פֿאַרעפֿנטלעכט: 11.10.2016
We start our day with a bagel and a coffee from 'Jolly Goat' on 46th Street, and make our way to our first appointment at 'Top of the Rock' (as previously mentioned, we chose the Sun & Stars ticket) to see the city from above during the day.
When we arrive at Rockefeller Center by subway, we are directed to go up at our reserved time and, after a bag check, take the elevator to the 65th floor. The ride goes by quickly, and we first explore the first of three decks and enjoy the views of Central Park, the Empire State Building, Downtown, and much more. The higher you go, the better the view gets, along with more opportunities for photos and selfies. Additionally, from the top deck, you can enjoy the views directly without windows, which is very impressive. We spend some time up here - you can stay as long as you like - and take in the view.
When we've had enough, we take the elevator back to the ground floor and leave Rockefeller Plaza to catch the subway to Central Park. We go to the western lower end of Central Park and exit. We take the direct path to Central Park and take the first opportunity in the park to rest and give our feet a break, as they are a bit sore after three days in New York. Then we continue strolling through the park and finally arrive at the American Museum of Natural History, where we admire the building from the outside and take a look at the entrance hall with the skeletons. We decide not to visit the exhibition, as the weather is clearly too nice and we are not really interested in the exhibition.
After further exploring Central Park, we head to the nearest subway station on the Upper East Side. We take the subway directly to the Museum of Modern Art. It is open for free on Friday evenings from 4pm to 8pm. However, we are not the only ones who know about this, and as a result, there are an incredible number of people visiting the exhibition. If you are interested in the MoMA, you might not want to take advantage of this offer, as the large number of people took away some of the joy of viewing the sometimes very interesting installations.
For this reason, we leave the museum at 5:30pm and take the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge, as we have not yet visited it. We are lucky and reach the bridge shortly after sunset, with a very special light between day and night. We take a few more pictures of the bridge and the skyline and wait for the city lights to come to life.
From the Brooklyn Bridge, we go to Chinatown and choose a busy Chinese restaurant. We head to the Shanghai Cuisine restaurant on Mulder Street and enjoy the wonderful Chinese food here. We highly recommend this restaurant, as it is very reasonably priced for such great food.
After dinner, we take a digestion walk through Little Italy, where you really get the feeling of being in Italy. People sit outside and eat in one of the many Italian restaurants and cafes, enjoying wine and food.
Once we have left Little Italy behind, we take the next subway to Rockefeller Center to make our second visit at night. It remains a beautiful view at night, and you get a nice panoramic view of the illuminated city. The Empire State Building stands out, especially with its special lighting. After taking in the atmosphere for a while, we take the next elevator down and return to the apartment.
After a long but enjoyable conversation with Stephen, who gives us one last tip for tomorrow, we go to our room and go to sleep.