New York City

In September 2011, we were in "Big Apple, the city that never sleeps" for two weeks. Central in Midtown Manhattan, the Hotel Metro was our accommodation

- with a beautiful roof terrace and view of the Empire State Building.

Our impressions of New York City were terrific: Skyscrapers up to the sky, hustle and bustle 24 hours a day, a harmonious multicultural mix of all nations, positive thinking, culture en masse and "American way of life" with permanent cell phone contact and multitasking at "coffee and meal to go".

We started our sightseeing tour in downtown Manhattan with the Battery Park, the Financial District with Wall Street, the Ground Zero Area, the Brooklyn Bridge and excursions to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. In Midtown Manhattan, of course, the Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, the meanwhile green Broadway, the Rockefeller Center, the Trump Tower, the many musicals close to Times Square and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) are interesting. We could find peace from the hectic activity in the wonderful Bryant Park. The extensive Central Park is an orientation point for Uptown Manhattan with its "Museum Mile". Here we visited the Guggenheim Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the latter with an enormous collection of impressionists.

Adjacent to the north there are the impressive St. John the Divine Cathedral and Harlem. Here we had the opportunity on Sundays to witness an atmospheric gospel service, followed by the unforgettable "Food and Black Music" in Sylvia's restaurant.

Our trip was sporty because after various subway shuttles we walked through New York mostly 12 hours per day. In addition, there was a day bike tour ("Ethnic Bike Tour") through the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan as well as visits to the US Tennis Open in Queens on two days. A terrific show!

New York City was overwhelming, there will certainly be a "revisit".