New York City!

Arriving in New York City on Thursday was an eye-opening experience. Weaving our way around barges in New York Harbour, we coasted past the majestic Statue of Liberty and into the mouth of the Hudson River along Manhattan Island. I couldn't help but stare at the fabled New York skyline in awe. I have never seen or imagined anything quite like it. What a bustling, vibrant and beautiful place Manhattan is! It was the first time in downtown NYC for all of us.

Cruising past piers along the waterfront and the skyscrapers of the financial district, we watched as people made their morning commute to work by ferry or car. The most outrageous commuters came in on helicopters-which landed along a waterfront landing pad-and stepped quickly into black town cars complete with private drivers.

Docking at the 79th Street Boat Basin gave us wonderfully easy access to Manhattan. A waterfront path constantly busy with cyclists, runners and walkers ran past our marina and continued around almost the whole island. The first day, being tired from an overnight passage, we simply walked through a beautiful area with apartments, shops and restaurants to Strawberry Fields in Central Park. On a hop-on hop-off bus tour the next day we learned that this area was the Upper West Side or the "new money" district where people like Regis, Madonna, and Catherine Zeta Jones live.

The bus tours of downtown and uptown were an easy and effective way of seeing as much as we could. We rode the subway to Times Square and after being overwhelmed by the lights, stores and crowds, rode the buses around for most of the day. Our day of sightseeing also happened to fall on my birthday, making for a pretty fabulous way to spend the day! One of our tour guides was a classically trained opera singer between jobs who ended up singing an operatic rendition of "Happy Birthday" to me (to my embarrassment at the time).

The most memorable part of our whirlwind day was taking the night tour, which started beneath the flashing billboards of Times Square, went downtown, and crossed into Brooklyn. The view of the sparkling Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn was one of the most fabulous and breathtaking sights I've ever seen. Having not visited New York before, and my only knowledge being from the multitude of tv shows and movies set there, I was amazed at how clean and lovely the streets were. Everywhere we walked felt safe and there were always people on the streets enjoying spotless public parks and spaces, even in the middle of the night.

I am not sure what I expected to discover in NYC, but I am certain that it has successfully dazzled me with its splendour and vibrancy.

After a brief but memorable two days in NYC we are now on our way home again, traveling up the Hudson River. Visiting New York certainly renewed my enthusiasm from traveling, but it is unquestionably time to be getting home. We can't wait to get back, visit with family and friends and share all of these crazy experiences.

Tonight we are anchored about 25 miles upriver from the city and were happily reunited with Raftan! It's been so long since we were traveling together (December in the BVIs was the last time), but strangely it doesn't feel that long since always we followed along with their blog and were sometimes within a day or two's sail of them. It will be nice to sail together once again as we all make our way north towards home.

All the best,
Nicole.

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