We are currently in Port Washington on Long Island very close to NY city. We had to pick up a part for the boat and make a trip into "The City" as Mia and I needed to renew our Finnish passports at the Consulate. We took the Long Island Railroad directly to Penn Station and walked across most of Manhattan (or at least it felt like it) to the United Nations complex where the consulate is. Despite spending the last 20 years on the East Coast we have managed to avoid NYC, so this was a new experience for the entire family. What a trip New York City is! The variety and density of people is staggering. Just amazing to see how tightly packed everything is. It was hard getting used to being so close but yet so isolated. We ate lunch so close to the neighboring table we felt we were in the couples lap, yet not a word or any kind of acknowledgment was exchanged the entire meal. This has got to be a defense mechanism as one would overload if you acknowledged or exchanged words with all those close by. Reminds me of the Crocodile Dundee scene where Mick walks thru the city saying Good Day Mate to everyone…
We stumbled upon fun places without planning. Half way through Time Square Mia asked “Isn’t this Time Square?” Pablo, not the details planner, is a strong believer in the philosophy if you position yourself in new situations and surroundings you will find the interesting areas. In that spirit we somewhat serendipitously wandered into the New York Public Library to use a printer. What a fabulous building. I tried to capture some of the marble, wood carvings and murals but did not come close to doing it justice. Even our over tired and over stimulated kids were impressed with the grand reading room (ironically full of computers) with vibrant and realistic cloud mural ceilings.
We're docked next to a yacht that makes us look miniscule. MITseaAH is 150ft mega sailing yacht that planes at speeds of 25 knots. Like many things experienced in NYC it was loud and obnoxious. See here for a video. Note the pool and hot tub in photos below. They have a "full service" seven person crew. Sailing on a mega yacht seemed pretty cool until we watched the crew cater to the clients, including removing the socks off their feet.
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| Docked next to MITseaAH |
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| MITseaAH pool and hot tub |
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| Walking in Manhattan |
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| New York Public Library, note the ceiling mural |
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| Times Square |
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