I and a friend have for a few years travelled together on short trips to some places in the world. We do it for friendship and for the fun of it. Two years ago was the first time. We tried to get to New York, but the plane was full, so we ended up in Chicago instead. And went to visit a dear friend and her family in Milwaukee. The year after we planned to go to Tokyo, and we managed to get there. This year, I "won" the right to choose this year's destination. After a lot of back and forth, I decided on Buenos Aires. I haven't been to South America since 1998, and decided that it was probably about time.
We flew to Frankfurt to board the plane to Buenos. But we aren't riding on fixed tickets. We are riding on stand-by. Much cheaper, but also more uncertain. When we left Oslo, it looked like a sure-go. But when we finally managed to find our ways to the gate, they told us the plane was packed. We were a bit disappointed. And instead of looking for options, we just left the airport and found a hotel close by. A taxi driver zoomed us to the hotel at almost 200 km/h on the autobahn. After a good meal, we sat down and checked our options. After some searching, we found that the safest option was to try to get to New York. Our original goal for the 2011 trip.
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| Interesting detail in our bathroom of the hotel in Frankfurt. Do not turn these knobs... |
The next morning, we had breakfast and went to the airport for our second attempt at getting somewhere. This time, we succeeded. We were on our way tot he Big Apple. We hadn't really planned anything, so we just went with what we knew we wanted to see. My friend also sat next to a New York resident on the plane, and he gave us some tips. A few days in New York is not enough to see everything. But we didn't mind. One of our main goals is to travel together as friends. Enjoying the trip in itself. Not necessarily to see as much as possible. So we decided to just go for the obvious. The Empire State building. Times Square, B&H photo store, the Hayden Planetarium and Central Park. We added a few other places too. Like Fifth avenue and Bryant Park.
We found the hotel we were planning to stay at in 2011. It was the cheapest option. And what a brilliant option it was. By no means the most luxurious hotel, but given it's location, it was a winner. A block away from Times Square, 15 minute walk away from B&H, a few minutes more for the Empire State building. And about 25 minutes from Central Park. Two avenues away from Fifth and Bryant Park. Smack dab in the middle of everything we wanted to see. And then some.
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| Out hotel |
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| View from our room |
Times Square
I found it interesting that millions go to a place famous for its giant ads... But we had to go there too. Of course. Benn there, done that and so on.
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| Times Square |
On Times Square, we also found an interesting concept store. For M&Ms. Interesting to see what can be done with a chocolate if you really want to brand it properly. A store full of merchandize (in addition to the chocolate, of course).
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| Megastore |
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| Chockolate wall where you could choose your own mix of M&Ms. |
Streets of New York
I know that taking photos of streets in New York in black and white probably is a cliché, but I couldn't resist. I like the way it looks. Here is a sample of some street shots.
Famous buildings
New york has its host of famous buildings. Empire State building is of course a given to go to the top of. Unfortunately, when we visited, the clouds where low, and we could clearly see why they are called skyscrapers...
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| One of the original sky-scrapers. |
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| The lobby |
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| Our heads in the clouds... |
Other famous buildings were the Chrysler building and the Rockefeller center.
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| Rockefeller center |
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| Chrysler building. |
Breakfast in America
We avoided the Mac and the burger joints, and went for the more healthier alternatives. Serving freshly made juices and sandwiches. A better start for the day than the othr options. Some where quite nice places too.
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| Sandwich and orange juice. |
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| Our last breakfast in America place... |
A walk in the park
Central Park is gigantic. Something we found out when we walked through it to get to Hayden Planetarium. It was a strange place. Not weird kind of strange. But the serenity in the middle of the bustling city around us made it a strange place to be. Just a few meters into the park and the city almost disappeared behind us. Birds chirped. Squirrels ran across the foot-paths. People jogging. Walking. Kids playing. A veritable oasis in the middle of New York.
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| South entrance to Central Park |
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| Beautiful autumn colors |
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| NAtives running around. |
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| Serene spots |
Bryant park is another park not far from our hotel. It houses a small marketplace where people sell handicrafted stuff. In additon, there was an ice rink with restaurants and cafees around it. They had placed a rack of powerful lamps on top of a nearby skyscraper. The lamps lit up the rink from above.
Hayden Planetarium
We didn't get to see much of this place, since we arrived a bit too late. And we had to leave eraly the next morning. So we only got a small glimpse of it. Would have loved to explore more of what it had to offer. Maybe another time.
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| Do we dear to enter the Dark universe? |
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| Quote on the wall inside the musum of which the planetarium is a part |
Going home
We opted to go home on Saturday since we were not sure to get a flight back on Sunday. And I had to be at work on Monday. The consierge at our hotel arranged for a pickup by a airport shuttle. We spent the morning eating breakfast and walking to the Hayden planetarium. After a short visit there, we cought a cab back to the hotel and got there just in time for the shuttle to leave. New York traffic... I now understand why many people prefer the subway...
The Sun was shining down on New York as we left. It had been a wonderful three days. We could probably spent several weeks if we wanted to see everything. But we were both happy with what we had seen and done during these short days. And it was good to come home.
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| On the airport shuttle bus. Well prepared for bodily fluid spills... |
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| Oslo welcoming us in the morning mist |
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