Day 2: Brooklyn to Soho

Day 2 started at the beginning of the Brooklyn Bridge — we heard it makes a lot more sense to head toward Manhattan. So we began in the middle of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

DUMBO is a charming little district full of cafés and a big food market. Don’t be surprised by the loud noise from the Manhattan Bridge trains — seems it can’t be helped.

For sure we visited the place where Gossip Girl was filmed.

The most interesting part in DUMBO was the Time Out Market with many different food vendors and an amazing view of Manhattan from the terrace.

After some bagels and a coffee we were fully energized to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge toward Manhattan.

Leaving the Brooklyn Bridge behind, our next stops were Chinatown and Little Italy. Somehow we didn’t fully walk through Chinatown, so we mostly encountered people trying to sell us bags and watches.

At least we managed to go all the way through Little Italy afterwards, even though you can already see Chinese shops taking over. We did, however, find a huge Christmas shop packed with Grinch merch :D.

Next up on our list: SOHO 🥳 A nice district made up of many little boutiques. Especially interesting was Greene Street, notable for its cast-iron architecture. Since SOHO used to be a warehouse district, you’ll notice passages and metal plates where normal sidewalks once were.

As hunger started kicking in our final goal was set to Chalsea Market. But to reach that we passed through a few other spots.

First, Washington Square Park to look for the Gilmore Girls bench. Sadly we didn’t really find it, but the squirrels provided excellent entertainment.

Since it’s quite near, we continued to the Friends apartment — which was smaller than we expected.

Next up: Carrie’s Sex and the City apartment.

For a bit of rest, one of the most interesting new constructions in recent years is Little Island.

Ultimately we then finally reached Chalsea Market, which has lots of different shops and food corners. In the basement of the market we ate sandwiches at Dicksons Farmstand Meats.

Since we were recharged, we then decided to take the Metro to Radio City Hall and walk the rest of the way to our hotel.