Meetings On The Brooklyn Bridge

I have been on my own this trip more than ever before in my life! And I'm actually doing okay! I still get turned around at least once, and I have to ask at least three people if I'm headed in the right direction (I even paid a homeless guy a dollar to give me directions to the subway when I got lost), but everyone's been really friendly and I've survived! 

This morning I wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge because it was finally sunny out! It seemed like most of the tourists started on the Manhattan side and walked across towards Brooklyn, but I did the opposite, and I liked it better.

Waiting for the subway at Chambers Street. I took the subway across to Brooklyn and then walked back towards Manhattan.

Welcome to Brooklyn! Just getting to this point on my own felt like a victory!

Walking up to the bridge...

A really nice Swedish couple took my picture! I met so many people on the bridge! Since I was by myself, I kept asking people if they needed me to take a picture of their group, and they were always so appreciative! One man jokingly asked why I had taken so long to get to them, and two ladies didn't even speak English, they just walked up to me and handed me their cell phones! 

Getting closer...

Look at it! Isn't it beautiful! It was so incredible to see up close!

I'm finally here! This was definitely on my bucket list for New York, and it did NOT disappoint!

The view from the bridge. A cell phone just doesn't do it justice. You can see the entire harbor and the Statue of Liberty.

I've read about this tradition where couples in different cities around the world will close a padlock around cables on a bridge to signify their love. I happened to find these as I was walking.

Walking underneath the expanse

The temperature was 27 today, but with the wind-chill factor, it was 17 degrees! I can't even imagine what it was on top of the bridge with all of the wind! I couldn't move my fingers after taking a bunch of pictures without my gloves on!

Now I'm warming up in a Starbucks with a chocolate croissant and an ice tea. (Yes , it's iced. It just tastes better to me.) 

If I can figure out where I'm at, I'm heading next to the World Trade Center Memorial. More pictures to come!