[caption id=âattachment_3397â align=âaligncenterâ width=â500â caption=âFrom Rockefeller Center (Top of the Rock)â]
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As you know, a few months ago I went to New York to spend a few days. However, the preparations began much earlier, since we had to meticulously plan all the places we wanted to visit, you never know if you will be able to take a trip to âThe Capital of the Worldâ again.
Obviously, depending on the length of our stay, we will have time to see more things or in greater detail, but I assure you that in the 5 days I was there, we were able to see many things, some of which we had not even planned.
What to see in New York?
Not taking advantage of new technologies to make a âsketchâ of everything we want to do in New York would be (to put it finely) a sin. So if we have a tool as great as Google Maps to locate everything we want to see, why not do it? Below you have the map that we made with all the places (known, there are many unknown) that you can (and should) visit, including some that we met while there.
See [Journey to New York](https://maps.google.es/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=es&t=h&msa=0&msid=11774855188061801240 5.00046ff14cb623dc24b36&ll=40.743876,-73.99292&spn=0.09104,0.171661&z=12&source=embed) on a larger map
On the map above you can see the most important places in the city and also some museums.
Call Spain
Una de las mayores preocupaciones, o tareas imprescindibles, es la de llamar a casa para dar señales de vida. Como en todos lugares, existen unas tarjetas de prepago para hacer llamadas internacionales. Sin embargo, si disponemos de un telĂ©fono mĂłvil con WiFi, posiblemente podamos realizar llamadas a travĂ©s de Skype, que resultan mucho mĂĄs econĂłmicas. El problema reside en que deberemos encontrar una red WiFi abierta. Bryant Park, situado justo al lado de la Biblioteca PĂșblica es un lugar perfecto para llamar, ya que tiene WiFi gratis y estĂĄ bastante cĂ©ntrico ( En la 42 con la 6ÂȘ ).
The best date to travel
Inicialmente tenĂamos pensado ir a Nueva York en Diciembre para verlo todo lleno de luces y con nieve, pero despuĂ©s de dos dĂas allĂ caminando sin parar, agradecimos haber elegido finalmente Septiembre para viajar. La temperatura y el tiempo por esas fechas es muy parecida a las de Asturias, con frĂo por la mañana y con calor si pega el sol, pero agradables.
Walk, walk, walkâŠ
Si queréis conocer lo måximo posible vais a caminar de lo lindo. No recuerdo haber caminado tanto en mi vida, hasta el punto de terminar con los pies hechos polvo. Por ello es MUY recomendable llevar calzado cómodo de hacer deporte. Ademås, a simple vista no se puede apreciar, pero Manhattan estå en pendiente hacia la parte superior de la isla, y aunque no lo parezca, terminas baldado.
The distance from Manhattan lengthwise is 20km and widthwise it is 4km, to calculate the walks it is good to know.
Do you need to know English?
SĂ y no. Es bastante recomendable saber algo de inglĂ©s para ir a Nueva York, o mĂĄs te vale ir buscando en los establecimientos a la gente que parezca mexicana. Dependiendo del tipo de establecimiento al que vayamos, es posible que no haya alguien que hable español (por ejemplo en alguna tienda de deportes o en las tiendas de los canales de televisiĂłn, como la de la HBO) asĂ que saber inglĂ©s nos facilitarĂĄ mucho las cosas. En caso de que no sepĂĄis nada de inglĂ©s, siempre podrĂ©is echar mano del lenguaje universal que es la mĂmica.
Money, money
En la mayor parte de las tiendas ânormalesâ aceptan tarjeta de crĂ©dito, pero evidentemente si vas a un puesto de perritos calientes no vas a pagar con Visa, asĂ que como siempre que se va de viaje, no hay que olvidar llevar dinero en metĂĄlico, por lo menos para las comidas.
Travel Forums and TripAdvisor
Resulta muy Ăștil consultar la informaciĂłn que aparece en algunos foros de viajes para saber las experiencias de la gente que ya ha realizado el viaje antes que tu. A mi me resultĂł bastante Ăștil este foro. TripAdvisor tambiĂ©n puede ser de gran ayuda para no llevarte sorpresas desagradables al llegar al hotel.
iPhone Apps
Maybe it may be a bit geeky for some, or very useful for others, but the truth is that having a map of New York or the subway on your mobile phone can be used to get us out of some trouble or to complete the information on street maps that we carry with us. Specifically, I brought the following three applications expressly for the trip:
xGPS: An application that is only available in Cydia and that is used to have a Google Maps map on the iPhone. It is quite complete, since it allows you to save up to 15 zoom levels of a fairly large area (like Manhattan) in a small space. To send the maps to the iPhone over WiFi, use a client available for PC, Mac or Linux. (Itâs free)
Kick Lite: The official map of the New York subway. It allows you to zoom and contains all the information you need to travel by subway (which is very easy). In it all the lines appear with their respective colors and also with the direction of each meter according to the day. Itâs free.
Tip-U-Late: An application to calculate the tips we should leave in cafes. We didnât give this one any use because the times we tipped it was by eye.
And here are my âpreparationsâ to travel to New York. I donât think Iâve forgotten anything, but if you think that information is missing and you want to leave your recommendations, the comments are at your entire disposal.