New York - Part 1

- July 23, 2014

As you may have noticed, I've renamed this blog to "Back and Forth Across the Pond" because the time has come to share photos and experiences from this (the U.S.) side of the Atlantic. I've pretty much exhausted my stockpile of England photos and I've had other adventures I want to share.

I'm pretty hot and heavy with the dissertation writing now, so blog posts will be even fewer and further between but I will do what I can. Steve and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in June. We marked the occasion with a short holiday to New York City. Steve proposed during an overnight New York trip (technically we were in New Jersey), so it seemed the right place to celebrate 15 years together as Mister and Missus.

We used Airbnb and rented an apartment in Little Italy rather than a hotel and that made for a great experience. I highly recommend trying it. We also decided that this trip would be one of firsts. We've been to the Big Apple on several occasions, so this was our chance to do things we've never done before.

One of our first excursions was a walk on the High Line. The High Line is a fantastic park on Manhattan's lower west side built on an old elevated rail line. Back in 1999, Friends of the High Line was formed and it began advocating that the abandoned 1.45-mile abandoned rail line be repurposed into public green space. The first section was opened in 2009 and a second section was opened in 2011, so a mile of the High Line is completed. The final section is supposed to open by this Fall, so maybe Steve and I will get a chance to walk the whole 1.45 miles when we return at Christmas.

We walked the High Line twice because we enjoyed it so much.

We started the first time at the southernmost end. Once you climb the stairs up to the rail platform, you're in another world. The High Line is divided into different types of parks. So you have woodlands, a grassy area, flower gardens, courtyards, etc. It's incredibly well done. I cannot recommend it enough and I salute the people and City of New York for creating it. What a fabulous way to repurpose the disused railway lines!

The elevated vantage point gives you scenic views along the way.

The walk is so green, clean, and pretty you can almost forget you're in the middle of this.

A section where the old tracks remain in place. I thought that was a nice touch.

This is in the Chelsea neighborhood.

I loved this and if I weren't wearing trainers (sneakers), I would have stopped and indulged. The right side of the walk here is under about an inch of cool, chlorinated water. It wasn't very hot when we visited, but I imagine in the summer that is a very popular segment. You can just sit on the bench and cool your tootsies.

One of the courtyard areas I mentioned is called 10th Avenue Square. It spans 10th Avenue (Duh) and has a viewing window over the street.

You can look straight down. We kept trying to time the photo to get a pic of the vehicles under us but never quite got it right.

Some of the newer architecture along the High Line is interesting.

The Empire State Building off in the distance, with the towers of an old church in front of it. Not sure which one. I never realized until this trip how many buildings have water towers on their roofs. There's one on the left in this photo. That fascinates me, as well.

The High Line is the place to be, I guess, and a lot of apartment buildings were under construction. This section of the walk had lots of flowers.

Another one of those water towers.

This is the grassy area amidst all the fancy glass buildings. On this day, the grass plains were closed.

When we returned a couple of days later, the grass areas were open. You can see just how popular they are.

This block of buildings fascinated me because the entire thing is made of brick. And it's a long block of buildings. That is a lot of brick!

From the grassy plains to some shady plants. Each segment of the High Line has a different feel to it. The designers did a great job matching each section to the surrounding buildings, so the vibe just works. I know I'm gushing, but I really enjoyed this park.