Four States, One Big Adventure: Day 2 - The Day We Walked 40 Miles

[NatsyNoo]

And 5 hours later we were awake. It was 5.30am and to be expected given the time difference. We laid in bed until 6.30am and were out the door by 7.10am, ready to hit the to do list and make up the time that we lost yesterday.

We got to Central Park by 8am, with our starting point being the Guggenheim. We grabbed two orange juices at Duane Reade on the way, which were about $4 for the two.



We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering through Central Park, stopping at the sights along the way.









It was so beautiful, we loved it!





Obelisk/Cleopatra’s Needle



Belvedere Castle





American Museum of Natural History



At this point, we were getting peckish for some breakfast and I knew Levain’s Bakery wasn’t far away so we stopped for one of their legendary cookies. Even at opening, there was a 20 minute wait but oh boy were they worth it! Both cookies came to around $8 (I know it seems expensive but these are more than just a cookie!) and we took them back into Central Park.









We chose to sit in Strawberry Fields and we had a really special moment: there was a busker playing Imagine and other John Lennon songs on his guitar, the sun was shining, we were in Central Park eating amazing cookies. Fabulous!



Once we had finished the cookies, it was back to the sights…

Bow Bridge





I mean how beautiful is this?!



The Boathouse







Bethesda Terrace











Conservatory Water



Alice in Wonderland Statue



Hans Christian Anderson Statue



The Mall (where we bought 3 magnets for $1 each from a guy selling them on a table)



The Dairy



Our time in Central Park was done and it was time to tackle the busy-ness and noise of New York. We made our way down 5th Avenue, as our next stop was Top of the Rock. First though, we went to Duane Reade for some drinks ($4 ish).

We also passed St Patrick’s again, but this time without the crowds



We arrived at TOTR at 11am and there was no line, thankfully. We had a lot of ground to cover today so needed as few delays as possible! We loved TOTR, especially the views of Empire State Building and Central Park but there was something really special about seeing the city lit up last night.





















We picked up our Rockefeller Center magnet at the gift shop after for $6.48.

They were pushing the launch of the new series of The Voice in the NBC store, I thought I’d give the seat a go



As we walked around the city, I captured some random snaps of street scenes that just said ‘New York’ to me





After the walking yesterday and so far this morning, we had very sore feet, so in an effort to save our feet (remember this), we opted to catch the subway to our next stop – Madison Square Garden.

[NatsyNoo]

It was lunchtime by now so we checked my list of local food places and Pizza Suprema was really nearby. I had read about this place as being some of the best pizza in New York on a Time Out guide and boy did it live up to it! Matt had buffalo chicken and I have Hawaiian which came to about $8 for both slices. So yummy!







We then went to Duane Reade for some drinks, so we got one each, plus a water, plus a nail polish (as I had already managed to chip one of my toes) which came to $8.11.



The next sight on the list was the Flat Iron so we needed to head south. We walked for about 20 minutes and everything felt like it was getting more familiar, I kept seeing hotel names that I knew were close to Times Square, so I reconsulted my map. You guessed it, we were heading in the wrong direction and that subway journey to save our feet was pretty much undone. Great. The only bonus was that we walked past New York Fashion Week a few times. I don’t know who these people were but they were being heavily papped! I’ve had a few suggestions but can’t tell for sure so if anyone knows, please tell me!



It took about 25 minutes from here to get to the Flat Iron.





After some photos, we moved on and saw the sights of southern Manhattan:

Chelsea Market (which took another 20 minutes from Flat Iron to get to) – this was nothing like I expected, I thought it would be more market like but it was all very ‘permanent’ if that makes sense?!





High Line





Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment



The Friends apartment block





Matt was flagging by now so I promised him an ice cream. Grom was on my list so we stopped here! He had chocolate (medium) and I had mango (small) which came to $12





Our next stop was Washington Square Park. I loved it here. It was so ‘New York’. I much preferred the Village & Soho areas of the city, far more like somewhere I could live and what I was expecting to see!











After this, we stopped at a corner shop for some drinks before moving on. These came to $4.

Our next stop was the Ghostbusters fire station which was under renovation. Thankfully there was still some branding outside



We loved seeing One World as we worked our way south



And we spotted this too which I’ve since learned is the Jenga Building



Trinity Church



New York Stock Exchange & Wall Street (all covered in scaffolding which I was disappointed about)











Charging Bull (but it was so busy we couldn’t get near it!)

[NatsyNoo]

We then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, the views from here were amazing! Sorry again for the piccie overload, I do love a skyline!



























We were due to walk back across the Manhattan Bridge but our feet were screaming and couldn’t carry us much further, so we decided to catch a subway for some dinner and head back to the hotel for an earlier night. It was 6pm so we had been walking virtually non-stop for 11 hours by now!

After more subway drama in Brooklyn (I tell you, the people that say the NY subway is the most efficient in the world are clowns!) we finally managed to get to where we needed to be, which was Katz’s Deli, the deli which featured in ‘When Harry Met Sally’. The idea was the get a typical New York Deli sandwich.

I had read some nightmare stories about how busy this place gets but thankfully, we were in luck! We ordered a pastrami on rye and some fries to share plus a pitcher of Sprite (we were so thirsty!) and it came to $38.31. This was great value and even between us, we couldn’t finish it all!















Our final stop was Times Square. I had decided that I had to have that tshirt from Disney Store yesterday so we had to fight the crowds again. Matt was none too pleased but he let me go anyway since we had to get the subway via Times Square anyway. The tshirt came to $30.76 and we also picked up more water from Duane Read for $2.22.

We got back to the hotel at 9.30pm (so not as early as we had hoped to be back!) and were asleep soon after!

Steps: 44,932 (34km) but Matt’s pedometer said 66k steps, which equated to 40 miles!

[amymiller]

Another action packed day! Mega impressed with how much you fitted in, not surprising given how much you walked! You saw sights I didn't even know existed like the Hans Christian Anderson statue and I've been to NYC 4 times! Matt's piece of pizza looked amazing.

[Cutiepie]

wow, you certainly packed it in that day! great day though.

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by amymiller

Another action packed day! Mega impressed with how much you fitted in, not surprising given how much you walked! You saw sights I didn't even know existed like the Hans Christian Anderson statue and I've been to NYC 4 times! Matt's piece of pizza looked amazing.

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Haha thank you! We knew we had a limited amount of time so I did lots of reading in advance and carefully listed everything in geographical order so we didn't miss anything. There were a couple of bits we didn't manage (the UN building springs to mind) but nothing too significant, thankfully

Originally Posted by Cutiepie

wow, you certainly packed it in that day! great day though.

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Haha didn't our feet know it! Thanks for reading!

[florida girl]

Wow so much walking but some amazing sights. Central Park is such a lovely place so much packed into a small area.

Those cookies and that pizza look yummy.

[Disney Wishing]

OMG you walked the whole of New York. I think that has to be a step count record

[k4ti3-x]

Your pictures of central park & from Brooklyn Bridge are amazing! You must have fallen into bed that night from all that walking.

[Guest]

Another great busy day! Which t-shirt did you get from the Disney Store?