New York – Day 2

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Mar 312013
 

Posted from New York, New York, United States.

Day 2 began again with great weather, clear blue sky and moderately good temperature. After heavy breakfast, some organisation and planning, we were off to a walking adventure.


Our first stop west of our hotel were the Intrepids. If we had more time, I would have loved to visit. We therefore walked around the aircraft carrier ship, took a few photos and went on. Cunard cruises’ Queen Elisabeth cruise ship – one of the world’s largest – was anchored right next to the Intrepids. This thing is huge!

The High Line is a project that started under the sponsorship of New York’s mayor Michael Bloomberg at around year 2000 and its objective was to revitalise an industrial and unused area of Manhattan. The project turned these train tracks into what is today a very popular 1.5 miles walk alongside contemporary design buildings that popped up right next to it in response to the newly raised attention in the area.

The Chelsea market located in the lower half of Manhattan is a great place to seek tasty European food. Italy is clearly over-represented, so one can get amazing fresh pasta or pop into an Italian supermarket for goodies like mozzarella di bufala or pick from those amazing hams on offer!

Famous Chelsea Hotel that connects the big artistic names of Leonard Cohen, Jack Kerouac and many others was being refurbished, so we went on to the Union Square. The Flat Iron building is a marvel. Few photo-shots away and we were strolling down the Broadway towards East Village where one can admire these 50+ year old punks and alternatives who just never seem to have grown up. The area offers a nice coffee culture too, so we grabbed a couple latte’s to rest after the long walking marathon.

Pier 45 is a hop over the island to its west side and we got there right in time for a beautiful sunset over the Hudson River. The new World Trade Centre is nearly finished and looks magnificent. Look forward to visiting it in the future perhaps next time we visit NYC.

The day finished back in Chelsea again in a Mexican place Dos Caminos. Food was good, but really heavy. The portions were giant! After another 5km walk up to our hotel on the 49th street our feet were glad to be put to rest for the day.

New York – Day 1

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Mar 302013
 

Posted from New York, New York, United States.

Our first day in New York. Against all available forecasts the weather was great. The sky was blue and cloudless early in the morning. The view from our hotel room on the 14th floor of the Garden Inn hotel turned our mood to max positive.


Quick but calories-rich breakfast in a French-style hotel restaurant and we were off to the Rockefeller Centre. It became quickly apparent we weren’t the only tourists heading that way. Some queuing and we were heading up onto the observation deck. Nice surprise in the elevator revealing the elevator shaft decorated by the neon lights – it felt like we were propelled straight into the space. Nice!

The views from the “Top of the rock” were, well, AWESOME! We took lots of not exactly dissimilar photos and made our way downstairs where we found the ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza. The bush trimmed into a green Easter bunny with a big yellow egg and lots of decorations around it was lots of fun. Honestly, in no other country could such bunny be found, but that’s what makes America special I guess!

Short walk to Bryant park and Flavia started contemplating what life would be like if we one day became New Yorkers. We were sold by then already!

New York public library is free to enter. There isn’t whole lots to do. Te building is beautiful and big and there is this Guttenberg printed book from 15th century, which is very beautiful. The place is close to Grand Central Terminal, our next stop. That place was a total surprise. So much space, so rich in decoration, so much character and vibe! And what’s next, when one least expects it, there is a very stylish …. Apple Store!!!

MOMA offers free entrance on Friday after 4pm. We lined up at 3pm and got in with a crowd of people from all over the world when the gates with free tickets finally opened. The building is beautiful, lots of great art at display, but few disappointments too. First of all we were hungry for more Andy Warhole! Second, the place has this Disneyworld feeling where Joe Hoe runs around with the starting line Canon SLR and takes photo of his wife in front of Van Gogh’s Stary night … And if the picture didn’t come out according to the expeditions, Joe will throw in a bit of flash and totally spoils the experience for everyone else who is actually interested to learn about the masterpiece …

Our day was over at 8pm. Nice couple of cheeseburgers and we were ready for bed.

On the way to New York – finally!!!

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Mar 282013
 

Posted from .

Heading off to New York. It’s been such a rush over the past few weeks. So happy it’s all over and the holiday couldn’t come at better time!

I’ve been to New York 4x already, but this time it will be different. Coming with my wife will certainly uncover how little I’ve dedicated to culture and proper in-depth city exploration. We already have a plan, which takes no prisoners if one wanted to go crazy and “relax” … So New York, here I come again and this time I’ll get to know you a bit along the way … ;o)))

Extended weekend in Porto (or Oporto?!?!?)

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Mar 232013
 

Posted from Foz Sousa, Porto District, Portugal.

The Roman occupation of the Iberian peninsula in the 4th century gave foundations, as we discovered over an extended weekend at the end of February, to an extremely beautiful, cultural and charismatic place – the city of Porto (called “Oporto” by the English speaking world).

Our experience was helped by the fact that the weather was absolutely great through-out our visit and allowed pretty much for our entire time to be spent outside and in the sun! That being quite a contrast to London of course.

To set the context a bit, the city was listed as a Unesco World heritage site in 1996. You quickly get the sense of why it happened when you reach the Ribeira area in the Historical centre of the Old town. The location couldn’t be more stunning as the city spreads along the Douro river estuary in Northern Portugal with beautifully green hills (also in February, yes!), those tiny little narrow and colourful houses … beautiful.

We spent three days in Porto and were busy discovering. The time seemed to be just right to see the place, but one could easily spend a week, relax, enjoy and breath in the atmosphere. There is lots to do there from visiting churches and cathedrals, to walking along the seaside, eating tasty Portuguese food … and you wouldn’t have guessed it … tasting the Port wines!

We have done a few wine tastings. The most memorable was Ferreira, which is the last Portuguese owned winery. Otherwise we have done a tour of Calem and visited Sandeman and Ramos Pinto. If you plan to do the same, take into account that the opening times are tailored unfortunately more around the stores preferences than around the customers, so you need to pencil down when you plan to visit each. Encountering closed doors is no exception.

Outside of the historical centre, do not miss the hyper modern Casa da Musica. You can tell Portuguese architects are clearly top class when walking around Porto, but this building has been designed by the Dutch. It’s really stunning. Not too far from there awaits Serralves, which is a good example of Portuguese architecture where simplicity and white colours predominate. Once done with the buildings, the Foz is a great place for a nice long walk along the seaside and you can grab some nice food along the way. The restaurants here are way above Porto’s very affordable average, but then you know you’re in a premium location.

I already know we’ll be back again in Porto. Next time it will need to be in summer and we will want to travel through out the whole Portugal – that’s the plan!

 Posted by at 12:21 pm