New York City - My sister visits from Germany and the verdict is...

My expat sister, who has never been to New York before, is visiting us in the Hudson Valley this week. Yesterday we took a trip into the city. We took the Hudson Line to Grand Central Terminal, walked to Times Square, the over to FAO Schwartz. From the we enjoyed a local pizza restaurant and took the subway to upper Manhattan. Then back down to Battery Park where we took the Staten Island Ferry, r/t and eventually wound up at the 9/11 Memorial. By then it was time for a late diner and we walked over to Chinatown and had some pretty yummy Chinese. Then we took the subway back up to Grand Central for a late evening ride on the Hudson Valley Line.

So the verdict?

My sister loved the city! She found it clean, and the people friendly. The stereotypes she had were totally shattered. I know this is no shock for most of you, but I Just wanted to share...:)

The stereotypes she had were totally shattered. I know this is no shock for most of you

I beg to differ. :mad: :p

I hope you told her that all of suburban NYC is quite like the scenery along the Hudson line. :D

My expat sister, who has never been to New York before, is visiting us in the Hudson Valley this week. Yesterday we took a trip into the city. We took the Hudson Line to Grand Central Terminal, walked to Times Square, the over to FAO Schwartz. From the we enjoyed a local pizza restaurant and took the subway to upper Manhattan. Then back down to Battery Park where we took the Staten Island Ferry, r/t and eventually wound up at the 9/11 Memorial. By then it was time for a late diner and we walked over to Chinatown and had some pretty yummy Chinese. Then we took the subway back up to Grand Central for a late evening ride on the Hudson Valley Line.

With this itinerary, anyone would find NYC charming. Now replace "Hudson Line" with "M60 bus from LGA + 6 train at 5 pm" and get a completely different reaction.

We spent a week in Manhattan in 2008. We stayed in Chinatown, rode the subway countless times, and explored from Battery Park to the southern edges of Central Park and for the most part, found New Yorkers to be quite friendly. There's that big city urgency that I've seen in other large cities like London and Toronto, but the couple of times we were slightly confused, people stopped and volunteered to help us without prompting.

We'll be back for a few days in June and I'm looking forward to it.