Manhattan by the sea and Central Park

Ok, I think I was more than a bit hasty when I said New York did not look as impressive as before. It turns out simply Sunday nights are not the best nights to visit New York.

I went on a Circle Lines cruise which goes around the Manhattan island and goes by the Statue of Liberty. The view was great and the tour is relatively cheap (around $30 for about 2 hours). I definitely recommend to anyone who does not get seasick very easily. We had a pretty funny guide who was also very informative. Turns out he is from Pittsburgh originally and came to the city about 20 years ago for his Master's degree.

Today I went to the City again and Times Square was fully alive unlike how it was on Sunday. This is the NYC I know and love. We went to Central Park which was so beautiful under the sun and full of New Yorkers enjoying the day. Even though I had seen the park before I had never had a chance to visit Strawberry Fields or John Lennon's residence. The design on the floor with the word "Imagine" says quite a bit...

New York, New York!

Well, after a nice flight on ANA (which I must still mention did not have nearly as much legroom as the Emirates flight I took from Cyprus to Japan but did offer a very nice entertainment system and I watched the Japanese movie "Hero" with English subtitles) here I am in New York. Fortunately I did not really get any jetlag thanks to sleeping a solid 8 hours on the plane...

Tonight I was in New York City after about a year. I must say it felt a bit underwhelming unfortunately. May be because it was Mother's Day, because it was a Sunday night or because of experiencing Tokyo that The City did not feel as unique an experience as before. There were markedly less people on the streets, many more police officers than before, we had a very difficult time finding a place to eat something after 12 even on the main streets and we barely found an open bar.

I should turn in - it is almost 3 am and tomorrow I will try to wake up relatively early so as not to miss the day. More on Port Washington tomorrow...