New York, 2015 (Day 1)

I'm so excited to be here.

At the moment, 'here' is 257 Gold Ave, Brooklyn, New York City.

Leora and I arrived yesterday, mid-afternoon. We took a cab from LaGuardia Airport around to Brooklyn. We are staying at a small apartment we booked through AirBnb. It was much cheaper staying here rather than Manhattan, and so far I am very pleased. Our host, Kimiko, is very relaxed and friendly. Her two cats make us feel right at home. She is in and out doing things with her friends, but has been quite solicitous.

****EDIT 2015-Feb-11****
Here is what the Airbnb listing looks like:

Guest bed w/terrace and sep bath in Brooklyn

Apartment in Brooklyn, United States. This one bedroom in a two bedroom apartment comes with all of the amenities - - a private bathroom, terrace, great kitchen and two awesome cats. The location is fantastic, walking distance to the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges and the A, C, F, Q... View all listings in Brooklyn

It's worth noting that I paid a little less than the listing suggests per night ($91 not $97), although there is a $77 dollar service fee that Airbnb added. Seems like some listings have a variance based on the season, so it is worth clicking a ways through the reservation process to see if the numbers change a bit.
****/EDIT****

After a quick unpacking, we still had time to explore, so we walked from Brooklyn to Manhattan. That takes about 35-40 minutes and even though the temperature was -1C and I am from Saskatchewan (where it currently -20C), the wind managed to make it feel pretty cold. Perhaps it was because I foolishly went out onto the East River without a jacket, gloves or hat. Perhaps ;)

Leo on the Brooklyn Bridge

On the bridge, we caught sight of Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center. I'm sure I was staring at 30 iconic buildings, but honestly, I couldn't identify any off the top of my head.

We did some two hours of exploration in Little Italy and China Town. We were both really charmed by the immense amount of character that the neighbourhoods display while being right next to each other. My ears were strained trying to sort out the bombardment of Spanish, Italian and Mandarin as we walked along Mulberry Street.

When we were cold enough, we came home via the F-Train with some fresh produce and imported pasta and smoked mozzarella with which to make supper.

Disappointed. I think the carbonated coffee would have been better if it wasn't diet. 

I didn't really take too many photos today. The cold wind really had me keep my hands in my pocketses.

Now, I'm extremely tired. Leo made me stay up late once we got back to our apartment because we had access to US Netflix. From her perspective, the flight was totally worth it, just for that. Going to bed.