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Wedding Tips
Language: English
Short Story New York City
New York City – The Big Apple, the town that never sleeps, metropolis of the superlative and the biggest town of the United States of America. Spend your honeymoon in this exciting and impressing town or marry here straightaway.
Flights go directly from Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt for about 350 to 600 € to two airports of New York. JFK International on Long Island or Newark in New Jersey on the opposite side of the Hudson River. You take a taxi for approximately 45 US $ from the JFK airport or the Airport Express Bus for 15 US$. If you arrive at Newark a taxi to Manhattan costs around 65 US$, the train to the Penn Station just 14 US$.
Honeymooners are actually just drawn to Manhattan, on of the five boroughs of New York City, located on Manhattan Island. Literally speaking is Manhattan the synonym of New York and is the smallest and oldest part of the town. The first settlement emerged here in 1626 and was called New Amsterdam. In 1664 the Britons came here and conquered the place in order to give it a new name right away – New York City. 150000 people were already living here in 1820 and in 1898 3, 5 million inhabitants lived in NY. New York City became the melting pot of the world and immigrant districts on Manhattan like Little Italy and Chinatown evolved that all have their own special charm on the visitors today.
Don’t let yourself be frightened by the size of the town because the orientation is really easy. A jumble of street is only to be found in Downtown Manhattan where the Financial District together with the stock market is located. Above the Houston Street starts the raster of streets which covers all Manhattan Island. From north to south go 12 avenues and from west to east those are crossed by 200 streets. The 5th Avenue divides the island in Westside and Eastside and the Broadway runs, as the only street diagonally through this net.
In the middle of Manhattan is the „green lung“ of the town located, the Central park that lies exactly between the 8th avenue and the 59th and 110th street. The residential areas of the Upper East Side and Upper West Side, left and right of the park, are the best addresses of the town. Here you find the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts and the American Museum Natural History with the Hayden Planetarium. Besides that you find a lot of exclusive stores and first- class restaurants here, too. From the upper floors of the buildings at the park, where some restaurants are in, you have an exhilarating view on the park and the town behind it that you will never forget again and that will make you start thinking about moving to New York City.
North of the park the Uptown Manhattan, Harlem with its traditionally great Afro-American community is located. The Columbia University, situated in the 119th street, is one of the oldest and best ones of the country. South of the Central Park until the 34th street is Midtown Manhattan with its skyscrapers as the Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Centre, the Woolworth Building, the Chrysler Building and so much more. Here around the Time Square where the 6th avenue, 42nd street and the Broadway meet, is the theatre district and most of the hotels of the town as for example the famous The Plaza Hotel at the corner of Central Park and 5th Avenue. At the Penn Station is the Madison Square Garden where the Knicks, the Rangers and the Jets have their game at home. Experience the superstars of the world here who fill the stadium.
You have to have a look from the Empire State Building at the city even though every tourist does it. You will be thrilled, no matter whether you do so at daylight or after sundown. If you want to surpass this, just take a helicopter and fly above Manhattan, for around 50 US$ you lift off for seven minutes and 150 US$ let you fly for 17 min. To expensive? Take the Staten Island Ferry, which is for free, that passes the Statue of Liberty. You can not only pass her but take one of the regular ferries and dock there as well. This certainly includes expenses and above all time of waiting at the pier at the Battery Park. Also free is the visit of the Brooklyn Bridge that connects Brooklyn and Manhattan and counts to the largest suspension bridges of the world. This example of architecture was already built in the 19th century.
In-between the skyscrapers of Midtown and Downtown Manhattan the neighbourhoods Chelsea, Chinatown, the East Village, the Garment District, Greenwich Village, Bowery, Little Italy, the Lower East side, SoHo and TriBeCa are also located here. Each of the neighbourhoods has its own charm, its own history, its own art and its residents. Here you find the most different restaurants, pubs, bars and clubs and offer a variety from inexpensive dapper to exorbitant pricy.
Cosy cafés as in Europe except for Starbucks are not really to be found in New York. The New Yorker is known to be in a hurry all day anyway and therefore likes it to drink his/ her coffee while going or on the subway. The people are friendly and nice, well dressed and sometimes a little flashy.
Explore Manhattan by subway which is the most simple and cheapest way (seven-day-ticket 24 US$) One ride in a Yellow Cap is affordable, too, but should not be during the rush hour.
Shop till you drop? New York is a true shopping paradise with its exhaustless plurality from reasonable priced stores, via trendy boutiques, to the Haute Couture at the 5th and the Madison Avenue and on to the largest department- store of the world like Macy's and Bloomingdale’s. And everything without a shop closing law where as most of the stores are open from 10 am to 7pm, seven days a week. A lot of branded articles from the USA and textiles are a lot cheaper here as in Europe. You have to pay attention to the fact that the town New York collects a City Tax of 8, 25 % on everything. Excluded are textiles under a price of 110 US$.
Us Europeans actually catch the eyes because of unpleasant behaviour because we often under tip. Therefore a service is almost never, except it is explicitly stated, included in the price. In the restaurant and taxi you are supposed to always give 15 to 20 % tip. The chambermaid, the barkeeper, the bellboy normally receive 1 US$.
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