Our first day in Manhattan is a whirlwind. We wake up and have no idea what to do, where to go, or how to get to where we have no idea where we are going. We wander Times Square, fearful that if we move too far, we will get lost. We then try the subway, Times Square-42nd Street is where we descend. As we enter the station proper, we stop in our tracks. People, platforms, stairs surround us as we spin on the spot trying to work out where to go, what to do. Every first timer must feel the same way. The station is a major intersection with trains pretty much going anywhere in every direction. There are multiple tunnels, stairs that go up and down, mezzanine levels and different access points for uptown and downtown trains.
We decide for uptown to Central Park, surely that should be easy. We eventually find the right platform and catch a train up to East 86th Street. Mardi has found a café that serves German food, so we go there for lunch, Café Sabarsky.
After lunch we head into Central Park and are amazed at the size of the Jackie Onassis reservoir.
We wander the park, discovering as we explore. The thing about a first trip anywhere, much of the trip is discovery. You are discovering how to get around, discovering things to see, making memories, discovering thing you like, you don’t like. And while you discover, you are also learning. We quickly learned the layout of the gridded city, which makes it a lot easier than older European cities, for example.
We wandered the park and explored and discovered for a while, before exiting and looking at some of the architecture along 5th Avenue. From the gorgeous Guggenheim Museum to the Art Deco style that dominates this part of 5thAvenue.
We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) and visit a fashion exhibit, where we see a range of woman’s fashions throughout the ages.
We walk 5th Avenue from the Park, passing 34th Street, seeing the Empire State Building for the first time. Along the way we pass Trump Tower, Tiffany and Co, Apple and a host of other iconic buildings. We are always looking up as the skyline is forever changing and our sense are, and adrenaline are on full alert as we discover something new around every corner.
Part of our planning had us schedule a one-day trip to Washington DC. Our trip of a lifetime could not miss a visit to the so called democratic centre of the world, where the great American experiment was forged. See my blog for that trip on the right.
We return to New York around midnight, having just spent 24 hours, 8 travelling and 16 looking around DC. We are exhausted.
