New York. The best place in the world…

When you hear NY, you think of the opportunity of finding a complete city where you can see anything, meet people from all corners of the world, meet unexpected people by chance, and everything depends on how much you decide to visit. It is the first time I visited the States and I admit New York was the first city I wanted to see, since I wanted to visit the statue of liberty, the symbol of America, one of the most famous monuments in the world and in front of which I understood and felt what complete freedom is. You imagine a lot of things before going to New York: all the places you have seen in movies, or you have heard of in American songs. You feel everything in the busy streets.

Away from the American movie air, going around the skyscrapers, on the beach to see the Atlantic or Empire State Building, eating a hot dog from the street food vendors, seeing a Broadway play, walking through China Town or Little Italy, New York has a vibration that never stops, stories permanently continue there. I obviously didn’t have time to do everything I set my mind to…you need time to see New York, I decided to go there for three days and to see the Niagara Falls in Canada as well, so time management was a challenge. This only makes me want to find more time to come back and visit the places I missed the previous time. But let me tell you how things went there… First of all, don’t worry about the transport because the subway is very well put in place. From JFK Airport you can take the Air Train from any terminal, one trip costs 5 dollars per person and it goes straight to Sutphin Boulevard towards Jamaica, from where you take line E or you can go to Howard Beach from where you can take line A or C and then you can take the subway from anywhere. When I came from the airport, I bought the 5 dollar trip from the left side of the stop. If you buy it from a machine, then you will have to pay a dollar extra for the card. You can get almost anywhere, it is easy to figure out which line you need for your trip, where to change lines if it is not a direct trip and in case you really cannot figure it out, ask anyone who does not look like a tourist and you will get an answer for sure. Here is also a map! I felt like NY people are very friendly, every time I received an answer it came with a smile, and even once when I was just standing with a map in my hand, someone came to ask me if they could help me with anything, and a man even led me to the place where I had to change the lines. The 7 days commutation ticket for all subway and bus lines is 31 dollars, and when it expires you can recharge it with however many trips you want (2.5 dollars per trip). I got to NY at about 4 pm and I had planned from home to go and see a part of Central Park and to go to the famous Times Square at night, a place which is best seen at night, when the lights are shining the brightest. My accommodation was somewhere in the Queens area, where I admit that I felt like home, since the place has many Romanian people on the street and in stores. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the city center from where I stayed because there is a direct subway line that works really well. Central Park, as you might have already heard, is huge, it has a surface of 800 acres and requires a full day for an appropriate visit with quiet walks and exploration of its gorgeous places. I entered through Fifth Avenue and before that, I entered the Apple Store, which is right across the entrance, and for the interested ones, there is a toy store called Fao Schwartz, where you can become a child again. As soon as you enter, you are welcome by a fantasy land, where you can find any toy. I heard that if you get there in the morning at 10 am and you are the first one to enter the store, you will have a big surprise- because the employees have a ritual to receive the first client on the red carpet like a celebrity. As I was saying, it is impressive to see so many toys and happy people in one place. You will be fascinated by the huge piano on the floor where you can play your favorite song- it is worth a visit especially if you have children. I remember going in Hamleys store in London with my daughter a few years ago and I could only “escape” after a few hours…We left the store with 3 Barbie dolls and a teddy bear, it was good that there were sales. As soon as you enter Central Park, you will meet the street artists who can make a portrait for you for only 10 dollars in black pencil or 20 dollars in color, as well as the carriages with tourists. A stroll is around 50 dollars for 20 minutes plus the tips, but it varies depending on the deal you make. You can book it online on CentralPark.com, but for some reason it costs more. Also for more details you can go on the same website and make a reservation to rent bicycles, which costs 15 dollars and you can rent them from 10 am. As soon as you enter the park from Fifth avenue, you can see the zoo on the right side, which is open from 10 am to 5 pm and costs 18 dollars for adults and 13 dollars for children with ages 3-12. The animals are also visible from the outside, I got to see a show with dolphins and the birds area which is close to the fence. I wanted to see Central Park and lay on the grass, to admire the skyscrapers… When I went there, there were not many people in the evening and it had just rained but there were many tourists as usual. When it started getting dark, I left to Times Square, and on the way I stopped at the M&Ms store, which I had heard was very big and holds any color of candy. It has 2200 m2 and 3 floors, being the biggest candy store in NY. The prices are decent and you can mix the types of candy. When I got to Times Square, I understood why it is said to be the most popular touristic attraction in the world! It is extraordinary how the ads light the area, the crowd of tourists taking pictures overwhelms you and you keep hearing “wooow, fantastic, fabulous”. It can be found at the intersection of Broadway with Seventh Avenue and it spreads from 42 Street to 47 Street. This is the place where the ball comes down during New Year’s.

The next morning I decided to visit Metropolitan Museum. To get there, you can choose Central Park as a mark, since the museum is situated in the Eastern end of the park. In the museum you will find exponents from Stone Age objects to special expositions of contemporary artists. The schedule is from Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 5.30 pm, and Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm. One adult ticket is 25 dollars, seniors have to pay 17 dollars, and children under 12 years old have a free entrance. Also, the entrance is free if you have The New York Pass. I really liked the museum and its exponents, but I admit that I did not get to see a lot because of the time limit, so if you want to make a visit there and to be able to see more, you will have to spend at least half of your day, and preferably come in the morning when it is not very crowded. When you come to New York, you cannot leave without visiting the famous Bryant Park. This is situated between the Fifth and Sixth Avenues and in between 40 and 42 Streets in Midtown Manhattan, in front of the Public National Library, where there are free tours organized from Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm.

I got there during the evening, I really liked Bryant Park, as it is a very animated location filled with tourists and NY people who come to relax on the grass. Some do yoga, others dance, but the atmosphere was amazing. I ate on the grass and admired the skyscrapers around, which make you feel so small that you wonder how would it be if you saw the scene in the park from the top of one. Here is one of the places I liked the most and would have liked to enjoy for longer, but in NY you really cannot stay in one place for too long as each is special in its own way. So I went to see Grand Central Terminal, which is 10 minutes walking distance. It was built in 1913 and has a surface of 200.000 square meters. Around the 70s it is said that it should have been demolished to built a skyscraper, but it was saved by Jaqueline Kennedy. In 2013 when it celebrated 100 years, I read that Americans decided for all the restaurants and stores in the train station to have the same prices as in 1913. So a coffee was sold with 5 cents and if you wanted your shoes to be polished, you had to pay 10 cents. They also had a mega-party with a cake in the shape of a clock and there was also a recreation of the train station with lego pieces. Honestly, I would have liked to witness the celebration or be there on July 4th to feel the real American spirit. I decided to go to China Town to see the famous neighborhood and to do some shopping, get souvenirs from family and friends at home for a good price. It’s a very big neighborhood where you can find almost anything, and the food smell from inside the restaurants invites you to taste the Chinese dishes- it is impossible to not find a guilty pleasure. I was trying to find a watch for my mother and at one point, two Chinese people came to me to ask me, whispering, if I wanted to see some watched. I agreed and they took me to a street where I met a Chinese woman and I followed her to a street corner where she took out a bag filled with fake brand watches. It wasn’t anything of what I was looking for, but when I said I was not interested she left sad, having wasted her time with me. In the end, I found a watch at another store and a few souvenirs, which I conveniently bargained for. They asked for 6 dollars for a mini statue and I bought it for 2 dollars. They were also asking for 4 dollars for a magnet and I ended up buying it for 2 dollars. To get to Chinese Town, get off at Bowery stop with line J or get off at Canal Street or Grand Street with the yellow subway line, R, and the location is at a small walking distance. Similarly for Little Italy, where you can see old houses and have an Italian meal. I really enjoyed these little towns included in NY, as if I can escape time in Europe. They were filled with tourists from all corners of the world. If you want to eat a good pizza, you can do it at Domino’s, which is found everywhere in NY. I also found a super offer, which is available only on Monday and Tuesday. If you buy a 12 dollars pizza, you have a free topping. The cheese pizza is amazing, so I recommend it irrespective of the price. The size is big, it is filling and you can even enjoy it with one more person.

This is what I did in my first two days in the city of dreams, trying to mingle with the crowd of tourists from all over the world and to understand the beauty of this unique city, and yes, I can say I would love to live in such a city at least for a time period. Many of the people visiting it for the first time say it is too busy. Before I left, there was actually one person telling me that her first sensation was “what am I doing in this madness”, but after a few days they got used to the vibrant rhythm of NY. It depends on the person. I like big cities and they do not make me tired, but maybe if you live there and feel the pulse, it would be different. Anyway, I would like to have the opportunity to come to this realization, for sure I would like to come back at least once. I finish this part of the article here and invite you to read the other parts, which are coming soon, to share with you my impressions from the holiday spent on the American land, in the city of dreams, the city that never sleeps as they call it.