Gabby Cabby Tour

Peter Franklin picked us up at our hotel at 9:00 am. He had driven from New York to New Jersey, and had to use his GPS to find us, but he got here. Once we met up, we introduced each other, and then off we went in the back seat of his van.  He gave us an overview of what we would see, and told us that we would stop for "bladder breaks" and to eat, but that wouldn't take away from our tour.

Lincoln Tunnel to New York

We visited 2 of the 5 Boroughs or New York - Manhattan, and The Bronx. He took us through many neighborhoods in each of them, telling us stories and giving us pointers about what we were seeing. There are an amazing number of people there, and in each of the neighborhoods, the people and shops are quite different.

Our lunch

In the Bronx, most people live in apartments and/or brownstone type houses, most which are attached. Vertical living is the way things work there. With that many people, it is obvious that is what has to happen. We had lunch at an Italian neighborhood restaurant - pizza slices.  They were very good (and very large) - similar to the type of pizza you get on the cruise ships (New York Pizza).

Pizza Place

Then we went in to Manhattan. This part of the city is richer and where the businesses are located, and the more wealthy folks live. We saw a bit of Central Park, were able to get a photo of the Statue of Liberty (from a long ways away), went down Wall Street, through China Town, passed through Time Square, and went through Little Italy. In all cases, the traffic was very heavy, and I certainly wouldn't want to drive a vehicle there.

Yankee Stadium

We took lots of photos through the windows of the van, but it was difficult to get good shots, even though I had the wide lense on the camera. The streets are narrow and congested, and full of cars and people. Drivers change lanes when they need to, whether there is room or not. People walk across streets whenever traffic is stopped. At intersections, vehicles get mostly through the intersection, most of the time. People walking in the crosswalks, often have to run the maze of cars across the crosswalk. We didn't see any accidents with people or vehicles, so I guess most of them know what they are doing. Most people in the city don't have cars. They use the transit system to get places, and walk a lot.

Julliard School of Music

By the time he took us back to the hotel (around 5:00 pm), we were tired, and had seen enough of New York to get an overview of what it was like. If we go back, we would likely plan things so we could do some specific things and go to specific areas to find out more.

Wall Street

We spent a couple hours in our room, just relaxing, and then decided we better have something to eat. It was dark, and we didn't feel like making the walk to the restaurant in the next hotel (long block, and along a highway for another block in the dark, and what we felt may not be the safest walk). So we tried the restaurant in our hotel. Not knowing what to expect, it wasn't bad. I don't think I would take Dawn out for dinner there, if we lived in New Jersey, but the food was pretty good.

Parking Lot

World Trade Centre

Then, back to our room to watch the hockey game, write some thoughts down, and read emails. We were taking a taxi to the cruise port the next day, and wanted to have lots of time to pack and organize, before going downstairs for a noon pickup.