We had had a late night last night so we decided to have a sleepy start because New York isn’t very appealing early in the morning. We woke up at 9am and quickly got changed and ready to go out for the day. Once we were ready we sat on dads bed and made a quick plan of what we would do for the day, we had planned not to get the New York City pass until tomorrow because then we could spend our first full day looking around the sights of New York that aren’t purely tourist attractions. We decided that we would got to central park first so we went downstairs and walked over to Times Square which was still just as chaotic in the day as it was in the night.
We looked at the map and figured out that we needed to head uptown for 15 blocks which would take us to Central Park, we chose not to use the subway because this way we would see some of the backstreets of Manhattan for the first time. We walked out of Times Square and on for about 5 blocks until we were over walking and decided to go into a café and have some breakfast. Dad quickly yelled his order to me and then went to sit down (at most places where you order at the counter we had began making it a unspoken rule that the first person to tell the other person their order got to sit down while the other had to line up and get the food) I then lined up and got 2 bacon and egg rolls and 2 hot chocolates. I waited at the counter for a few minutes and appreciated the diner which was a cross between a traditional diner and a small coffee shop. After a few minutes our rolls were ready so I grabbed them and took them over to the table dad was sitting at and we talked about our plans for the day. It was really nice food that satisfied my hunger but I was pleased to leave and be back in the hustle and bustle of New York. We reached Central Park 10 minutes later after walking down a sidewalk that seemed to be just like every movie I had ever seen.
We walked through an entrance to Central Park that was at the corner of 6th Avenue and Central Park S. We began walking through the park but quickly realised that it is huge, we sat for a while and appreciated it’s beauty and then had a look at the famous baseball fields in the middle of the park that many famous TV scenes had been filmed at (such as Seinfeld). After a bit more walking we decided to try and get a pedicab tour which is where you sit in the trailer of a guy’s bike and he shows you around the park. We stopped a man named Hassan and asked where we can get a pedicab and he said that he was free right then so we jumped in. We agreed on his price for the hour and that we would stop at three major attractions along the way and then he would drop us of at the side of the park.
We then set of on our tour which began with him telling us about himself and his Moroccan heritage and why he was in America. He then told us that it cost many thousands of dollars to register a pedicab and that’s why there are so few. He took us past a building that was off to our right and he explained that it used to be a prison but due to America’s historical value they converted it into a toilet. He then took us past some big rocks that kids like to play on and then we stopped at a fountain with a tunnel going under the main road. He told us that it was the first part of the park to be built and that it had many famous movie scenes filmed there (none of which I can remember). He told us to have a look and meet him back there when we were done, which was good because we hate when tour guides give us time limits. We had a quick look at the grand architecture of the place, we watched a group of energetic school kids get their photo taken in front of the fountain and then we went past some buskers in the tunnel who were playing incredible classical music. The tunnel under the road was architecturally designed and had animals sculpted into the stone. We went and met Hassan and we set of to our next stop.
He took us further into the park along a road that was only being used by pedicabs and horse and carriages. It had a hill that took all of Hassan’s strength to get us up but he made it eventually. We then overtook one of his friends and then we reached our next stop. It was a red bridge that is apparently a famous spot to propose and it is known (by me) as the place for all the romantic scenes in movies/TV shows like Spiderman 3 and Glee. We had a quick look at the bridge and then went just behind it to a water fountain where the opening credits of the TV show friends is filmed where they splash around in the fountain. We had our photo taken together in front of it and then we headed to our final stop.
We pulled up to the edge of the park and Hassan explained where we were which was next to a memorial for John Lennon and then he pointed out a building 50m away which was the apartment that John Lennon was shot outside off. We then went and had a look at a memorial for him and a row of chairs that people could pay $5000 to get a plaque with their name on it placed on the back of the chairs (some people had had some made for their pets). We had a bit of a look around there and then paid Hassan and asked his opinion on the Subway, he told us what pass to get (a week unlimited pass) and then he explained where the closest entrance was.
We followed his direction across the road and went down a staircase and into the subway where we went to a booth and bought a week pass each and then went to wait for our train which would take us to Tom’s Diner.
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