Hello from New York City (1) - First Impressions of the Big Apple

So yesterday morning our American Airways flight (booked for free with my Airmiles) left at 7:13 am to bring us to the Big Apple, a place I had always had a fascination with, but only had visited twice very briefly in my life,and that more than 10 years ago.
Just flying in over NYC was an experience itself, seeing all the skyscrapers of Manhattan, the various bridges linking the mainland with the island, and shortly after flying over the Rykers Island prison we landed at La Guardia Airport, a rather small airport actually, when compared to Toronto.
Our luggage was out in no time and we grabbed a couple of week long transit passes (a pretty good deal at US$24 for unlimited travel for a whole week) and we started our trip to Brooklyn. One bus (through a mostly Latin area in Queens) and one subway ride (through Manhattan) later, we ended up in our lovely bed and breakfast in a gorgeous neighbourhood, just south of Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
Since we didn't know the area and the website of our B&B had provided just a tiny little map, we had chosen the wrong subway line to get off from and we had to walk about 1/2 hour to find the B&B, but it gave us a good first look at this part of Brooklyn.
It is an area with stately homes and houses that are about a century old. Magnolia and cherry trees are blooming everywhere and gardens are meticulously kept around here. Our Brookly neighbourhood feels very safe and we got to meet our bed and breakfast hosts: a very hospitable and outgoing couple in their 40s by the name of Harry and Bibi. They showed us to our room, a nice room on the third floor of this spacious house, with a shared bathroom.
Actually the whole house has been turned into a B&B and there are 8 bedrooms, the 2nd and 3rd floor of the house each have their own kitchen and bedroom areas and it actually makes for a really comfortable stay since it feels more like having your own apartment, rather than just renting a room.
Before leaving I thoroughly researched accommodation options in New York City, and after looking at all the options (hotels, hostels, B&Bs), I decided the B&B option would be the most comfortable route to go. And at US$90.00 a night it's definitely turned out to be one of the most affordable options and a great base to start exploring New York City...

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the t-ransitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.