On the 2nd of August, we started our trip. Our first flight was from Munich to New York! The flight had cost us around 330 € including luggage per person. (With a stop of 8 hours in Lisbon, we obviously had to look at the city and enjoyed the day in Portugal. We just walked around the city and spent the day in sunny Lisbon.)
We arrived in New York City after a hard and long day. We were already looking forward to our bed in the hotel and just wanted to sleep…. Unfortunately, nothing came of it.
Our “hotel” was called Bowery Grand Hotel (€ 365, 11 for 5 nights for 2 people) and was in Chinatown. The reviews from the internet were great, but in real life, it was a total joke… The location was great! However, unfortunately that was all that we found good about the “hotel”. The room was very small, the door hardly opened because the bed was in the way, and there were no windows. Here we are in New York and can‘t see any sights out of the window. And the aircon ran continuously. It couldn´t be turned off. Even the “hotel manager” had no idea how it worked. So we laid in bed (in our wool sleeping bags) with a sweater, scarf and hat and tried not to think about the cold. We just wanted to get some sleep. You can imagine us wanting to book a flight straight home… We eventually fell asleep and got up very early the next day to explore the city and get out of this mess! For this, we first had to use the shared bathroom, which was worse than the room itself. After the shower, we felt dirtier than before … Everything was mouldy and dirty and had a weird smell to it. (Thank God, it was only 5 nights and we had already survived one). It was early August, so it was extremely hot outside. We almost got a heat stroke when we stepped outside onto the street… Enough complaining 🙂
Let me tell you about New York:
What to do in New York?
- Brooklyn Bridge
Take your time and cross the bridge. The architecture is beautiful. We crossed about half way and then turned around and walked towards the city centre - World Trade Centre
The memorial is so impressive! We were standing at one of the fountains for 15 minutes. It´s interesting to just watch the other people and look at the incredibly high buildings - Battery Park
Take a break in the Battery Park. It is wonderful to have a little snack here, look at the Statue of Liberty and watch the other tourists.
- East River
Just walk along the river and enjoy your time - Hudson River
- Rocket Feller Centre
WOW! It looks exactly like in all those Hollywood films. We probably sat here for half an hour.
- Grand Central Terminal
Did you know there is a public tennis court? - Radio City Hall
Recommended at any time of the day. We saw it at day and night. Simply amazing.
- Timesquare
We went to Timesquare just before dusk and sat down on the famous steps . Here we just watched the goings-on and waited for darkness to fall. It is best to take something to eat and drink, and enjoy the many lights, advertisements, cars and tourists. This experience is so unique. - MoMA
Because Phil loves art and museums and I really needed a cool down, we went to the MoMa. $ 25 per person it is not cheap but absolutely worth it!
- Top of the Rock
Don´t buy the Sunset Ticket. It is much more expensive ($ 89.28 for 2) and a normal ticket is enough. There is no security at the top, who will tell you to leave before sunset, so you can just stay at the top longer and wait for the sunset. At least this is what it was like in August 2018
- Flat Iron
This building is very impressive!
- Statue of Liberty
We had absolutely no desire and no time to stand in line for hours. After a little googling, we found out that there is a ferry to Staten Island. On the way there, you should stand on the right and on the way back on the left side of the boat. Now you have the best view of the statue of Liberty 🙂 - Central Park
We took the subway to “110 Street Station – Central Park North”, got out and from there we went directly to Central Park. Since we had planned a whole day for the park, we walked through the entire park
Where did we eat in New York?
- Waverly Restaurant
- Murray Hill Diner
- Pearl Diner & Catering
- We even once had dinner in Chinatown.
It is definitely an experience!
If you liked my post, please leave a nice comment below.
Emily