After the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, I took the subway over to DUMBO, grabbed some lunch at Almondine, and took that down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park. There are great views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, as well as the Manhattan skyline. Really great place to have lunch on a warm day.
Once I was done there, I headed back into Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge. Which is an interesting experience. The promenade is split – one side for walkers, the other for bikers. The walkers are mostly tourists (at least around lunch time when I was there), but the bikers appear to be locals trying to get from point A to B, and they are going as quickly as possible, and do not appreciate all the yahoos sticking out into their lane, gawking at the sights. They all had bells, and were using them like horns – actually pretty hilarious.
The sky line views are even better from the bridge – you could easily see the new World Trade Center Tower, which does look a little odd since it’s unfinished on top. I’ll be interested to do this walk again once that’s completed. I’d also like to go back when the scaffolding is off the bridge. They’re doing some sort of repairs, and the view is blocked in places, so I’d like to be able to walk back through those areas and see how they look.
I really enjoyed this walk. If you can go on a nice, clear day like this (it was a bit breezy, so be prepared for that), it’s a great way of getting a different view of Manhattan, and you really can’t beat walking under those stone arches yourself – being able to touch those is worth the walk right there.