New York New York!
After our trip to New York, we can only conclude that Frank Sinatra sang "New York New York" because this city was just too good to sing one single solitary "New York."
I must admit I had a similar feeling when I started editing our vast amount of footage into a vlog. I concluded that one singular Vlog would not be enough to do this spectacular City justice and it would need 2. So just like the song, our viewers will get New York (pt 1) New York (pt 2).
In truth, before our cruise had actually sailed up the Hudson, I fully expected that when people asked me how New York was, I would simply reply with the words "Yeah its nice." I fully expected it to be one of those places where you put it on your bucket list, it gets hyped up and you end up extremely underwhelmed. Now for anyone who knows me well, I find this next sentence extremely difficult to say. I was wrong. Now despite never enjoying admitting the afore mentioned affirmation in any other circumstance, in this circumstance, I couldn't be any happier that I was wrong. Sailing up the Hudson and seeing the Skyline on the horizon grow from a model village to the most gargantuan City I have ever been exposed to, gave me the most overwhelming feeling I have ever experienced whilst traveling. It also helped that the sun was shining (I even enjoy parts of Milton Keynes when there's a blue sky).
Its a good job we were so captivated by the beauty of the Hudson, as our first day in New York saw us spend a lot of time on that river. Firstly cruising up it, then taking a ferry on it to get that little bit closer to Liberty before finally taking a night time cruise all the way down to the East River, giving us the chance to compare blue Skies with spectacularly illuminated night time skies of the City that never sleeps.
Despite enjoying Liberty Island, we preferred admiring the statue itself from the water. One thing that quickly became evident to us when found ourselves chasing our tour guide (whose agenda appeared to be losing his whole party) around liberty Island, was that New York is best enjoyed alone. By that I mean you do not need tour guides and vastly over inflated tour prices. It is a City that can be easily navigated, good phone signals mean that with an American SIM, google is easily consulted and the attractions are best enjoyed at your own pace. In actual fact despite having no interest in the History of USA Immigration law, by taking our subsequent visit to Ellis Island at my own pace, I became fascinated by the humanitarian aspect of the place that had decided the fate of so many immigrants between 1892 and 1954. It gave me a lot to ponder as we returned to our ship for some dinner before heading back out later that evening.
As it gets dark in New York it certainly appears to gets lighter. Theres not many other places where you can say that. It is widely claimed that you can actually see Time Square from Outer Space. After visiting there, I can quite see the feasibility of this claim.
Whilst we thought the Hudson was Gorgeous by day, by night it has a spectacular new dimension. Going under the lit up Brooklyn Bridge was spectacular, as was comparing Liberty by night to how she looked in the day. One of the final things to really impress us lit up was the One World Trade centre - the largest building in the Western hemisphere. We would get a chance to explore this during the daytime the following day. Thats not until our next Blog Vlog Combo. So for now - Dolittles Done!
