I got up in time as I was expecting a visitor from
Philadelphia. My Finnish friend and fellow Fulbrighter had informed me that he
was coming into town for the day. I was really looking forward to seeing him again
and to spend some time with him in New York City. After taking a shower and
getting dressed I received his message that he was on the subway heading
towards 207th Street. I went downstairs to the subway station in
order to meet him there. Several trains arrived but I couldn’t see my friend
anywhere. At some point he called me and told me that he had arrived at 207th
Street. How could I have missed him as I was standing right in front of the
only station exit? I went upstairs to the street level and started searching
for him but there was no sight of him. After I had called him back I found out
what had happened. He had taken the red line instead of the blue. I asked him
to stay right at the station and I walked the short distance to the 207th
Street red number 1 line station where I found him. We took first a short walk
through the neighborhood before settling in at a nice coffee place where we had
some breakfast. After an interesting discussion on cultural differences between
our country and the U.S. we got on the blue A line train heading downtown. We
transferred at 59th Street station to the D train that took us right
to 47th-50th Street / Rockefeller Center station. We
visited the Rockefeller Center and decided to take the lift in order to get to
the observation deck on the 70th Floor. The tickets were at 30
dollar but at least we didn’t had to wait in line at all and could proceed to
the elevator promptly. The view, although not as spectacular as from the One
World Center or the Empire State Building, was great an definitely worth the
money. What I especially liked was that the view from the top floor was not
limited by windows like on the previously named buildings. Instead we could
enjoy the scenery without any reflecting windows which especially becomes
challenging when taking pictures. After taking some pictures and getting some
souvenirs in the gift shop we went down again and had lunch. We found a nice
restaurant on 48rd Street. After lunch we walked the short distance
to the 51st Street station right across Park Avenue. We took the 6
train down to City Hall / Brooklyn Bridge station and walked across Brooklyn
Bridge. I think after all this is still one of the greatest walks one can take
while in New York. Also my Finnish friend liked the views a lot. Once we got
off the bridge in Brooklyn we tried to catch the A or C train on High Street
but we weren’t lucky as the High Street station was closed due to construction
works. We ended up wondering around for quite a while searching for an
alternative subway station. The fact that our phone maps showed us subway
stations that weren’t existing didn’t help us much further. In the end we got
closer to the New York Supreme Court Building which I recognized from my visit
in Brooklyn the week before and we eventually got on the R line on Court Street
station. We transferred on DeKalb Avenue station to the Q line that took us
right to Prospect Park. A friend had recommended me this park and we both liked
it instantly. We took a nice walk across the park which had a beautiful lake in
the middle and there was also a little forest nearby. Besides that there was
also a merry go around and a zoo which we however couldn’t enter because it was
about time to head back to Manhattan so that my friend still could catch his
bus back to Philadelphia. From Prospect Park we took again the Q train. We got
off the train at DeKalb Avenue because we wanted to use the B train that was
crossing Manhattan Bridge. Unfortunately after waiting for quite some time no B
train showed up. Instead we got on the R train and returned to Manhattan via
the tunnel. We got off at 34th Street and Herald Square. We still
had time to get some drinks and Belgian waffles before we had to walk to the
bus stop on 34th Street and 11th Avenue. After my friend had left I went to the nearby
High Line in order to take a few more pictures of the area and the beautiful
sunset. Finally it started to get dark and I headed back to 8th
Avenue where I could catch the A train to 207th Street. Before getting
on the train I still took some pictures of the beautifully illuminated Empire
State Building. The A line wasn’t operating properly so I had to take the C
line until 168th Street where I finally got on the A train to 207th
Street. I finished the day with taking care of a few work related issues before
going to bed.
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| Rockefeller Center |
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| View of Manhattan |
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| Central Park |
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| Streets of New York seen from High Line |
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| Empire State Building |
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