13:00 Mon.
7 Aug, 2017

Going around the city

New York , United States
27 °C
Mostly Sunny
12:00 am
7:57 pm

Thanks to the time difference we woke up early and rested. We had a day full of sightseeing ahead of us.

Giant graffiti of Lady Liberty in a building in the Little Italy.
Giant graffiti of Lady Liberty in a building in the Little Italy.

Again we started the day with one of the free tours. This time we started at the Wall street stock exchange, 5 minutes from our hotel. Despite being early in the morning it was already packed with tourists. There is a statue of George Washington (I think) overlooking NYSE which is decorated with a gigantic american flag. (They really love their flags, I think I saw more flags while being in USA than in my whole life before).

New York Stock Exchange. The most famous one in the world.
New York Stock Exchange. The most famous one in the world.

After the Wall street we went by the WTC memorial and embarked on the new metro station they build in place of the old one.  The metro is dark, dirty and very hot. I wonder if I’m ever going to see a better metro than the one in Hong Kong.

We came from the underground near the Chinatown. When approaching the district you begin to notice more and more Asians walking around. As we walked into a district you are greeted by old buildings no more than 5 floors high as opposed to 30+ just a block away.

Again we were surprised by the amount of people on the street. Just after the Chinatown there is district called Little Italy. The architecture is the same as in Chinatown small buildings out of brick and on the sides you can notice old rusted fire escape stairs. There were a lot of Italian restaurants on the street serving pasta and similar.

The tour ended after about 4 hours of walking. After it Veronika and I walked back through the south harbor. On the way back we decided to grab something to eat from one of the food truck that seem to be at every corner. After reality check on the prices we each took a piece of pizza (which is quite poor with ingredients compared to Slovenia) for about 5$.

In the southern docks you can take a free ferry to the Staten island that goes by the statue of Liberty.  On the way there we saw, well at lest a bit of silhouette, a certain bull.

After the ferry we still had some time left and decided to go far up to the Central Park. We found a random electronic store there were I bought 2 TB external hard drive for 1/4 of the price in Slovenia. Electronic really are cheap there. We took a quick look at the central park and went toward Time Square. If I though there were a lot of people in the city before, I was speechless at time square. Place was so packed with people you could barely move, and not only that there were actually some drivers who though it was good idea to drive through it.

People as far as the eye can see.
People as far as the eye can see.

City streets are perpendicular to each other throughout the city. It just so happened that the time we were there each sunset aligned exactly in the middle of the streets.

Sunset in New York
Sunset in New York
12:00 Mon.
7 Aug, 2017

United States of America

New York , United States
18 °C
Rain
5:58 am
12:00 am

Last year just after new’s years I was working hard on an article that was submitted to the IJCAI conference. The hard work paid off and the article was accepted, this meant only one thing: I was going to New York, USA. Moreover I was able to bring Veronika with me.

USA flag at the time square.
USA flag at the time square.

Early morning on July 1st we departed Ljubljana to catch a plane in Vienna. From Vienna we flew to Zürich, Switzerland where we had a short 2h layover. From Zürich we had a direct flight to New York, USA. The flight took about 8 hours and I have never felt sicker during the flight, luckily we landed just in time for me to get together. The customs were a breeze, nothing like what you would expect from TV, and we were in USA for the first time.

We landed at JFK airport and took train to the financial district in the heart of Manhattan. It was surreal watching endless american suburbs with the city rising from behind.

Manhattan skyscraper.
Manhattan skyscraper.

Because of the time difference we arrived to our hotel in the afternoon. We were super lucky and got very large room with kitchen in 16th floor just 1 block from WTC.

We took a quick nap and then went to a tour around WTC and Brooklyn bridge. The tour was organised by free tours. Its a great concept, a local guide, usually a student, tours you around part of the city at the end you pay him a tip, there is no extra charge. They operate all over the world, we also went on some in Valencia and Stockholm.

First steps in New York
First steps in New York

As soon as we got out it started to rain. Luckily it didn’t last for long and we were able to start our tour. We first visited the WTC memorial. The site is really large. It’s hard to believe there were two enormous buildings there just few years ago, but all that is left now are two giant holes.

After we continued past Trinity church toward City Hall. It’s funny how these old buildings look small and out of place compared to the modern skyscrapers around them.

City Hall and Court house.
City Hall and Court house.

The Brooklin bridge is just beside the City Hall and connects Brooklin with Manhattan. It was build in late 19th century and is almost 2km long. It is one of the most famous New York’s landmarks, despite being late and raining it was full of tourists.

After the tour it was already dark and late so Veronika and I walked toward our hotel. It was surreal walking through the streets, it felt like being in some of the old criminal movies.

Bus in the rain
Bus in the rain