New York VI

The very same night we went to the ever-so-stylish rooftop bar Plunge on top of the sophisticated Hotel Gansevoort (18 9th Avenue). There's a skinny pool on top where guest can swim overlooking the Hudson River. At night this rooftop-bar attracts block-long lines and if you are dressed in t-shirt the doorman won't let you in. Understandable, nobody was tired that evening, as it was our very first night in New York! Anyway, the next day we walked all the way up Fifth Avenue, had breakfast, read the Times, and enjoyed the city and did some windowshopping. We went to Abercrombie & Fitch, where you are served by male models showing their six-packs. And another thing for the girls: We went to the flagship store of Tiffany & Co., undoubtedly the most famous jewellery store in the world, that became popular when Truman Capote wrote his novel "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Not far away, Apple's newest flagship store lies below a huge glass cube at 767 Fifth Avenue. It's open 24 hours a day, but there are still heaps of people at every hour of the day. For lunch we went to Peter Luger Steakhouse located in Brooklyn. It was rated as New York's best steakhouse for 24 years in a row. For dinner, you need to reserve a table months ahead!

Actually New York has a great subway network and the price is ok with 2 Dollar for a ride. However, we almost always took a taxi to get from A to B. First, it's pretty easy to get a yellow cab in almost no time, except from 4 to 5 in the evening. Second, we were mostly a group of at least four, so we could divide the amount, which was rarely more than 10 bucks.

In the afternoon we walked over the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan. Actually we wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge, but the waiter at Peter Luger suggested to walk across the Williamsburg Bridge instead. After crossing the East River, we went to see Chinatown, the Finance District with the famous Wall Street, and walked down to Ground Zero. Actually you can't see anything there, except for a big gap between the buildings which is now a enormous construction site. As we were tired of walking we went to Starbucks for a coffee. By the way, there are currently 209 Starbucks stores in Manhattan. And compared to Switzerland, the products are bloody cheap in the United States. Finally, we walked down to Battery Park, where you can see the Statue of Liberty standing far away.