Started off at a decent time today - 9:00 am - and went for a walk down to the Columbus Circle Shopping Centre. I don't remember the name of the shopping centre but it's the one under the CNN/Time-Warner towers on the circumference of Columbus Circle. If you go there you'll know. I had a quick browse around the centre but didn't go into any particular store. So I can't tell you if the shope are expensive or reasonable.
I ate breakfast on the ground floor - no wait... the basement floor. The entire floor was dedicated to food. Seriously, there was food everywhere. The biggest food market i've seen. I had good ol' bacon and eggs and orange juice. So i'm eating well :D.
Today's adventure took me to the Brooklyn Bridge. Obviously I hopped onto the tram to get there. There wasn't too much hassle in getting there - the subway system is all figured out. It's easy to get to the Brooklyn Bridge but it could have been a little bit easier. The signs from the subway could have been more prominent, as a slight detour is required to get onto the pedestrian entrance. To the credit of the NYC subway there was a map which I initially ignored which eventually guided me towards the bridge.
The Brooklyn Bridge and the view from the bridge was fantastic. Seriously something worth seeing... well maybe not as super-fantastic as some of the other sights in America but it's great to visit such an iconic bridge. As I was saying, the view was fantastic - the odd scyscraper poking above the horizon could be something that looks ugly but seeing a whole mass of skyscrapers was impressive. Plus the water looks great, I love water.
It was obviously cold on the bridge and heaps windy as well. So I didn't really stay there for long. Took a whole bunch of happy snaps and headed back to Manhattan. Oh, as a reference one of the temperature indicator boards was showing 1 degree Celcius. Cold!
Back to town and it was time to do some shopping. Well - not the greatest of ideas considering that it was Thanksgiving period. I disembarked at 32nd Penn Station and walked towards Macy's (the largest department store in the world). Wham! People everywhere. It was crazy. It's just about crazy as Myer in Sydney for the Boxing Day sales but worse. It's difficult to describe but whoa... nuts.
As there were so many people in the store and surrounding areas I didn't stay there long. It was next to impossible to browse as there were either people in the way or people pushing you around. I guess people go crazy when there is a sale on. The only thing that I really bought in ther was a hot chocolate from their in-store Starbucks.
After Macy's, rather the craziness of Macy's, it was time to head back to the hotel for checkout. As it was a bit too early to head off to the airport I watched some tv - Mythbusters. Ahh.. gotta love that show. Two busted myths later (trapped in a falling lift equals dead and toy cars don't beat real cars when the only force is gravity) and it was 4:00pm. Time to head to the airport.
The only practical way to the airport was via the NYC subway, so that is what I took. This time I took a different route to the airport. Instead of taking the subway to Jamaica Station I took the subway down past Brooklyn to Howard Beach station.
Advice for everyone - don't do it. Take the train to Jamaica. The train to Howard Beach was a little unsettling. I wasn't too concerned for my safety whilst catching subway trains but it was here that I felt the least safe. Kind of eerie that trip. People looking at you, starting at you, and the carriages were dead quiet. I got to the airport on time but it could have been a little less unsettling.
Boarding and flight - nothing to special. Got to the airport well on time. The British Airways staff wanted me to use the eletronic check-in but it didn't quite work. LO. Technology didn't quite cut it. Oh well, ti's good to know that i've still got a job as a software engineer. The flight itself wasn't terribly exciting. I sat towards the front and in the central area of the plane. No windows, on the aisle. All I can remember is that there was a crazy baby on board that cried alot. The trip lasted 6 odd hours but as time zones were being corssed I arrived in England in the morning (leaving flight was at 6:30pm).
Brooklyn Bridge
Looking towards the Financial District
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