After days of adventures, we were both feeling ready to start making our way back home. There’s one more stop on the route — New York City — a vibrant mosaic of culture, ambition and resilience … the city that never sleeps.
After many hours in the car, we landed at a hotel near the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge.
Downtown Brooklyn begins here! These two rotating statues have an interesting background. One is Miss Brooklyn and the other is Miss Manhattan — modern recreations of historic allegorical figures. To me, they resemble the butter-Queen sculptures at the state fair.
The rotating Miss Brooklyn and Miss Manhattan are not just art — they’re urban time travelers. Deemed a traffic hazard in the 1960s, the statues were removed and relocated to a museum. Now, sixty years later, they’ve made a striking return — thoughtfully positioned to remain visible from afar while safely elevated above the road.
In New York, the art isn’t just in museums — it’s on the sidewalks and in the fascinating parade of people passing by.
Speaking of fascinating people, in the photo below, Megan and I are the bookends with Arthur and my niece Leah in the middle. It was the one-year anniversary of the grand opening of Leah’s coffee shop called Falu House located in the Teak store found in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.
After the party at Falu House and Teak, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the ferry back to downtown Brooklyn.
The Ferry is one of New York City’s best-kept secrets — and one of my favorite things to do in NYC. It offers an affordable, scenic, and relaxing way to travel across the city’s waterways. It’s public transit with a view!
The ferries were launched in 2017 to provide an alternative to crowded subways and buses, connecting waterfront neighborhoods.
One of my exploratory outings this weekend was to the Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) which offers a vibrant mix of vintage treasures, handmade goods and tasty local bites — all set against the dramatic backdrop of the East River. True to its name, it’s tucked right beneath the towering bridge, giving the market an unmistakable urban charm.
And up above … walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is a quintessential New York experience — equal parts iconic sightseeing, urban architecture and riverside serenity.
The weekend was a whirlwind of walking, touring, subways, ferries, museums, libraries, stores, parks, rivers, beaches and restaurants.
New York City is exhilarating, but after two weeks of constant exploration, it can feel almost overwhelming. As the sun dipped behind the Brooklyn Bridge, we found ourselves ready to return home — grateful for the city’s magic, but yearning for the comforts of home.
Jane in Spain 