Times Square

Our last day in New York was spent in Times Square exploring the sights and doing some obligatory shopping. I love the bustling and busy nature of New York and the Square exemplifies just that. With cross walks full of people and cars zipping by in every which way, I could feel the energy of the city flowing with each step.

We got a chance to ride the ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty as well as Ellis island. It was fairly foggy that day so unfortunately the pictures that I got weren't as nice as I had hoped. I did manage to snag this one which completely made my day.  And here's an obligatory "#FromWhereIStand" photo. I've recently fallen in love with Converse and these Chucks saved my life (feet) during the entire trip.

The Bronx Zoo

If I could describe The Bronx Zoo in one sentence: "Complete waste of time". Not a place I would recommend anyone take their family nor their friends. Granted yes, we also went on a free day, but half of the exhibitions were closed, down for renovations or the animals just weren't there. The few pictures I'll have for this post were literally the only animals that we were able to see while at the zoo. It was another day of tiring feet and aching backs, but this stop did not make up for any of the pain that was gained. At least I can now say that I've been to the Bronx.

One word for this picture. Awwww. It's funnier to think that literally 10 seconds before I shot this photo, these two were full on fighting with each other.

Once I saw these little cute red pandas, my trip was done. They were literally all that I came to see so I was happy. Okay, time to leave. Nope, the rest of the zoo decided to turn into an IKEA style zoo and we just had to walk through the entire place to find the exit back out to civilization.

Brooklyn Bridge

One of the goal's of our trip was to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. After our trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, we crossed back over the bridge by foot. The blisters on my feet were already starting to form, so the Google Maps predicted 45 minute walk to cross the bridge was not a happy outlook for the day. Fortunately for us, both of us are quite fast walkers and made it across the bridge in under 30 minutes. Photo taking was included in this time frame.

Although it was an overcast day, the view of both sides of New York was beautiful from above. The air quality felt cleaner, even though we were walking right above a mass of cars driving by underneath us. It may have just been the illusion of height that added to the overall grandeur of the experience, leaving us feeling refreshed.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

About a week before I moved to Toronto, I took a quick 5 day trip to New York with a friend. We stayed at her friend's place in the heart of downtown and explored the city to our hearts' content. Due to the proximity of our location to the centre of downtown, we spent the entire trip mostly on foot and on the subway. No Uber or fancy taxi's for us! The funemployed must employ efficient but affordable means of travel. Safe to say that by the end of the trip I had my fair share of blisters on my feet, but all of the delicious food that we tried was well worth all of the exercise!

Our first exploration was to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden during its free entrance day. Yes we are poor unemployed students (well not anymore for me, I've graduated) that can't even fork over an entrance fee to see flowers. This is top on my list of recommendations if you're ever exploring New York. Take a trip to see this garden and give yourself 3-4 hours of free time to explore. It would be a great place to go on a date or even to take you family for an afternoon picnic. There's a sprawling lawn underneath an alley of trees where I saw many people lie down on the grass for a nap or to peacefully read a book.

There is also an adorable gift shop that sold air-plants (I can put my black thumb to use!) among other gardening paraphernalia.