Last day in NYC today – I’ve had a killer (but fattening) time.
Brooklyn is a lot bigger than I realised. When I organised to stay down south on 68th, I didn’t realise how far it was from Williamsburg, the hip place to be in Brooklyn.
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I stayed in my hotel room until midday. My feet hurt. I needed to sort out my luggage, get myself re-centered. And to be honest, I just needed a sleep in. New York is so ever-bustling and busy, it was nice to sit 13 floors above it all in the quiet and recharge. There is a lot to do here, but I am not sure I could live here. Those that do seem busy, unhappy, and often stuck.
I am used to dancing in the street, smiles and laughter, and singing tram conductors. Today I was walking along Broadway, listening to Daylight by Matt and Kim, smiling and dancing a little when I stopped at the traffic lights. People actually looked at me grumpily. Why are you happy? They seemed to be thinking.
At noon I checked out, turned over my bags to luggage storage and set out to SoHo. I had four destinations today, first was the High Line Urban Park. Last time I was in New York this park was in planning stage, and I had always wanted to visit New York again so I could go here. The city turned an abandoned high rise train line into an urban park high above street level, spanning 1 mile (1.6 kms). It was a super sunny day, and the sunlight reflected off the piles of snow to blind those walking the paths. I can imagine this would be beautiful in summer, but in winter it was still nice to walk so high above the city – the air almost seemed cleaner there.
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Two days in Auckland, we thought, would be enough. I had a list of the must-try places, plotted out and planned for each meal. However, Auckland has an absolutely buzzing food scene.
It was impossible not to sidetrack to the famous ice cream shop that had somehow eluded my culinary research, or stock up on chocolate filled taiyaki, hot from the press at the City Farmers Market at Britomart. There was nothing we could do – we just kept eating and aimed to hit the gym when we got back.
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