Dialog - Seite 60

On our last full day in the "Big Apple", we started our day with a tour to Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty. After we'd already started out with more typically "tourist" things, we decided also to go on top of the Empire State building. Both entrance fees are worthwhile. After having had enough downtown experience, we took the subway all the way out to Coney Island. It was hot outside, and the beach was full of people. In the evening, we decided to go back to Brooklyn heights to get a night view of the Manhattan skyline.

On our second day in New York, we started out on 96th street and walked through Central park all the way down to its south end. It's amazing how peaceful and quiet this place is in the middle of this always-busy city! From there, we walked down Broadway towards Times Square, and over to Grand Central, both of which are quite impressive. We then took the subway towards Little Italy, where we had something to eat. On our way back home through Chinatown and over the Manhattan Bridge, we got into a heavy rainshower, which felt good after the hot day.

Starting from our home base in Brooklyn, we walked all the way down Fulton street towards downtown and through Brooklyn heights, a wealthy neighborhood looking over East river to Manhattan. After a short break and enjoying the view of the skyline, we continued our walk across Brooklyn bridge into Manhattan's financial district.

On Monday morning, we decided to climb the staircase to the top of the Cologne Cathedral's (German: Kölner Dom) southern spire. After almost 400 steps, we reached the observation deck at around 100 meters above ground level.

On Sunday, after sleeping in and enjoying a good breakfast while watching the "Köln Marathon 2012", we strolled along the Rhine park to the Rheinseilbahn, and back along the riverside back all the way to the Chocolate museum, which we paid a (worthwhile) visit.

After we'd gone out for Italian food, we returned to the "Dom Hotel" and to its hotel bar to have a Kölsch (or two).

On Saturday, we toured the downtown area around the Schildergasse and Hohe Straße, shopping for winter jackets. It gets quite crowded there, but we managed to find what we were looking for.

The last day began at the Rothorn gondola valley station, where we rode up the mountain half-way. From there, we started our hike towards to the Parpaner Rothorn at an elevation of 2899 m.