Obviously, I slept in and didn't wake up til around a couple hours before noon. I knew I couldn't waste a minute in NY, so I didn't even bother grabbing a proper breakfast (too late for that anyway) or a lunch (I got out of the hotel around noon). I ended up grabbing 2 hot dogs, 1 from 2 different hot dog vendors just to verify what I discovered. Like I said, I thought the cheap hot dogs I had the night before were just a nighttime thing (I can't believe that was my first meal of 2010 hahaha), so you can imagine my disappointment when I found out the hot dogs/sausages served by the street vendors were always like this! What a rip-off! $3 USD for a hot dog, which is as small as the ones you get in the hot dog packs at the supermarkets here, and $4 USD for a sausage, which is not even that much bigger, slightly longer and slightly thicker, but they're even as big as the sausages you can buy in the packages here! For some reason, I though NYC had a reputation for nice street dogs, but I was completely wrong! This is one thing that Toronto most definitely owns NYC at - it's not even a competition, that's how bad the hot dogs are. Only ketchup and mustard are ever available, they're hot dogs/sausages are tiny, the supermarket-variety buns are always cold (pulled straight from the bag), and the worst part, the hot dogs aren't even grilled! I actually didn't even see a single hot dog vendor cart with an actual grill - they all boil them and store them in some garlic brine or solution! This is an atrocity to hot dogs hahaha! I can't believe I've spent a paragraph on this, but it needs to be said. Like someone later told me, they're really there just for the tourists' sake, but that shouldn't mean they should be serving overpriced, poor quality...stuff for lack of a better word hahaha. For $2.50 CAD here, you get a nice-sized hot dog which is more like a small sausage because of it's size, that's served hot and fresh from the grill, with the option to have the bun toasted (because there's an actual grill), and more condiments than you could need (there's 11 to choose from at the cart at UTSC if I remember correctly). Shame on you NYC for having such poor hot doogs, shame! Hahaha...I will never consider the hot dogs in Toronto overpriced again (unless of course the meat sizes continues to drop and the prices go up).
Ok, now that I've finished my rant on hot dogs in NYC, I can move on the photos! Looking back, I can't believe I walked as much as I did, but I'm sure anyone reading these posts have realized by now I walked a lot to save the cost of public transport. There are very few tourists (at least during winter) that would do what I did, but I've always said the best way to see a new place is on foot! Starting from W 52nd St. and 6th Ave., I walked up to the south end of Central Park along 6th Ave.
Some views along my walk up 6th Ave., aka "Avenue of the Americas."
Then once I got to the south side entrance, I made my way into Central Park. I spent the rest of the day walking all the way up to the north end of the park (starting on Central Park Driveway and then on East Dr. for most of the rest of the way...I'm actually just finding this out now haha, I didn't plan anything that day), crossing over to Broadway on W 110th St., and making my way back south and ending up back in the Times Square area! Just straight walking and photo-taking. Approximate distance: at least over 13 km for the entire circuit. Guaranteed most NY tourists would just hop on and off tour buses or take the subway, but then they'd miss out on all that I got to see! I actually did not realize just how big Central Park was - I knew it was big, but I had not idea it covered this much land until after walking through it. As I approached the north end, I couldn't help but keep thinking "when am I finally going to get to the end!?". And of course I took as many photos as I could to remember everything!
At the south end entrance to Central Park - there were a lot of Hamsom cab rides available in this area of the park.
The south end of the park had a lot of tourist traffic.
The map of the park shows just how big it really is.
Homeless man dancing around.
I couldn't believe just how many different things there were to look at inside the park.
So many photos just from one part of the park! The street performer was actually pretty good on the sax.
At the nature preserve area of the park - a nice quiet walk (no tourists here) filled with ballsy squirrels, pigeons walking on ice, and embarrassingly-dressed dogs.
More frozen ponds and statues.
Champagne bottle leftover from last night's celebration.
The park has so much history...the Egyptian monument really caught me by surprise, especially the little crab claws near the base of the monument.
The park was filled with activity: balloons caught in a tree, a miniature snowman being built, another statue, dogs sniffing each other (I just missed capturing the shot of the white dog sniffing the other dog's bum hahaha) and plenty of runners...it was perfect cold weather for running.
I randomly exited the park for a little bit, onto the section of 5th Ave. nicknamed the "Museum Mile" because of the cluster of museums in the area. One look at all the surrounding buildings, and it was instantly obvious why the Upper East Side is the most affluent area in New York City. I made a quick pass by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, before finding an entrance back into Central Park.
Back in Central Park.
Overlooking and walking around Central Park's largest body of water (and main reservoir), the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. I could still see some of the Upper East Side from the track running around the reservoir - the roof of the buildings had nice gardens and lounging areas (4th photo)! The snow was melting, so the dirt track was really muddy and wet and unfortunately distracted me from enjoying the gorgeous reflections off the reservoir...I couldn't believe people were still jogging on the track!
I guess the park had previously suffered some storm damage.
First look into Harlem.
The NYPD patrol vehicles - I found the shape quite amusing hahaha.
More views into Harlem.
Even as I got closer to the north end of the park, there was still a lot of activity going on: bicyclists and more runners, community hockey games, and even snowball fights! There were definitely no other tourists up here besides me at this point.
I finally reached the north exit of Central Park!
Looking down the west border of the park.
I unknowingly stumbled onto the Columbia University campus while crossing over to Broadway (there were no obvious markings or anything). I could definitely tell I was in Harlem though - there was a completely different feel to this part of Manhattan.
I was getting a little hungry, so went I got to Broadway, I went up north a bit and grabbed a slice of pizza at the Famiglia at the corner of W 111th St. and Broadway. I wasn't aware of this at the time, but if I had actually just gone north one more block up to W 112th St., I could've visited Tom's Restaurant, made famous as the outside shot used for the fictional Monk's Diner in Seinfeld.
Making my way back south along Broadway. The Chinese laundromat (4th photo) I passed by looked like something out of GTA 3!
I saw an H&H Bagels and knew I had to make a stop to try one of their famous bagels. I bought a sour dough bagel, which H&H is supposedly famous for. Unfortunately, it wasn't one fresh from the oven (those are supposed to be the best, but there was a stockpile of ones waiting to be sold), but it was still quite good. It was kind of hard, probably because it was no longer warm, and eating it out the cold weather definitely did not help with this issue, but it was quite tasty, and I could see why so many locals love their bagels.
To locals and other types of travelers, it may have appeared to be a boring walk down Broadway, but for me, I enjoyed every minute walking the streets, taking in all the different sights and sounds at ever corner. There was always something new to see (at least for me), and I really believe NYC is a city that's enjoyable even just at the street level.
I remembered seeing something on the Food Network about the hot dogs at Gray's Papaya, so I had to stop in to try it out. Now this is what a NY hot dog should be - cheap (I think it was $1.50 for one hot dog), fresh from the grill, good value for the money, more than just 2 basic condiments (I got the works, which had hot peppers, onions, and their special sauce on it in addition to ketchup and mustard...I think, I don't really remember what exactly was on it hahaha). It was pretty tasty (I remember the skin being a bit chewy), but I didn't see what all the hype was about (though it easily beat the hot dog carts hands down)...I was expecting them to use papaya on the hot dog, but their real attraction is their fresh papaya juice, which I unfortunately did not feel like trying at the time.
It doesn't get any more American than that: a demonstrator waving a large US flag in front of a McD's.
Continuing down Broadway, passing by Juilliard School, Avery Fisher Hall, and the New York City Ballet (2nd - 4th photos). One thing I had forgot about was how fast the sun set in northeast North America during winter.
Looked like an interesting food cart; must have been very popular because the line-up was huge, so I just kept walking instead of trying to find out what exactly they sold.
At Columbus Circle. The blurriest photo is the one I didn't take (8th photo); I forgot how much more skill is required to take hand-held low light shots - I went through a lot of shots just trying to get a usable photo of the monument at the centre of Columbus Circle. You might notice a strange tint in some of the photos too - the result of quick photo editing to try lifting the shadows.
After Columbus Circle, I accidentally started heading down 8th Ave., but once I noticed I was passing by several theatres, I knew I was next to Times Square, so I headed eastward (passing by a mound of garbage along the way)...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment