Roadtrip Part XII - Welcome to Banana City

19.06.-23.06.2018 The journey from Washington D.C. to New York City is long and filled with.... boredom. There is little to nothing exciting to observe. And that, even though you pass by Baltimore and Philadelphia. Eventually, around Trenton or a little later, you catch a glimpse of the skyline of the Big Apple for the first time. Impressive!

Before diving into the hustle and bustle of the city, we drove to Hoboken, a neighborhood in New Jersey, and went to a bakery, of course. But not just any bakery, Carlos Bakery was the destination. The bakery is known for its TV show and the huge cakes that are modeled and made according to customer requests. Want a cake that looks like a baseball stadium? No problem. Want a life-sized cake of the Statue of Liberty? Also not a problem for Carlos and his crew. However, a whole cake was too much for us, so we bought some smaller treats (Cannoli, Dark Chocolate Mousse Tarts, Strawberry Cheesecake Tarts...). Afterwards, we took a walk through the nearby Pier A Park, where we had an amazing view of Manhattan. Since a certain someone wanted to watch soccer (after all, it's the World Cup), we quickly got back into our car and drove towards the Lincoln Tunnel to cross the Hudson River. As tolls are charged for almost all tunnels, including the Lincoln Tunnel, we expected a tunnel in good condition that complied with all current safety regulations. Wrong. The road in the tunnel, like all roads in the greater New York City area, is in a catastrophic state. The road surface is mostly made of worn-out asphalt or equally worn-out concrete slabs with large gaps between the slabs, as you can imagine. It reminded us of the old highways in East Germany. It's nice to be able to take a trip back in time in the largest economy in the world. Fortunately, we paid about $50 in tolls for the drive from McLean to NYC. In addition to all the potholes, the lanes were very narrow. With a pickup truck that is over 2 meters wide, it was quite challenging. This raises the question: 'When were there ever narrow cars in the USA that could drive on such roads without problems?' The answer: Never, except for the motorized horse-drawn carriages. Great. Although the tunnel looked as if it had been built at that time and already appeared to be incontinent, we hoped that this old relic of technological progress would have undergone regular maintenance, so that we would not have to swim out of the tunnel. Luckily, on Jim Bob's back, we rode into the tunnel and emerged with dry tires. From there, it was only a few blocks to our hotel called Metro on 35th Street, in the shadow of the Empire State Building.

When we arrived at the hotel, we freshened up because it was warm during the drive, and then we strolled through a bit of New York for the first time. The goal was Bryant Park, which was nearby, where we took a short break and had a cool drink. After I had digested the first impression of New York (crowded, loud, few green spaces) - after all, I had never been here before, although Bella had been here several times - we went to the New York Public Library, with its many books and beautiful architecture. After cooling off, we walked to Grand Central Station. According to Wikipedia, it is the train station with the most tracks (67) and has been the backdrop for several movies. From the outside, the building looked inconspicuous, so we almost walked past it. Inside, however, it was a different story. A large hall opened up before our eyes, the centerpiece of the facility. Lots of hustle and bustle, people running around hectically, and... of course, oversized U.S. flags. Otherwise, the hall was quite dark, and after taking a few photos, we left the building again. Our stomachs were growling, as our last proper meal had been a few hours ago. We searched the internet for nearby restaurants that fell into the category of 'backpackers on a budget' or 'eat on a budget'. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything. Too bad. So, we went to a restaurant that at least partially satisfied this expectation (cheap and not fast food): Momosan. A Japanese restaurant with, well, typical Japanese cuisine. As new guests, we were greeted by the entire team and seated at a table. Although I thought I knew Japanese cuisine because of various sushi bars and ramen noodle packets, it turned out that the ordered dishes were all cold, which was intentional but initially a bit strange for us. Nevertheless, it tasted good. Full and satisfied, we continued to stroll through the streets of New York.

Eventually, it became evening and dark in the Big Apple. Since our hotel was near Herald Square and therefore near Broadway and Times Square, we got our cameras ready and headed out into the evening hustle and bustle. Taking photos of colorful lights and the American Dream. The closer we got to Times Square, the more crowded it became. The many thousands of lights and screens installed there are quite impressive. In principle, that's the only reason to be here. On the other hand, it would be just a street or a square like any other. Fortunately, there is an M&M's store at Times Square, which gave both of us sweet tooths the opportunity to buy rare varieties of M&M's. We grabbed two bags of chocolate pearls (Almond & Neapolitan) and went to the cashier. Luckily, I can read well, as it said '7.99$/Pound' for bulk purchases.... or so I thought. Based on this reading mistake, I filled the bag quite full, so I was holding about 1 kg of Almond M&M's in my hand. Bella looked at me strangely and said, 'You know that's going to be expensive, right?' Oh nonsense, it won't be and pointed to the price on the sign. Oops, it wasn't 7.99$/Pound after all, but $7.99 for half a pound. Fortunately, Bella could read properly and had put a little less in the bag. In the end, we bought about 1.5 kg of M&M's for the incredible bargain price of ..... 52(!)$ . Treat yourself, right? We then bought a few beers and returned to our hotel, where we ended the evening on the rooftop terrace. We quickly realized that we were not the only Germans here. Actually, the hotel was 75% occupied by Germans. We didn't really want to meet compatriots so early on. Well, it didn't matter. We had a great view of the Empire State Building.

The next morning (Wednesday) started with a balanced hotel breakfast (ahem). There were soggy toast, cornflakes, muffins, and the usual jams and spreads. It was the first and last time we had breakfast here. Freshly weakened, we went to the Highline Park, an old railway track in the west of Manhattan that is no longer in use and has been converted into a green space. Here you can walk comfortably between 30th St. and Gansevoort St. You have lots of greenery around you and can look into the homes of strangers. Wonderful. On the way south, we made a detour to Chelsea Market, which houses many food stores/restaurants as well as jewelry and clothing stores. Since you get hungry from all the walking, of course, we decided to stop at one of the pizzerias. We treated ourselves to 6 different slices of pizza, which instantly transported me to Italian heaven. Heavenly. With full stomachs, we strolled through the market a bit more. Bella found a necklace with the New York logo, and then we continued our walk through the streets of New York. When we reached the end of the Highline, we continued walking towards Washington Square Park and a nearby pub to watch one of the World Cup matches. After a walk through the park, we continued south towards the southern tip of Manhattan to end up at the One World Trade Center. We skipped a tour of the observation deck due to long queues and high prices. We still inspected the 9/11 Memorial and the Westfield World Trade Center before moving on to the east. Towards the Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn. Because the day was not over yet. Before embarking on the final tour of the day, we got a cold drink at a big coffee chain and walked towards the Brooklyn Bridge. At first, we wandered around a bit because we couldn't find the entrance to the bridge. But once the problem was solved, we pushed through the masses of people who had taken possession of this landmark. And as if that wasn't enough, we had to share the narrow path with radical cyclists. What fun. But all the hustle and bustle was quickly forgotten when we saw the Manhattan skyline at dusk. To better enjoy the whole scene, we quickly went to the Empire Fulton Ferry Park in Brooklyn. From there, we had an amazing view of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. Picturesque. We ended the evening in a nearby restaurant and later on the rooftop terrace of our hotel.

The next day (Thursday) started with a really good breakfast for a change because we went to a café called Delectica, where they served breakfast delicacies from the Middle East. After that, we headed to Central Park, where we explored the southern part. We made stops at some sights that you probably know from an unknown series called 'Sex and the City'. So, we touristically took our photos and continued through the concrete canyons of New York. A brief stop in a restaurant to watch... soccer seemed opportune given all the walking. It was Croatia vs. Argentina. Croatia won 3-0. A glorious day. We continued south. We made another stop at Carlos Bakery, this time in Manhattan. After we had replenished our energy, we approached the grand finale of our New York visit: a visit to the Rockefeller Center with its magnificent view of the entire city and especially downtown Manhattan. We arrived there a little early and were allowed to redeem our tickets accordingly. The queue was damn long. And it wouldn't get any better. There were crowds of people on all of the observation decks of the building. The former insider tip for a great view had unfortunately become a mass gathering. We fought through the tourists to catch a glimpse of all the sights. We took as many photos as we could and spent about one to one and a half hours at the top of the Rock. We had just reached the 'highlight' of our trip. We actually wanted to wait until sunset to take more photos, but after all the walking, we were a bit hungry, and there were still about 2 hours until sunset. Besides, we wanted to see the Flatiron Building. So, as the day came to an end, we ordered typical American food. Burgers and fries. Fantastic. After drinking a beer and feeling a bit tired, we went to sleep. After all, we still had to go to Montreal the next day. 600 km further north. And as early as possible. The rush hour in and around New York is not so great.

The next morning, we left at 7 a.m. Quickly free Jim Bob from the parking garage. He just doesn't belong there. Fortunately, we got a discount because there was a partnership with our hotel. We loaded up the car and headed back towards Canada. Our last major trip with Jim Bob. 6 hours of North American wilderness lay ahead of us. Exciting. We made a stop at a typical American diner shortly after leaving New York. After all, we hadn't had breakfast. That's just not possible. And after all, our parents always told us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.....