Day 2 - Discovering The High Line and Greenwich Village

Today was a really hot day, I would say it would have been around the high 30's (the start of a heatwave). But that did not stop Bryan and myself from exploring parts of the city. We started off and made our way to "The High Line". The "High Line" is a disused old railway track that the city has turned into a long narrow park. They have kept bits of the old train track but it is now a beautiful walk way. It's located on Manhattan's west side and runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. It's a great spot to also see the Hudson River. It's not one of the many main attractions of New York city but I think it should be.

On the way to "The High Line" - a car parking station.

"The High Line" - running across the middle of the picture

"The High Line" 

In some parts you can still see the old track

We only did a small portion of "The High Line". We took the exit at the "Chelsea Markets". Oh what a place! I totally loved it. The Chelsea Markets is located on the boarder of the Chelsea area and the Meat Packing district. The markets are all these cool little stores (mainly food stores) that are in an old warehouse. The building has a really old industrial feel to it and they have some of the old large gas lanterns (that were used around the city) on display as you enter from the Hudson River end. What was crazy was that there was a little Aussie food store in there called "The Tuck Shop". They sold different types of sausage rolls, meat pies and lamingtons and the guy couldn't keep up with selling them. If I get home sick I'll know where to go!  

Inside Chelsea Markets

Now these are some cakes!!!

How cool are these cupcakes!

I couldn't stop snapping the cup cakes!

My favourite by far are the penguins!

Rule No7: If you love cupcakes you've got to come to New York. There are cup cake stores everywhere and they are all different. They are little works of art!

The Chelsea Markets are right underneath some of the "Googleplex NYC" so Bryan decided to take me in and show me where he sits. I did not take any photos in there because of security reasons......but I will say this, it is a pretty cool office space. Some of the meeting rooms are done up like small New York apartments. What I mean by that is, in one meeting room for example, they had cut an old iron cast 4 leg bath tub in half and made a two person seat out of it. Also around the walls there were decals of retro fridges, TVs etc. In one meeting room there was even a bike hanging from the wall.

Another lot of meeting rooms were done up like the theatre district - big heavy red curtains and a large black and white photo of a Broadway scene taking up a whole wall.

Next, Bryan took me through the Meat Packing district and I totally loved it. Old cobble stone roads and warehouses. I think I may have mentioned this before but New York has done a great job in preserving their old buildings. The Meat Packing district is known for it's cool and trendy restaurants. There is not much to see here but I have been told that this is the district to give your tastebuds a real treat.

We then ended up in Greenwich village a great district again lined with cobble stone roads but instead of trendy restaurants this area is known for its  designer stores (it's a bit like double bay but trendier). We also went past the famous "Magnolia Bakery". This bakery is famous for their cup cakes and the way they do their icing. In the past have seen in cupcake cooking books a method of applying icing as "The Magnolia swirl" and did not realise it until I went into their bakery that it was this bakery that had started this icing application style, hence the name "Magnolia Swirl". I know what your thinking.......man you must be putting on the pounds with all these cupcakes.......but you'd be surprised Bryan and I did not have one single cup cake that day, in fact since arriving in the US I have only had ONE cupcake!!! :) .

It's also in this part of town where you will start to see Brownstones. It's like the city had it planned, every couple of streets there is a retail street full of little shops then all the other streets are quiet tree lined brown stones. You could spend hours walking up and down them just looking at how each brownstone has been decorated.

By this time Bryan and I were hungry and ready for some lunch, so what did I try????? New York style pizza. And oh what whopper slices they are. In the picture below check out the size of the pizza compared to my coke can.

Now that's a slice of pizza!

Rule No8: If you like deep dish pizza go to Chicago. New York pizza generally comes in 3 flavours (Cheese, Pepperoni,  Margarita) and is thin and crispy.

Rule No9: If you're like me and usually eat a pizza with a knife and fork, well it ain't gonna happen here. I nearly got RSI from trying to saw my way through this pizza piece! You have to pick it up with your fingers and eat it - that's why New York pizza has the large doughy end on the outside of the slice so you can hold it.

Was it flavoursome? It was ok, not like the gourmet pizzas we get at home but that may be just because of the chef (if you want to call him that) or it might be just the way New York pizza is - simple. For me the jury is still out on pizza. I'll need to try it again at another place to give you a true scientific, professional opinion! :)

Onto my next amazing discovery......

One of the things that I have really fallen in love with are these little public gardens that scattered around the city. If there is an unusual shaped piece of land where they have not been able to build on they have created a tiny public garden. Or in other cases they have re-claimed some sections of some the streets and turned them into tiny little rest areas with plants. It is really, really pretty and the wonderful thing is that people sit in them and read their books, meet up with friends whilst just outside the garden the cabs and cars go honking by. The city provides lovely outdoor furniture and on weekends it can be very difficult to get a seat. They are a real treasure.

One of the little gardens - the picture doesn't do it justice!

Rule No10: Walking across the streets in NYC. You will see at most intersections zebra cross styled lines painted on the road - BEWARE!!!! This does not indicate that you have the right of way. But what I have found utterly fascinating is the way that New Yorkers just step out onto the road without looking and start crossing the road expecting the traffic to stop for them. I feel very sorry for the drivers! I must admit that this is one thing that I don't like - the lack of respect for road rules.

Rule No11: A lot of honking goes on in NYC. One strange instance is when people are walking across the road (when the signal says they have a right of way) if a car is waiting for the pedestrians to pass by the car behind the first car may honk! Crazy huh???!!! What's that first car going to do - run down the pedestrians just so it can get through the intersection????? Still haven't figured that one out. Another reason why there is a lot of honking is if taxi drivers are trying to get your attention. If you look like you need a cab the taxi will honk to get your attention. So be prepared for some honking!

We then decided to make our way back home via Washington Square park. Now this park has the famous Washington Arch in it. If you have seen "When Harry Met Sally" and at the beginning where Sally drops Harry off in New York city it is right in front of this arch.

There was a sign up asking people not to play in the fountain  - but on a hot summer's day even the adults were going in for a dabble. In the background the famous Washington Square arch.

As we got closer to the arch we could see a beautiful shiny black grand piano directly underneath it and anyone could go up and play on it for a donation. It was so great!

Passers-by stopping and playing on the piano .

One of the last places we visited that day was the famous "Flatiron" building. What's it famous for? I honestly can't say but it is an awesome piece of architecture.

The Flatiron Building

We bought ourselves an ice tea and sat down just outside of it (in a public garden) enjoying the sights and sounds of New York.

It wasn't until I got up after having my ice tea that I realised that we had walked for 6 hours straight. So we decided to call it a day. So we slowly hobbled the 3 blocks home and had a rest.

Later that night we went out to see "X-Men First Class" the movie. The cinema was up on 42nd street so we walked up enjoyed the movie and walked home. I am loving that we are in walking distance to everything.