up Empire State Building to catch the sunset
Tuesday: Harbour Cruise around Manhattan incl. visit to the Statue Of Liberty. Central Park incl. Bethesda Terrace
Wednesday: Going home :(

The walking tour of Lower Manhattan on Thursday was amazing. Especially because of the route we took, the contrasts were very clear between the various 'hoods. Thomas was a great guide, having spent his fair share tramping the streets of Manhattan for the previous 4 months :) I quickly fell in love with the subway stations because of the various mosaics used to decorate the walls at the tracks - the Canal Street ones were instant favorites, also because they were cleaner than in some of the other places.On our way through Chinatown, we went down to the East River at a point between Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, majestic constructions that
they are. The latter much more so than the former, but I absolutely loved the blue hue of Manhattan Bridge: In Greenwich Village we turned back, so we could meet Mona after work in Madison Square Park. The below picture is from Greenwich Village:

Friday Mona was off work, and therefore able to accompany us on one of the many highlights of the week - the walk across Brooklyn Bridge:

Sadly, it was the only day we had semi-bad weather, although it did remain restricted to only a few drops of rain but many clouds. The other days were lovely and sunny. Then again, Brooklyn Bridge doesn't really need the sun to shine on it to be impressive, the way a landscape might do. It is an awesome structure and a very lovely walk too. It's quite a thrill watching Manhattan come closer and closer, and at the same time enjoying the views of Empire State Building and the Statue Of Liberty.

Once on Manhattan, we visited Ground Zero, after having strolled past City Hall. The small Winter Garden building, which borders Ground Zero, is a lovely place, and we sat down here inside on the steps for a bit and some of us even went shopping (it's a small mall):

Get the rest of the story in Part II.....