Back to NYC

We arrived back in New York around 4ish and made our way to our next hostel, which was in Brooklyn this time. The hostel was ok as we had our own room, however it was a bit of a shoe box and had no ceiling so you could hear everything from all the other rooms. The metro also ran right by the hostel so we had the sound of trains every few minutes. And although the kitchen was very clean and modern, there was not one fork to be found, which was also a bit of a negative.

Our first day back in the big apple was spent walking around our new surroundings of Williamsburg, Brooklyn as we had been told its quite a hip neighbourhood. It was very different from manhattan, not as busy and hectic. It was nice though. We ate at a little Italian and then went back to the hostel. Later we had a salad and relaxed. 

The next day we caught the train to Manhattan. We got food from a nice vegan fast food place and ate it in union square. The weather wasn't too good so afterwards we spent the day walking around shops like Barnes & Noble, which was massive, and the Lego shop (again), as well as some clothes shops. That evening we ate at the hostel again and watched some tv before bed. 

On our last full day in New York we decided to go to the Brooklyn bridge, so we started walking in the general direction of the crossing. It soon became clear that it was a lot further than we had anticipated, but luckily we came across a ferry port which conveniently stopped at Brooklyn bridge park. Therefore we waited for the next boat, shortening our walking time and giving us an opportunity to head out onto the Hudson for some pictures. Once at our stop, we disembarked the ferry and had a walk around the park. The weather was much better and it was pretty hot. We then headed towards the bridge. Crossing the bridge was an experience, it was stupidly busy and the walkway was split between pedestrians and cyclists, so it was a bit of a mission bumbling across the entire span whilst avoiding tourists swinging their cameras as well as angry bikers. It was worth it though. Afterwards we had one last stop at Smac, the amazing macaroni n cheese restaurant, and walked back up Fifth Avenue past the Empire State towards Central Park. We had a look in some more shops before returning to our hostel. Later that evening we ventured back to Manhattan to the chip shop for one last New York meal, or portion of chips with amazing sauces, before going back and packing ready for our flight the next morning. 

We eventually arrived at JFK airport with around 90 minutes to spare, spent a ridiculous amount on some food for the flight (food was expensive, not because we bought loads) and boarded the plane. The flight was good, despite taking off 45 minutes late due to maintenance, there were plenty of movies and we flew over seven national parks, although the fun police were clearly on board as everyone had their shutters down. However after 6 hours we landed in Los Angeles excited about our road trip.