THE NEW YORK – PART 1

NEW YORK, TRAVEL
Emilia

inally back in here with a few more photos from NYC. I decided to split those into more than one post. In this post, I will tell you about our Airbnb and some basic stuff. Please leave a comment if you have any questions. Even tho, this was the first time for me in New York – I’ll do my best.

Protip: forget a hotel full of tourists at Time Square and choose apartment in lower Manhattan. Why? Just think about that fresh takeway coffee from your nearby cafe. See some holding men try to clean the streets in the morning. See people waking up and starting their day.

It just hit me. If you want to see the real side of New York, lower city is one choice. Some people say, how distressive the amount of people may seem. If we were spend most of our 11-days in Time Square, even I could have had a mental breakdown. That’s why I’m happy we chose The SoHo. It’s known as a trendy area with designer boutiques and art galleries. There’s also lots of interesting outlets and high end restaurants (!!) We found our apartment from Airbnb and it was cheap considering the location. Of course the apartment comes with different problems than staying at the hotel. We had problems with the radiator that held loud noise and we thought it could explode. When we google it, we found out it’s normal. Apartment was also really hot and we couldn’t control the heat. Airbnb is a popular way to rent own apartment for travelers,but it’s not considered good in New York (that’s because of the hotel industry and some New Yorkers have mixed feelings about it). I don’t know what is wrong with me – I have no photos of our ’home street.’ Even that one above (view from apartment’s front door), is taken by Joonas.

At the end of March there was spring about to begin. The weather was fine and every day was sunny (except one day was snowstorm and I got home vibes about it). Even when outside was 10 degrees warm, the cold wind got us to put warm coats on. And funny part was – when Finns feel cold, but local people just used pumps with warm jacket. This made me shock (and to love the city even more). The central park looked a bit different from movies, when there were no leaves in the trees.

How to get around in New York? The subway is the fastest and cheapest choice. We bought 7-day MetroCard (it only cost 32$). It may seem complicated, but gets easier when you understand meaning of uptown (Queens and Bronx), and downtown (Brooklyn). Just take a look to a subway map and dare to try. We walked about 10 miles some days and that’s best way to see city in first days. We also used a cab when we were lazy.

You should always tip your service workers and it’s a polite way. For example you take a cab or eat or drink in a restaurant. In the restaurants tip is usually between 15 or 25 percent of the total bill. They can also automatically add a gratuity to your bill, so make sure of it. When we were at a bar, bartender started to feel angry, because she thought we didn’t give her a tip. But it is a local way and I understand it well.
Photos taken and edited by me.