Day and Night

I woke up to my suite mate sticking a red Swedish fish into my mouth today. I was so confused as to what what going on and I thought she was putting make-up on my face. As silly as it sounds, it was a pleasant surprise to me. That Swedish fish must have been a  happy gummy or something because I had a phenomenal Sunday.

I met with the cohort to head over to Pier 83. We passed through Times Square first, and that's when I realized that I forgot my memory card in my laptop. Without the memory card, I had no way to take pictures with my camera, so I tried to stop by Duane Reade to pick one up. I thought I'd be able to pick up a 16GB card for $20 because they usually cost around $10 or $15. When I asked the cashiers, they said that it would cost $52! That was way overpriced and I decided to just rely on my phone for pictures. I knew it'd be more expensive since we were in New York, but I didn't think they would have charged me over $40 more. Lesson learned, never forget your memory card or attempt to buy one in Times Square!

We continued to the pier for our Circle Line Cruise. If we were two minutes late, we would have missed one of the last cruises of the day. The cruise was about two hours. We saw numerous buildings, bridges, and the Statue of Liberty. One of the cruise members explained the sites that we were seeing as we passed by. We were so close to the Statue of Liberty that we could see the crowds of people on the little island. We saw many of the sites we've visited so far(the World Trade Center, Empire State Building, etc) from a different perspective. My favorite part was seeing the three consecutive bridges. We went under all three of them and they all had different architectural styles. I loved the sea breeze and splashes of water that we'd encounter. The breeze made it difficult to take pictures though!

The Brooklyn Bridge

The Williamsburg Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge and the old Pepsi-Cola sign

 Reluctant to get off, we took a last look at the view before walking to Highline Park. There's so many important parks in New York, so I didn't know why Highline Park was so special until I saw it. The park is literally old train tracks paved over with stones and plants on the side. I thought it was a great use of old space. The idea benefits both the nearby residents, travelers, and the environment. I wish they would do something similar to the old train tracks in Pinole! Of course it wouldn't be as accessible since it's secluded from the rest of Pinole. Pinole isn't nearly as popular as New York City either. My only dislike was that the pathway was really narrow and hard to walk through because there were so many people. But then again, that just applies to everywhere in New York City. We found a stylish Italian restaurant to eat at after leaving Highline Park. I ate heart-shaped lobster ravioli and roasted potatoes. The pasta was delicious, but it wasn't filling and I have a considerably small appetite. We all shared Justin's nutella dessert before taking a night walk at the Brooklyn Bridge!

The view from Highline Park

On the cruise, the announcer said that an ice-cream sundae could be burned off from walking the entire bridge. Maybe it was just a joke, but the walk was definitely not short. We were on a press for time so we only walked a third or a half of the bridge. Wearing a bandana headband and carrying a backpack today made me seem like one of the cast members on Survivor or Amazing Race. The night breeze helped us get through the walk easier. I felt so immersed in the city lights and I couldn't believe that I was walking on the same place that I saw from far away. The view from the bridge at night was so different from the view from the water during the day. Despite the fact that we started this adventure at 2PM instead of 8AM today, we actually walked the most out of all days during this trip. With a whopping 25,178 steps, we walked 12.2 miles and burned 800 calories. It would have been even more if we walked the whole bridge! The day was so fun and peaceful that none of us even felt pains in our feet. I'm thrilled to see what else New York has in store for us in our final week.