Fed a Bum

After another breakfast of bagels and
cereal, we headed to the Grand Central Terminal which was as the name suggested both grand and central. I've seen many stations in Europe, but none can compare, the main concourse is more like a vaulted cathedral than a train station.
Taking our too hot coffee we bought from the market in the station, we headed to the Flatiron building. After a navigational error we came upon the store Baked by Melissa for a timely snack of miniature cupcakes.

We took these to a nearby park, Madison Square Park, to munch on, where we were accosted by a pack of very friendly squirrels. The cupcakes didn't really live up to expectation, just a bit too oily and doughy, but the squirrels were a proper treat, nearly climbing up my leg and eating from Amy's hand. A real novelty for us foreigners, though we were given some strange looks from the New Yorkers when Amy exclaimed her excitement at one friendly critter giving her a low five.

We carried on to take a gander at the Flatiron Building, which is one of the most unusual buildings in the city, the city's first true sky scraper, built in 1902. It is of triangular shape which creates strange wind currents on the ground and back in the old days Police officers were stationed near the building to prevent perverts looking out for women whose dresses were lifted by the wind.

Nearby was a little food market selling lobster buns and cakes where we hung out for a beer before we carried on to the High Line in Chelsea. The High Line was originally a railway that ran through the Meatpacking district, it was built in the 1930's, but fell into disuse and was going to be demolished until 1999 when locals campaigned to save it. Now it is an urban park, a kind of elevated garden path snaking through several western suburbs. We had some nice photo ops along the walk and the weather was starting to turn nice for the day.

By this time we were pretty hungry and our feet were sore, but we stubbornly wanted to find New York Pizza for lunch. Sam had spotted a pizza place from the High Line and we were determined to find it. Our perseverance paid off and we enjoyed a gigantic pizza and delicious salad for lunch. We did have a couple of pieces of pizza left over and we didn't want to waste it, so we boxed it up to take away and Amy wanted to give it to a needy homeless person.

We got back on the subway to the bottom of Manhattan to catch the free ferry to Staten Island, outside the terminal Amy came across a bum to give her pizza to, the fussy woman didn't eat pizza, but suggested another lady not far away who gratefully took the pizza. We were pleased that we were able to help this lady out, we just hoped that she could eat the pizza with her two teeth.

The ferry journey was windy and cold, but we got great pictures of the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. Vickie and Amy managed to call NZ to wish their niece Happy Birthday.  It was so nice to be off our feet for the 25 minute ferry ride that we took the next ferry back to Manhattan and headed back to the hostel.

Our guidebook recommended Williamsburg in Brooklyn as a place to visit, so we headed there for dinner. Vickie left said guidebook at the hostel so we wandered around before finding a very good Japanese restaurant. Amy went all out and had lobster, 'King of the Sea'. After Sam had his beer of the day at a nearby dive bar, we headed back to the hostel after a long and adventurous day.

Fraser

Beer of the Day:
Six Points Pale Ale - Pepper and yeast balanced nicely with fruit. Felt as good as it tasted going down. Would definitely drink again. And again.