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Old 22 Aug 18, 08:52 PM  
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CrispyA
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Expedition East Coast: Day 2: Highline, Chelsea Market, Greenwich, East Village & Yankees Stadium

20 July

We managed a longer sleep today, probably as a result of the ginormous step count the day before. We all slept until about 6.30 which went a long way to making us feel human for longer!

The breakfast was great again, with a veggie omelette option and waffles this time. There was also a great member of staff, Aayan, who made sure that tables were appropriately occupied (no tables for 4 with just 2 people on them, a real bugbear of mine!), cleared away tables, topped up food and generally kept on top of everything. For a hotel breakfast, it was a pretty good experience.

We took our time getting ready this morning and then set out for the Highline, a park created on an disused railway line. We got the subway to the Meatpacking district and hurrah - the tickets all worked this time!

The Highline was a real highlight of our trip to NYC - very chilled and pretty compared to the streets down below and a really imaginative use of space.



Just after we took this photo, we spotted a family who were basically the Scandanavian version of us - Mum, Dad, Teenage boy and teenage girl. Scandanavian Evan obviously did something that really annoyed Scandanavian Hannah and she had a right go at him, and her parents and then stropped off. Scandanavian Evan was very pleased with himself so we suspected it was one of those annoying little brother moments that they just can't help!

We really enjoyed a gentle stroll, looking down at the sights below, including this rather complicated looking car park.



Once we got to the end, we decided to walk back along it as we'd enjoyed it so much.



There was a water feature which we just had to have a paddle in as well.



After the Highline, we were close to Chelsea Market so headed there as Hannah had found a Taco place that was supposed to be good, Los Tacos No 1. We found it in the food hall and it probably is good, but the queue was huge and we weren't all that hungry yet, so we didn't wait. The boys are not at all happy about queuing for food, ever, so you can imagine that they are excellent company at a buffet . . .

We quite like Chelsea Market but it was far too hipster for Evan! From there, we realised we could walk to Greenwich Village, so set off. As we arrived, we found a Chipotle which made a good stop for lunch.

As we headed into the Village, we found the Stonewall Inn and then the Big Gay Ice Cream shop which was pretty big, and pretty gay.





Greenwich Village is a nice place to mooch around, with lots of trees and interesting looking buildings. We quite liked the laid back vibe and were pleased to spot the building that was used for the exterior shots in "Friends". Well, I was pleased, and Hannah was mildly interested and the boys were largely indifferent!



There were a number of plaques on various historic buildings and Evan got quite fed up with us stopping to read them. Needless to say, once he had mentioned that, we made sure to linger at every one . . .

Washington Square Park is nearby and we headed there. It is surrounded by New York University buildings so there are a lot of students around there and again it had a welcoming laid back atmosphere. The boys took advantage of a chess table and Hannah and me enjoyed watching the dogs and owners in the doggie park.



There was a woman selling anti-Trump badges and magnets and she was doing a roaring trade! We hung out for a while, nipping to a nearby Dunkin Donuts for our daily fix of Iced Coffee and munchkin donuts and enjoying them in the park. The toilets were completely vile, but that seems par for the course in New York, as are the long queues to use them.

We then walked to the East Village and Tompkins park which wasn't as nice. According to Google Maps, Charlie Parker's house was nearby but there was nothing to show that it was when we looked so we gave up in the end.

We had Yankees vs Mets tickets so decided to head to the Yankees stadium as it is quite a long way to the Bronx.

There were huge crowds at the stadium, which is only to be expected at a local derby. We were in the nosebleed seats but it was quite a good view. The crowd were pretty rowdy in our seats, especially I think because it was a Friday night. It was generally good humoured but one guy did get a hard stare from the security guard for swearing. We were quite excited to see Aaron Judge even if he didn't manage a spectacular home run this time. (One Mets fan did make me laugh with a heckle that was "You're not even a real judge!")





Evan had been hoping to get a Grub Tub at the stadium but couldn't bring himself to pay more than $20 for 6 chicken tenders and a soda. The food selection was quite disappointing to be honest and the hotdogs that we got were quite possibly the worst hot dogs we've ever eaten! Plus the queues were so long, Hannah and I missed a whole innings trying to get them. They really weren't worth the wait.



We did manage a picture of Aaron Judge's backside though - not entirely sure why!



It wasn't a great game so we were fine to leave in the 8th inning to get the subway while it was quieter.

We had drama on the way home though, as we had to do the Lexington Avenue transfer again (why hello there cupcake ATM!) and it went wrong - again. Admittedly, that was our fault and not the Metropolitan Transit Authority, but it is a crazy system. You leave one station, walk to the next one (passing the cupcake ATM) and as you go into the next station, you should be able to swipe your card for free. However, we got a bit mixed up with the swiping and managed to "overswipe" as we had 3 people using one card and thought we had to swipe 3 times. Turns out you don't - you should do 1 swipe and then get 2 more free turnstile turns for the other people. Of course, there is nothing to tell you this and so we accidentally used up more subway credit than we meant to. Which meant some of us trapped one side of the barrier and some of us the other. Again. Fortunately, there was a staff member there who could let the rest of us through but if we weren't already completely fed up of the NY subway system, we were after that!

It really isn't an easy system to use and we are pretty savvy with public transport. And why are the tickets made of paper? Why is it so hot in every station? Why are some of the lines on the map the same colour even though they go to different places? Why is it so difficult to get from one side of NY to the other? Why do some trains suddenly become express trains with no warning and then not stop at the station you were expecting them to? Why don't all of the trains have information about the stops on that line so you have to guess which station is next? Why isn't the name of each station really prominent and easy to see as the train pulls in?



(For all that people moan about the London Underground, it is very easy to navigate and the classic map is a thing of beauty.)

Anyway, we made it back to the hotel without any other drama. Despite the best efforts of the NY subway and Sprinkles Cupcake ATM to keep us prisoner on Lexington Avenue . . .

And we did manage to amuse ourselves with this poster for a new Mark Wahlberg film which has a ridiculously OTT tagline (but which we all now want to see )



Suggesting "Option 3 - Mark Wahlberg" at various times did keep us amused for some time after . . .

Edited at 08:54 PM.
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Old 22 Aug 18, 09:13 PM  
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jocat
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Another fan of the Highline here and I think everyone who walks it must take a photo of that car park!

You’re really not having much luck with the subway are you? Love all the questions you’ve written - we’ve all been there with most of them. On our last trip there, despite us thinking we knew what we were doing, we got caught out with the express train problem, without any signs to say it was and went right up to something like 125th Street before we could turn round and come back!
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Old 22 Aug 18, 09:13 PM  
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We have the same photo of the stacking car park but in winter! I live the Highline but as I have only ever been in winter I have never seen it in flower!

Personally I think Chelsea Market is overhyped

Just wandering around can be so much fun in NYC!

You were a long way up at the baseball! And very brave to eat hotdogs there Sorry you still had issues with the subway!
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Old 23 Aug 18, 07:44 AM  
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The highline looks great and glad you enjoyed the baseball, even if the hotdogs were awful. To be honest we never found a good hotdog in New York and were disappointed in them. Sorry to hear of more subway dramas and it does sound a overly complicated system.
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Old 26 Aug 18, 04:05 PM  
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The Highline is such a cool,place isn’t it. Shame you weren’t keen on Chelsea but sounds like a nice time around Greenwich.. except vile loos ewwwww.
Food at the baseball is outrageously priced and not the greatest quality
And boo to another subway setback. We had the random express train nightmare cos it was public holiday and they change timetables .. who knew ( not us obvs as we sailed about 10 stops past where we wanted ... )
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Old 29 Aug 18, 10:34 PM  
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disney owl
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we enjoyed the High Line last year
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Old 13 Sep 18, 08:23 PM  
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CrispyA
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Originally Posted by jocat View Post
Another fan of the Highline here and I think everyone who walks it must take a photo of that car park!

You’re really not having much luck with the subway are you? Love all the questions you’ve written - we’ve all been there with most of them. On our last trip there, despite us thinking we knew what we were doing, we got caught out with the express train problem, without any signs to say it was and went right up to something like 125th Street before we could turn round and come back!
Yep, we never felt any subway love! The random express train was particularly bizarre!

Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
We have the same photo of the stacking car park but in winter! I live the Highline but as I have only ever been in winter I have never seen it in flower!

Personally I think Chelsea Market is overhyped

Just wandering around can be so much fun in NYC!

You were a long way up at the baseball! And very brave to eat hotdogs there Sorry you still had issues with the subway!
Brave, or stupid? Mooching around a city is often the best part of being there.

Originally Posted by katiebaz View Post
The highline looks great and glad you enjoyed the baseball, even if the hotdogs were awful. To be honest we never found a good hotdog in New York and were disappointed in them. Sorry to hear of more subway dramas and it does sound a overly complicated system.
I think hotdogs have a tendency to be disappointing generally - promising very little and yet delivering even less!

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote View Post
The Highline is such a cool,place isn’t it. Shame you weren’t keen on Chelsea but sounds like a nice time around Greenwich.. except vile loos ewwwww.
Food at the baseball is outrageously priced and not the greatest quality
And boo to another subway setback. We had the random express train nightmare cos it was public holiday and they change timetables .. who knew ( not us obvs as we sailed about 10 stops past where we wanted ... )
Random express train was one of the worst!

Originally Posted by disney owl View Post
we enjoyed the High Line last year
We really liked it too.
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Old 30 Sep 18, 04:49 PM  
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i love jack
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A mostly lovely day apart from the blooming subway I loved mooching about Greenwich village and basically sitting in any park, lovely
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Old 30 Sep 18, 06:23 PM  
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CrispyA
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Originally Posted by i love jack View Post
A mostly lovely day apart from the blooming subway I loved mooching about Greenwich village and basically sitting in any park, lovely
Hard to beat a good park! And we really liked Greenwich village.
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Old 30 Sep 18, 09:36 PM  
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Fuellady
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The Highline is so nice. I'm enjoying reading about the more unusual places you're visiting. Your photos are great too. Oh dear, more subway trouble
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