Sat 4 May - New York City, NY

Coney Island Baby... That is where we are going today.

However, as the attractions do not open until noon, we wander down to the financial district in the morning, to get some $ from the Wells Fargo ATMs on Broad Street and then to get a coffee and relax down at pier 15.

Around the corner from the ATM on Pearl Street is this coffee shop. Fika is a nickname for coffee in Swedish. Well, it had to be tried and the espresso was not too bad at all. Even the tip bucket had "tack så mycket" on it which of course means "thank you very much" in Swedish.

The female barrista told us that the owners are all Swedish and while she was not, she was the odd one out and therefore had started to learn Swedish. Well, there you go.

We wander out on Pier 15 and where a few Chinese men are doing exercise. Di follows their lead with some stretches and Mr Bean push ups. Hans just enjoys the view and the coffee.

Here is looking east / northeast towards 3 different bridges; from the distance is Williamsburg Bridge, then Manhattan Bridge and closest to us is Brooklyn Bridge

We swing by C-town grocery store on the way back to our apartment and pick up a few more necessities including ingredients for our intended Central Park picnic tomorrow (Sunday).

Our local F-line subway goes all the way to Coney Island (end stop) and it takes us perhaps an hour to cover the 20 odd train stations throughout Brooklyn. Very quiet on the train just after 11am on a Saturday.

Finally we arrive and here is Hans outside the Coney Island subway station. It's just one block for the beach.

Di is checking out the amusement facilities...although quite a few attractions are still closed for the season or for repairs. Still plenty here to thrill us.

Well, we were amazed how nice the Coney Island boardwalk was. Although it felt a bit like St Kilda in Melbourne, Coney Island has lots of large cheap looking apartment blocks close to the water. Despite this it was a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere. In fact, we would rank this boardwalk as nicer ahead of both Virginia Beach and of Atlantic City.

 

Here are a few pics along the Coney Island boardwalk...

 

On the western side of Coney Island was this boarded up building, looking like it was just waiting for some TLC. Very ornamental, King Neptune is in the far left circle of the four at the front.

The beach at Coney Island had really nice sand and felt very much like Australian beach sand. The beach sand that we had encountered elsewhere in the US had been quite grey and not very fine.

We figure Hurricane Sandy must have done quite a lot of damage to the New York beaches. This sign board indicated restoration work on 21 beaches between Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Good on you Michael Bloomberg for moving fast. New York City in the midst of summer without beach facilities would probably be politically unbearable.

 

And yes, we saw quite a bit of construction and reconstruction activity along the beach.

Nathan's (since 1916) at Coney Island apparently invented the hot dog. They still seem to be going strong, with Independance Day hot dog eating competions...the record is 68! Di could not believe that number and kept saying how?

Well, we had to try a Nathan's hot dog, so we bought one to share. Verdict; not bad at all, a reasonable beef wurst although we prefer the spicier variety that you find in Germany and Austria.

We had brought sandwiches with us so we finished those there on the boardwalk after we had finished the hot dog. Very nice and relaxing.

After lunch, it was time to try some of the Coney Island's Luna Park attractions.

Di is picking up tickets for our first ride which is the Wonder Wheel.

And doesn't this guy look excited...

But wait there is a twist...This Ferris wheel is slightly different to the norm in that you can choose between an ordinary stationary carriage or a swinging one. Guess which one Di chose...

Once in the air, Hans was giggling with excitement and Di was thinking "bad choice"! She was shitscared and well braced gripping both sides of the cabin. Quite an experience.

Great views from the Wonder Wheel...

You could even see Manhattan's southern skyline in the haze in the distance...

And this is how the swinging carriages looked like from the ground (mid swing). Cool, hey?

The only other "must do" ride is of course the Cyclone, the rickety old roller coaster, still a predominantly timber structure.

Well, I'll be damned. The Cyclone was built and completed on Hans' birthday, although a few years before Hans was born.

Here we are waiting expectantly for a moment of thrill...

All onboard. No time to chicken out...

Well, the Cyclone was fantastic too. It felt like it was going very fast and was quite hard on the neck and back with all the turns and twists. Great fun. We realise we are not 15 anymore when we feel a bit stiff afterwards but still loved it.

A few pics from the ground...

We then wander eastwards along the boardwalk and get to Brighton Beach.

A few pics from Brighton Beach...

We got the impression that promenading here was for locals, not so many tourists (although some keen ones like us).

We heard a lot of Russian voices here and when we saw this sign including Cyrillic characters, we were really not that surprised. Clearly a Russian enclave here.

There were several hand ball courts along the promenade that looked very popular. Mind you, it is such a simple game and all that needs to be provided is a concrete wall, a rubber ball and some drawings on the ground.

Around 2.30pm, after several unsuccessful searches for postcards, we decided to head back to civilisation (nod to yesterday's signboard in New Jersey) and we boarded the F train yet again.

At our subway stop of East Broadway, we decided to try a new exit Madision St which is parallel to the south of Henry Street. A loooong tunnel gave opportunity for some photography...

Madison Street east of Allen Street around these high rised looked positively dodgy even on a Saturday afternoon. Even the church had erected a bar fence around its entrance to Madison Street and there were some suspicious characters hanging around. Within one block we saw 2 NYPD cop cars.

Once you cross Allen Street, you are sort of in Chinatown which is where the photo below is taken, looking back east. A different world divided by one street where in Chinatown it felt friendly and the Chinese shopkeepers were going on about their business.

Back at the ranch, Di is cooking chook and potato salad in preparation for tomorrow's picnic while Hans is... well, uploading photos and blogging this.

Dinner for us is in a local Chinese restaurant on Mott Street here in Chinatown. We tried several different restaurants but they were either full full full or nearly empty. The food and the place were neither very memorable and for $40 without alcohol, you would normally do a lot better in Australia.

As the weather was now getting a bit chilly, we then head back to our apartment by 8pm or so. Good night.

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