New York Day 3 – March 22nd

Today was a much brighter day, so we were determined to go on one of the tour buses to get an overview of the city and to find out about some of the buildings we couldn’t recognise. We took a subway ride to near the start of the tour and were promptly pounced on by ticket sellers, got on our bus and away we went. We keep being told spring has arrived in New York, but we are not convinced. Today there was a freezing cold wind blowing on the open top of the bus, but it was dry at least. Tomorrow 2-8 inches of snow is predicted….some spring!

It was great to have the history of the city explained and the background to some of the architecture. The details you got depended on your guide, very music based on the way back, very film star based for the ride to the ferry terminal, and women and African history based for the rest of the first ride.

We had found out that very few boat tours run before April and were warned that the few that do are very oversubscribed. Rather than wait in long queues we decided to take the Staten Island Ferry  which gives you good views around the harbour, and we could see a different part of New York too. (and its free)

There is a really nice small museum on Staten Island, that we enjoyed a lot. It gives lots of details about the ferry service history but is also full of interesting Natural History about the area. There was a little Art gallery on the top floor, full of collages by the same artist, a bit odd after the Guggenheim and MoMA but interesting.

Tonight we will be packing and sorting our stuff before leaving tomorrow. Photos here.