Our 2013 American Trip: Brooklyn Bridge, NYC

Back to NYC again from when we visited Robin at the beginning of October!  I already showed you our day in Central Park.  The next day, Monday, October 7, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge...something Astrid had already done in 2008, but a first for me.

Of course, we had to get there and so saw a lot beforehand.

It's not just the destination, you know!

Once we saw the Brooklyn Bridge sign, we could almost taste it.

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of America's oldest suspension bridges, completed in 1883.

It spans the East River, connecting the buroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The upper level is for pedestrians/bikers only.

Talk about a photo-op!

Everyone wants to get in on the action.

It was so blustery, with some mist, we almost blew off the bridge.

Even Lady Liberty hung on for dear life, at the beginning of the government shutdown.
And don't forget the Jehovah's Witnesses and their Watchtower...an iconic sign for NYC.

But I especially loved the Manhattan Bridge on the other side, open since 1909.

See how close the two bridges are!  They could easily hold hands.
(image by David Shankbone)

And guess what!  Yes!

Enough love padlocks to sink a ship.
But not nearly as many as on the bridge in Köln when we saw them in March!

Once we crossed the bridge and were now in Brooklyn, we discovered we were in DUMBO:
Down Under the Manhatthan Bridge Overpass.
At ground level we could look up to both bridges.

Robin knew we'd want to see Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park,
 even though it wasn't open.
We were even privy to a wedding photo-op nearby.

As we walked to where we'd eat lunch, we had another photo-op of art-slash-graffiti.

Who says this isn't art...or that it's boring (top-right).

In fact, there is art of some sort everywhere you look in NYC!

Even where we ate lunch, I was more interested in the photo-op
than what we ate...apparently!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Fully replenished from lunch, we headed to the NY Public Library...

...taking the subway from Brooklyn back to Manhattan.

The New York Public Library is America's second largest, behind the Library of Congress,

and the third largest in the world.

Once again, Robin knew exactly what we'd want to see!

Totally worth the time it took on our way home.

Impressions.  Impressions.  Impressions.

Oh, and did I mention George Gershwin used to live in the same building as Robin?

NYC's Two Famous Bridges

As we flew into NYC on that Saturday, April 21st, I had this fabulous view of Manhattan out of my airplane window. If you visit my photoblog, you've already seen it, but this is for the rest of you.

It wasn't until after I took the pic, and had Lesley look the day we arrived, that I found out the bridge on the left is the Brooklyn Bridge and the one on the right is the Manhattan Bridge. They both take you back-n-forth to/from Manhattan and Brooklyn, two of NYC's 5 burroughs. Now, of course, after a week in NYC, I know exactly which bridge is which!
Manhattan is in the center of the pic. The Hudson River is behind it at the top of the pic. The river between Manhattan and Brooklyn in the forground is the East River.

We had three days of double-decker bus tours around the city but were never able to cross this Brooklyn Bridge because the tour buses are over the weight limit. But here I have captured the bridge from Pier 17 in the Seaport area of Manhattan, looking across to Brooklyn. As I said on my photoblog, I converted this to sepia because of the memory this bridge holds for all the people who walked back-n-forth across it after the 9/11 Twin Towers' attacks.

We WERE able to ride over the Manhattan Bridge, however, several times. On our night tour, sitting atop the double-decker bus, I was able to capture the top of one of its arches. Thank God for image stabilization in the camera!

Actually, on that same night tour, I was able to catch some night views of Manhattan while we were in Brooklyn, after crossing the bridge. The building above is the Woolworth Building, one of the oldest and most famous skyscrapers in NYC at 55 stories.

Ironically, this week I will be taking care of Nicholas while Amy is in NY (the state, not the city) for business (and Donica is in Amsterdam and Rome!). I'll pick him up from school/day care each day, spend the night at his house, and then take him to day care/school each morning. In between, I'll come home for a few hours. Either here or there, I'll stay in touch with you on the computer, of course.