New York City sure is a big place. We stayed in Manhattan, and we visited most of the tourist places such as Times Square, Broadway, 5th Avenue, and the Statue of Liberty, but there were still a lot more we didn’t see. Within Manhattan, everywhere we turned was a big tall building. It felt like every major city we’ve been to was put together on one island.
The public transportation was really good. The subway went pretty much everywhere we wanted to go in Manhattan, and if the subway didn’t get close enough, there were plenty of buses. There also were taxis everywhere we looked. In fact, it appeared to me that 9 out of every 10 cars going by was a yellow taxi cab. Most of the time, the traffic was fast, but there were times during the evening commute hours where we were walking faster than any car. I found it amusing that, although every car was honking their horn at other cars, they were very considerate of pedestrians. If we wanted to cross a street, the vehicles would stop. This is very unlike Italy, Russia, or even China, where it appeared that the drivers had the right of way, even if you’re crossing the street legally within the crosswalks.
It was pouring rain the first night we were there, but the weather got better as the days went by. The rain didn’t help clean the streets though, as many times when bigger vehicles went by, a lot of dirt/dust got kicked up. Weird how I didn’t see one street sweeper at all, but maybe they work in the wee hours of the morning.
We had a great time, and maybe we should have spent a extra day or two there. Since we live near a major city, it almost felt like home in Manhattan. A couple of things we probably want to do if we go there again are catch a broadway show and visit some museums.