Days 6 & 7 in New York (USA): High Line, Elevated Acre, Wall Street, Statue of Liberty…
Day 6 :
Today, we still get up late – because of the heat and fatigue accumulated over the last few days (cf. days 1&2, day 3, days 4 & 5). We start the day by buying one of the best Vietnamese sandwiches in New York at Sau Voi. Even the baguette is crispy, and it’s cheap (if I remember correctly 6$). It’s also the place where I can find my favorite Vietnamese snack: nem chua. They sell a lot of other Vietnamese specialties. Very good address in China Town.
With our sandwiches, we head to the Financial District in search ofElevated Acre, a haven of peace between two skyscrapers, accessible via an escalator
We have the view on a heliport (from where we made a helicopter tour of NYC in 2015) and the Brooklyn Bridge.
I show you the 2015 pictures of our helicopter tour. We booked on Groupon (it was cheaper, 130$ per person in memory). Unforgettable!
Financial District
We pass in front of New York Stock Exchange to take a picture. This part is pedestrian, and just in front is the Fierceless Girl statue, which has been moved to here. This statue was ordered to advertise for an investment fund, in order to highlight the high % of high ranking women within their structure.
Here, the richness is easily measured by the use of the air conditioning🙂 in the restaurants a little chic, the air conditioning is set at maximum, while in the less chic restaurants, it is hot. On Wall Street, there is so much wealth that even in the street, the air is cool – the stores leave their doors open, and the air conditioning even cools the hot air in the street.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
We tried to visit the largest gold stock in the world (1/5 of the world’s gold reserve is here), but the doors were closed to us. It’s extremely difficult to get a guided tour here, even if we try to do it a month in advance, the places are leaving very quickly. We wanted to go in case someone cancels at the last minute – but even cancelled places aren’t re-distributed to others.
Apparently, if you put a gold ingot there, years later, you will be able to recover exactly the same ingot – because ingots aren’t of the same quality, so you have to give back to each one the ingot that belongs to him.
Charging Bull
We go in front of the Charging Bull statue, and it’s fun. There are two cues: the one to take the picture IN FRONT of the statue, and the one to take the picture BACK of the statue (and see the huge balls of the buffalo). The statue was placed there, just like that, one day, out of gratitude by the artist Di Modica, recognizing the opportunities that America has offered him. It symbolizes the strength and power of the American people.
The Fierceless Girl used to face the buffalo, but was moved to the NY Stock Exchange.
Statue of Liberty
We take the ferry from Battery Park ($18.5/person of memory) to Liberty State Park to see the Statue of Liberty. We are sometimes followed by a US Coast Guard boat.
We have already visited the Statue of Liberty in 2015 but we always like to come back. This statue is a gift from France to the USA, the kind of gift you give to a friend who lacks nothing 😀 The original, much smaller, is still in Paris. A copy can be seen in Tokyo
It is possible to climb on it, but the tickets leave quickly, you would have had to book well in advance.
The ferry stops on Ellis Island on the way back. And you can visit the immigration museum. Ellis Island was the arrival point of immigrants coming to America. It is a beautiful place full of history.
The view of the New York skyline from Ellis Island is more impressive than from State Island. I recommend you to stop there just for the view (the boat stops there for 5 minutes, but you can stay as long as you want and take the next boat).
We then went to see the Mysterious Bookshop, which only sells Crime books. The interior is sumptuous although small, with walls covered with books and two sofas to sit on.
Walking around the area, we come across the slightly older (justice) buildings.
Broadway
In the evenings, we attend the Broadway musical Aladdin. Since the movie’s release, this show, though old, is becoming trendy again, and we can’t get tickets at a reduced rate (at the TKTS box office).
In any case, buying online isn’t a good option since the site takes significant transaction fees, we found tickets much more affordable by buying on the spot, the same day (117$/person, Orchestra category). The interior is sublime, the costumes sumptuous, the special effects numerous and surprising (the flying carpet, fireworks on stage…). Everything is live (orchestra, singers, of course). It’s worth every penny, go for it!
In 2015, we went to see the musical“Phantom of the Opera” that we also recommend, tickets are often 40% off the same day, at TKTS (on sale around 3pm). Les Misérables are no longer offered (in 2019 anyway). There is a Harry Potter musical at the moment, but since we haven’t read the latest book, we prefer not to go.
After this colorful show, we are still hungry and end the evening at 49th street (crossing with 6thavenue) for the best Greek plate of our lives (at Adel‘s), still as delicious as we remember. We opted for the mixed plate, only 6$/person.
High Line
In the evenings, and every Tuesday until October, there are astronomy enthusiasts who bring their equipment on the High Line (at the intersection of the High Line and 14th Street, as soon as it gets dark). We went there much too late (around 9:30 pm) and we arrive just as the last volunteer is putting away his equipment. It makes a few minutes of rab especially for us. In spite of the pollution in New York, we could still see Venus (and its ring) thanks to a compet’ telescope. What an emotion! Imagine, if you see all the irregularities of the Moon on a full moon day! The volunteers are there to adjust the telescopes and tell you about their passion.
High Line is an old railwayline transformed into a green walkway, with some food trucks. Next to it is the Chelsea Market, which I don’t find very impressive. In any case, walking on the High Line in the evening is better because there isn’t much shade. It’s really too hot in New York in summer!
Day 7 :
JB fell ill, so we didn’t do much of anything all day except go to the Momofuku Nishi restaurant. There are several Momofuku in New York, each restaurant specializes in a different type of cuisine. All of thembelong to the chef David Chang, who is very well known in the USA because he often appears on cooking shows. Momofuku Nishi proposes a fusion-italian cuisine, it’s terribly good, a little expensive for the quantity provided, but not inaccessible either. Count 22$ for the pasta.
At Momofuku Noodle, there are small baos to try absolutely. This chain is also present in Toronto (the Canadian version is very well decorated) but we forgot to test it.
Here is what we were planning to visit, but no regrets because we visited all this in 2015:
- Little Italy neighborhood (even if the restaurants aren’t very well rated, the neighborhood is cool)
- SOHO neighborhood : Washington park and its street shows, Columbus Park always full of Asian seniors playing Chinese chess
- Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum: with lots of planes, boats and a submarine
The End
This is the end of our little week in New York. I hope you enjoyed our travel diaries. Feel free to consult our travel diaries in Florida and our guide to New York: 7 days, 25 ideas
