What I learned about going to New York... with my kid

Transcript: What I learned about going to New York... with my kid

There are so many things to do in New York City — there’s really something for everyone. That’s what makes it one of the top travel destinations in the world, but what about taking your kids to the Big AppleSpitzname für New York CityBig Apple? Our correspondent Claudia Hellmann decided to try this for herself. She travelled to New York with her seven-year-old daughter to find out what the city has to offer young visitors. Over the next two tracks, you can hear a number of excerpts from the travel featurehier: Artikelfeature. I’ll also be asking you some questions. In the first excerpt, we’ll hear about Times Square. As you listen, see if you can answer this question: What is the word for a large board with advertisements on it on the outside of a building or at the side of the road?

Don’t start at Times Square

If you’ve never been to New York, there’s one thing you should know: The noise can really to get to sb. (ifml.)jmdn. an die Nieren gehenget to you, and nowhere is it more intense than in Times Square. We arrived at the famous intersection and were suddenly surrounded by billboardPlakatwand, Reklametafelbillboards and neon lights. Street performers were being photographed by a sea of tourists. Miss P stared at the spectacle, eyes wide, mouth open. We to duckabtauchen, in Deckung gehenducked into the M&M store, where we were hit by the overpoweringly sweet smell of choco­late. Her eyes opened even wider.

Two days later, we returned to see a matinee musical performance, and it was a completely different experience. We sat at the top of the famous glowingleuchtend, glühendglowing red steps — part of an outdoor theater space — and looked down at the street performerStraßenkünstler(in)street performers below. The famous desnudas women were to strutstolzierenstrutting across the pedestrianFußgänger-pedestrian plaza, topless and covered in body paint. We were laughing at three performers in full-body Elmo costumes, while a Batman on crutchKrückecrutches was posing for pictures in exchange for tiphier: Trinkgeldtips. You have to see it to believe it.

Lesson learned: Times Square is great, but go there once you’ve grown used to how crazy and colorful this city is — maybe on your third or fourth day.

Were you able to answer the question? What is the word for a large board with advertisements on it on the outside of a building or at the side of the road? The answer is: a billboard. In the next excerpt(Text-)Auszugexcerpt, we’ll hear tips on how to get around New York. As you listen, try to answer this question: Which direction do avenues in New York always run?

Get ready to walk

New York is really big. Manhattan alone is 21.6 km long and 3.7 km wide at its broadest point, near 14th Street. But Manhattan’s gridhier: geometrischer Stadtplangrid makes it easy to orient yourself, at least north of Union Square. If you go further south, street numbers give way to street names, and you will need a map. Otherwise, it’s fairly simple: All avenues run from north (uptown) to south (downtown), while streets always run east to west (crosstown). As a rule of thumbFaustregelrule of thumb, an avenue block is about a quarter of a mile (some 400 meters) long, whereas a street block is a sixteenth of a mile (about 100 meters). Wear the right shoes, and you are good to go.

Walking is by far the best way to explore the city. When we had to cover bigger distances, we tried getting around by bus. However, during the rush hour, we went underground. The New York subway (AE)U-Bahnsubway is one of the most complex systems in the world, but it is fairly easy to use. If you understand the difference between uptown and downtown, all you need to know is that local trains stop at every station, while express trains stop only at certain stations.

Weekends can be a challenge. Construction work can shut down whole lines, trains to skipauslassenskip stations, and even for New Yorkers it’s difficult to find an alternative route. One Sunday, we waited for an hour for a train that never came. We tried two alternative routes, then finally gave up and took a taxi to the Museum of Natural History. We arrived just before closing time.

Lesson learned: Don’t fight it. Just walk. The chances are, it’ll be faster.

Were you able to answer the question? Which direction do avenues in New York always run? The answer is north to south. Streets, on the other hand, always run east to west.

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Article: What I learned about going to New York... with my kid