Sun is back out in New York City today, so we decide to do the "Three Bridges Walk", which is walking across Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge (Manhattan -> Brooklyn -> Manhattan -> Brooklyn).
Here is the route and distance as Runkeeper recorded it.
Out of the 3 bridges, Brooklyn Bridge is easily the most beautiful and of course, the most iconic. It was also the first bridge of the three to be constructed in the 1880s.
OK, we know that pretty much every punter has similar photos to the below, but it had to be done.
Looking up...
Lots of wiring...
Looking east from Brooklyn Bridge with Manhattan Bridge in the background.
And then we are welcomed into Brooklyn. And, of course, Mike Bloomberg never seem to miss an opportunity to have his name published...
This guy seems to be a bit lost. HELLO. You are in Brooklyn...
This is Cranberry Street which goes down to the water at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The area was surprisingly beautiful and quaint.
And if we turn around from the earlier photo and walk just a little bit further, then you see this. Great views.
We recall movies filmed in Brooklyn where parts of the Brooklyn Bridge is visible in the background. We were not sure whether this was one of those angles but the scene did look vaguely familiar.
There was a brand new zig zagging boardwalk or more suspension bridge down to Brooklyn Bridge Park. We loved it, but Di looks a bit worried here...
There was nothing wrong with the bridge's swing-ability factor...Hans tested it...
We stopped for a break down by the water and here is Di making herself comfortable in front of Brooklyn Bridge and overlooking southern Manhattan.
We walk under Brooklyn Bridge along the water towards Manhattan Bridge. Here we are looking back to where we came from... The council have done great work here using old wharf areas and creating interesting parkland. Again we feel Michael Bloomberg has made a difference to NYC.
This metal signboard tells the story about the carousel in the following picture, but we liked the fact that two bridges were reflected in it, Manhattan Bridge on the main surface and Brooklyn Bridge on the right.
This old carousel from 1922 had been restored beautifully after being bought by a private couple who donated it to Brooklyn. They had erected a purpose built structure around to protect it from the elements (including bad elements we assumed).
We cross under Manhattan Bridge...
... and get suddenly into a very grungy area, refered to as DUMBO, Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
Clearly the area is becoming very cool and the old warehouses are getting new lives. We assumed that they didn't do anything more than necessary to tart up the streets as they supported the cool ambiance the way they were. Notices were posted about filming and we assume another reason not to change it too much is that the area makes such a great background for many time periods.
Well, apart from the guy in front, yep, the area was cool...
We just had to stop for a cuppa here at Brooklyn Roasting Company. They did their own coffee roasting inside, all in the open for anybody to see. The coffee shop and the area was filled with hipsters rubbing shoulders with workmen who still frequent the area.
Another shot where Brooklyn Bridge pops up in the background, but this time with Manhattan Bridge as well.
There was a photo shoot underneath Manhattan Bridge and we had to stop and take a photo ourselves, much to the annoyance of the model... Too bad, so sad :-)
As we wander up to the walkway that will take us across Manhattan Bridge back to Manhattan, we saw this sign on a telegraph pole... Self expanatory. Elsewhere, they sell cars like this...
And up on Manhattan Bridge we go...Bridge number 2 (of 3)
Despite its cool and grunginess in parts, the Brooklyn side along the water is really getting gentrified in places. They were working on several parks and green open spaces as we walked by.
A self portrait from Manhattan Bridge overlooking southern Manhattan again.
There was construction work in progress on both bridges. Lots of orange on Manhattan Bridge and very noisy.
This barge gave us yet another photo opportunity from Manhattan Bridge. Brooklyn Bridge in the background.
Looking up...
And yes, another film shoot at the middle of Manhattan Bridge.
Franklin D Roosevelt East River Drive (or FDR Drive for short). We are back over Manhattan heading into our Chinatown stomping ground.
We didn't realise how much graffiti was on the roofs of the Chinatown buildings. There was a lot...
Here you see our building from Manhattan Bridge, the one to the right with the 3 signs of Chinese characters. We are on the 3rd floor which is the lowest of the 3 levels in the picture. The narrow window to the left is to our living room, in fact, where we are sitting and typing this right now.
East Broadway looking west. We have shopped and eaten in several places along here and can certainly recommend the BBQ pork from the place located on the right with the orange awning.
Well, we wander across Lower East Side, zig zagging a bit, towards Williamsburg Bridge. First, on Bowrey Street and the area immediately around it, all looks nice in that fabulous chaotic Chinese way. Then we get into a huge public housing complex and even though they have tried to tart it up a bit, the area felt miserable. We went into a Burger King to use their restroom and white people were now a minority.
Anyway, here we are looking east onto Williamsburg Bridge just south of it on Clinton Street.
The bridge had its name across its entry and exit points on the Manhattan side, but it was difficult to capture it in a photo.
The combined bicycle and pedestrian bridge went first on top of the train tracks and later split onto either side over the traffic. The whole construction had been painted in red (now faded pink) which clashed against the grey metal of the bridge. No, we didn't get it either. It's also hard to get views or take photos as you are caged in and not immediately next to the bridge sides.
On Williamsburg Bridge looking north over Manhattan and East River.
And looking back at the previous two bridges.
And then we were in Williamsburg, with a final shot of the bridge.
Williamsburg Bridge is not a very pretty bridge and is probably due for some restoration too, as there is a lot of graffiti. However, functionally this bridge probably works best of the 3 with multiple layers for trains, cars, bicycles and pedestrians.
Williamsburg is supposed to be trendy these days, with a lot of micro breweries, but we hadn't done any research and couldn't find anything that looked even remotely trendy. We wandered towards where the subway went, and came across this "Chicago like" elevated train structure over the street.
What we did see was a large number of orthodox jewish people - men in black hats, suits and white shirts, with hair curls down the side of their faces, jewish boys looking similar riding in a school bus with hebrew writing and women modestly dressed in either pairs or with their husband. We had not expected that here and definitely need to research more as that is probably due to our ignorance. Postnote: We research later and find that Williamsburg has tens of thousands Hesadic Jews.
Time was now approaching 1pm and we were hungry for lunch. Not too many places looked inviting, but we found a little Mexican joint on one of the side streets.
Hans had today's special which was called Burrito Special with 3 meats and that was very good as you probably can see from his grin. Di's enchiladas were unfortunately swimming in a green hot sauce almost making it a soup so she was less happy with hers.
Anyway, a funny place, where Spanish was constantly spoken in the kitchen and between other guests.
We then decide that we had done enough bridge exploration for one day and decide to take the train back to Manhattan. And as the train is elevated on top of the roadway, that is where we go. The station in this part of Brooklyn is called Hewes Street. Here we are looking west towards Manhattan.
And here we are looking east and deeper into Brooklyn.
We take the subway 3 stops, get off at Bowery and wander home via a stop at the local Chinese butcher to get pork chops for tonight. We love the price - $1.91 for 2 very nice loin chops.
Then rest...we've walked almost 16kms in total and we are pleased with our efforts and new discoveries, although our feet feel the constant pavement pounding.
Lazy afternoon and evening. Some Corona before pork chops, wine with the food, and then some more wine. All good. Good night.
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