B&H is a Jewish owned and run electronic company, where many of the staff speak Hebrew to each other. We were lucky enough to have a tour of the building and meet many of the staff. Henry Posner, the Dir of Corporate Communications, took us for an extensive walk around what can only be described as an 'incredible' business. Started in the 70s by a husband and wife, the business and grown and developed with changes in technology, to become the World's Largest Source of Photography, Home & Portable Entertainment, Computers, etc etc... with over 500 staff working in the Building, where orders are made in-store and via the internet, it was wonderful to learn how this business as evolved, adapted to change in this space. With only one store and a warehouse, it was such a great opportunity for the boys to see the operations.
After a few hours at B&H we jumped onto the subway and went down to the more trendy area of Manhattan called Chelsea, to visit the Chelsea markets, and the meat packers district. These markets reminded us all very much of another version of Ferry Road markets with a wide selection of food and clothing stores ranging from everything from an Aussie pie, all the way through to beautiful soups and sandwiches etc. Some of the photos will indicate the different types of outlets that were on offer... an amazing place.
Next after lunch was a newly constructing walk from Chelsea back up to midtown called the "Highline". The Highline previously was an old above ground subway track and the local communities now have turned this into a wonderfully vibrant community garden and art 'show', which stretches on for about 3 -4 km. The boys strolled along here looking at the artwork and the gardens, making it a lovely way to finish our New York City journey.
A highlight was the final stretch of this walk was up above the Hudson River, where many years ago a plane landed in the Hudson River with all passages surviving the crash. We heard the story about this today, called the "Miracle of the Hudson" and it has now been turned into a movie that featured Tom Hanks.
Come 4pm (and after another 11km day) we packed up and hopped onto the bus to head south down to Washington DC. The journey takes you through 5 states, New York State, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and into Virginia, and passing by major cities inc. Philadelphia & Baltimore. The bus pulled over after about two hours into the trip for the boys to grab some dinner as a 'Welcome Centre" basically a larger version of a Petrol station with food). The boys seemed to all enjoy the Popeye Chicken (fired chicken pieces), or Panda Express Chinese and a dessert specially called a "Cinnamon Scroll".
Just at sunset we arrived in Washington DC to drive past some of the local monuments including the Pentagon, The Washington monument and also Arlington Cemetery, all in which we will visit in coming days. We arrived into the hotel at about 9:30 PM go to rooms and boys headed off to bed for a big day tomorrow where we will visit our first US Congressman at Capitol Hill. Should be a very exciting day.
No comments:
Post a Comment