Fri 17 May - New York City, NY

A slow start for Di after later to bed last night. So Hans goes out on his own early Friday, and will meet Di outside Chelsea Markets at 11am. General direction is southwest towards South Port.

As Hans walks down St James Place, he stumbles onto First Shearith Israel Cemetery which is the oldest surviving Jewish burial ground in New York City. The grounds are tiny, as you would expect, and closed off to the public; the picture below is taken through the iron bars.

John, our twice walking tour guide, mentioned this cemetery in one of his tours.

After a lazy break out on Pier 15 (love this one, the old but modernized pier with nice reclining chairs that we've been to before), Hans continues past the Staten Island ferry terminal and decides to check out the Wall Street bull (which no longer is on Wall Street but is on the corner of Broadway and Whitehall Street). Plenty of punters taking photos here.

A subway trip from South Ferry / Whitehall Street to 14th Street at Union Square, then following 14th Street west to 9th Avenue, Hans found the Chelsea Markets building in the corner of 9th Avenue and 15th Street, where he and Di catch up.

Di's morning consisted of a bit of a sleep in, then 15 minutes of stretching with the Chinese ladies in the local park. Cricks and groans (definitely needed that!) then wandered up Bowery Street and along Houston street, with a break for a tea and a chinese bun. REI has a massive store on Houston Street and we've talked about needing a few new items like boots and jacket for Di. Di stops in to browse. Love it! May have to return.

A quick subway trip and more wandering on 15th street and Di arrives at Chelsea Markets.

We were not sure what we to expect, only that Chelsea Markets are a "must see" destination. It is in an old converted industrial building which has maintained a lot of its industrial past. It does not really look like a market, more a factory space with lots of food shops. It is a bit glammed up and perhaps a tad too trendy for our taste, but interesting nevertheless.

Chelsea Market's offerings are divided between good value and really overpriced, although most that we saw looked and smelled very good and appeared to be good quality.

Amy's Bread though was a real gem. Fantastic sourdough, with medium sized round ones on offer for $1.75. We bought 3 of those, whereof 1 did not survive to outside the building, plus another loaf of wheat and five seeds. Hans could have bought 10 different loafs from in there. Yum...

Fish and seafood looked really yummy, but at almost twice the price on offer in Chinatown, we declined.

Now, open your mouths...

What the...?

You call that a knife...?

So, we ended up with an impromptu lunch at the Chelsea Markets. One of the sourdough bread loaves, some Italian salami, mortadella and liver wurst. All very good.

We did some shopping for items we can't get locally then decide to go home after lunch (otherwise Di could spend a whole lot more money!) and take the subway from 14th Street back to East Broadway. A couple of signs along the way from the subway stop to our apartment which is 2 1/2 block away.

We have meant to take a picture of Tim Cahill (Australian football / soccer player for the uninitiated) for a while. He is postered in the corner of Allen Street and Henry Street. Playing in New York...?

It looks like we may wake up tomorrow to see different vehicles outside on Henry Street. Filming is on outside our window and along Henry Street. Maybe we can bonehead...?

What a joke this is... Really?

Lazy arvo with Di cooking up a storm.

Dinner turns out well with a very nice chicken cacciatore and boiled new potatoes. We eat early as we have plans to go out for a drink this Friday night.

So, after dinner we wander down to Stone Street in the financial district, a stone throw from Wall Street... (Ha, ha...). Stone Street is a closed off street, with cobblestone that used to be a dump not too long ago, but is now a waterhole for financial workers on Lower Manhattan.

Oh yes, it felt like Ryan's Bar or similar bars in Sydney. Busy busy on a Friday after work.

We bought some drinks at the Stone Street Bar and managed to find seating just outside of it.

There is a Scandinavian restaurant there and today is "syttende Maj", or May the seventeenth, Norway's national day.

As the sun starts to set, we decide to do the Staten Island ferry trip, to Staten Island and immediately back, another tourist favourite.

All onboard...

Hey, don't get too comfortable.

Warning warning, an excessive number of photos of Manhattan skyline and other New York City landmarks in dusk and in the dark will follow.

Ellis Island...

The lady...

Sunset over New Jersey...

Towards Staten Island...

At Staten Island, you have to disembark and reembark. Different ferries today. We were on JFK too when we returned from Staten Island during our day trip some days ago.

Staten Island ferries docked next to ferry terminal in Staten Island

The dark is setting during our return trip.

Back at Staten Island ferry terminal, we then wander home via Water Street and then onto Futton Street, where quite unexpectedly, we find a very glam 2 storey supermarket, called Key Food. We figure that the supermarket must be servicing all the new well-to-do residents of the Frank Gehry designed high rised apartment tower which is just a block and a half or so away.

We come back to an almost deserted Henry Street. The street has gradually been emptied of cars as filming will take place here on Saturday (we wonder where these people park their cars overnight as there is not exactly an abundance of parking spaces in NYC).

Long day. Good night.

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