Around Manhattan

So I got on that boat which started just 15 minutes after I boarded. The guide was a very humorous person, punning and joking all the time. The boat (starting at the western pier) headed south, first passing the pier where the Titanic would have landed, then going by the financial district (that's where the One World Trade Center is being built; the guide also explained it's here where the latest Batman films were filmed: the buildings are that high, that even at day their shadows create dark canyons within the street, forming the dark alleys of Gotham city).

We then reached Ellis Island and Liberty Island, the home of Lady Liberty. She was a gift by the French in 1886 to celebrate their mutual friendship. In her hand she holds two stone tablets, reading July 4th 1776 in roman letters, standing for the date that the Declaration of Independence was signed. She wears a crown with seven spikes, each standing for one of the seven seas respectively. She makes one step forward with one of her feet, showing her foot being freed from a shackle. She's is really nice to look at.

The boat went on to the East River, crossing Brooklyn Bridge, Roosevelt Island and Wards Island. Passing Harlem on the left side and Bronx on the right side and crossing more bridges, we got from Harlem River to Hudson River. From there we went south again, passing the two-storeyed Washington suspension bridge, and getting back to our starting place, approximately 3 hours after starting.

From here I walked to Times Square. I went on a tribune, on top of which a camera tapes you and projects the video on one of the big screens. I had to stand in line for this, and when I reached the end of the line, the (female) police officier who was surveiling the queue said to me that she has to go for a minute and whether I could hold her position. "Sure" I said, when her partner who was standing at the exit of the platform, approached to us, jokingly saying "You can't trust him, he's wearing sun shades". So I pulled down my shades a little (the way you would do it to flirt with somebody). Everybody's laughing and she says: "You see? He's all good!". That was a fun situation!

After gazing at all the screens and lights and masses of people, I walked on further to Madison Avenue, where a street market took place (I didn't know this before). However, this market wasn't too exciting: I tried to find something to eat, but they solely had Gyro which didn't look that good.

I walked the street up further north, heading for Central Park, where I had a little stroll. I also tried to get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it was closed by then (it was 6pm, it closes at 5.30pm; I'm never lucky in regard of timing). I decided to get back "home", to Brooklyn.

Photos at "Read more" / "mehr lesen"!