certainly a New York Adventure

The plan was to enjoy a guided tour of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. I was hoping for a nice walk and a little history lesson. What I got seemed to be more out of Candid Camera.

As we stood near the Manhattan Bridge, our guide told us that he didn't know much about the history of the HSBC bank behind him.

Okay, I thought, he doesn't know much about the building because his expertise is the bridge.

Or NOT! He was able to tell us that the architects of the New York Public Library also designed the bridge's stone arch and that the arch was inspired by an arch in Paris. But he mistook the sea shell carvings for "a bounty of fruits and vegetables" and a buffalo head for a "rat head." Who has ever heard of someone carving a rat head into public art?








Okay, I thought, the walk across the Manhattan Bridge will be interesting, I've never done that before. Unfortunately, The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 was filming on the southern walkway so we had to share the narrow northern walkway with CRAZY bikers who thought the area was theirs.

The one interesting thing the guide was able to point out was that there are still some construction reminants of Robert Moses' plan to create a Lower Manhattan Expressway (LoMex) over the bridge and connecting to the Holland Tunnel.

We stopped midway across to hear the stories of a guy who has (illegally) climbed both the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge. That was cool, but the pile of poop (not from a dog) made things quite stinky!

I realized that I was not the only one questioning the tour when I noticed that the journalist who was reporting on the walk ducked out when we got to the High Street Station in Brooklyn Heights. Smart woman!

I was so close to home! Dare I do the same thing? When the guide wasn't able to tell us much about Cadman Plaza other than who it was named for (a radio preacher), I realized my time on the tour was coming to an end. The icing on the cake was when the guide and another guy could talk most intelligently about an old light post near the WWII memorial in the middle of Cadman Plaza.

Peace Out! I didn't make it across the Brooklyn Bridge with the group.

So I've got some cool pictures, can now say I've walked across the Manhattan Bridge and I have a funny story. A good day in New York:-)