I just got home from a two week vacation in New York City, where I had the best time. I didn’t relax, because I don’t think it’s possible to relax in the city that never sleeps, but I had so much fun. I saw so much of the city, places I had never seen the three other times I had been there, but I still didn’t see everything the city has to offer.
On the first day, I went to Brooklyn for the first time. Before we went to Brooklyn, we walked what at the moment felt like too long to go have breakfast, but it was worth it. We went to a Restaurant called Friedman’s, a place that offers regular and gluten-free options for everything on their menu. We made this long walk because we can’t just have breakfast anywhere, we need a gluten-free menu for my stepdad. That’s a great thing about New York though, we had no trouble finding restaurants with gluten-free menus or options.
Because I knew we had a long day ahead of us, I decided to have a big breakfast, so I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. I know that’s not your usual breakfast, especially for a person like me who doesn’t like breakfast very much, but I needed something that would hold until we had lunch, whenever that was. It’s ended up being the right move since we had a late lunch in Brooklyn.
I really liked Brooklyn because it’s not as fast paced as Manhattan, but you’re still in the city. We got to see the Brooklyn Book Fair, where there were a lot of interesting books, all very different. I thought there were too many books to look through I didn’t think it would be possible to find one that stood out, but I did!
After the Brooklyn Book Fair, we went to the Atlantic Antic Festival, which reminded me of Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián with so many artisans selling their crafts, so much delicious food and people just having a good time outside$0. It was a festival on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn where there was food, art, clothes, jewelry and many other things on sale. There was also live music and even pony rides for kids.
After exploring Brooklyn, we wanted to cross the Brooklyn Bridge to get back to Manhattan. I knew that this was a very famous and touristy thing to do and I knew there would be other people doing the same thing but this was crazy, I never expected such a crowd. There were so many people I felt like I wouldn’t have a chance to enjoy the view. I still took my time to stop and take a lot of pictures and managed to not get lost in the crowd. There was so much going on in that bridge, there was music, quinceañeras, brindes and grooms, families and friends posing for pictures.
I don’t know if I would have enjoyed walking on the Brooklyn Bridge more if there wasn’t a crowd but I really enjoyed having that experience. Maybe next time I’ll go at a time when it’s less crowded.
When we got back to Manhattan I thought I was walked a lot that day, but that was nothing, I still had no idea what was waiting for me the next day or during the rest of my vacation.
Unstoppable María 