At Sixes and Sevens

Though, we are still unable to travel to the U.S.A., we are following the news closely, intensely and regularly. For the U.S. in general, but specifically for NYC, where we have a lot of friends, and, in addition, two - in "before Corona times" - top-selling guidebooks on the market.

Currently, in the daily news in Germany it's mostly negative and critical comments about the U.S. we read/hear. Not sparing a thought yet that our business will be back to normal and that travel activities can be resumed soon. But, nevertheless, there is hope for some "normality" in parts of the States, though it'll be a slow, tedious process with hickups. As hard as NYC was hit by the virus at the beginning, the threat has now retreated further south and west and NYC seems to show signs of slow recovery.

You'll have to keep in mind, that the situation in regard to SARS-CoV-2/COVID 19 is everything but consistent. Considering the size of the U.S.A. (Germany would size-wise fit about 27times into the land area!)and the highly variable density of population, there are regions/states - e.g. the Dakotas or Vermont - for which the virus is not a big topic anymore and where life is already back to normal. While in other states/counties, e.g. in Texas, Florida or Louisiana, people don't dare to get out anymore to do their grocery shopping.

Reopening New York

End of March, Governor Andrew Cuomo NYC shut down New York City, almost completely, closed restaurant, stopped construction work, made many people jobless (and, closely associated, healthcare-less). June 8th, Cuomos four-part reopening plan »New York Forward« became operative. Companies and construction work got bit by bit back on track, shops were allowed to offer pick-up service and public transport (MTA) started to operate on a regular basis again (with no night traffic from 1 to 5 am, to desinfect trains). Up to 10 peole were allowed to get together, notabene with adequate distance and masks. Cuomo made it a law that if a distance of 6 ft (1,83m) can't be observed, a mask is mandatory. Same goes for public transportation and taxis.

In the following weeks, other offices, hairdressers and stores reopened, as well as service companies. NYSE (Stock Exchange) resumed operation. Beaches, e.g. Coney Island, are open, swimming is still prohibited. Parks are accessible as well, only some heavily frequented ones have restrictions in numbers of visitors at a time.

July 20th, outdoor venues were allowed to reopen, among them Botanical Gardens and Zoos. Still closed are currently fitness studios, malls, museums, movie theaters and theaters. Broadway already announced that they won't open in 2020 anymore, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall made the same decision. Other then formerly announced, restaurants (inside) stayed closed, only outside service is being offered.

Since the Corona hotspots shifted to other states in the U.S.A. in the last couple of weeks, New York requests visitors from currently 22 other states now to quarantine for two weeks. Also, Governor Cuomo ordered to pay more attention to social distancing rules and mandatory mask-wearing. Some restaurants and shops which contravened the rules were already shut down by the police. Mayor de Blasio is especially sceptical in regard to operations inside and therefore wants to keep restaurants closed for customers inside.

What's open in NYC:


- Empire State Building (left pic): open since 7/20.
- Museums: some plan to open end of July, most (e.g. the MET) only end of August.
- One World Observatory - no re-opening date yet
- Top of the Rock: re-opening on Aug. 6
- Hudson Yards/The Edge & The Vessel: open again from middle of August on
- 9/11 Memorial/Museum: Memorial (pic above, right): daily 1-8 pm, museum still closed

- Governors Island (above pic on the left): open since July 15 for „passive recreation activities“, Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, weekends 10am-7pm
- Liberty/Ellis Island: only open areas on Liberty Island accessible, new museum closed as well as Ellis Island.
- High Line Park (above, right): noon-8 pm daily, „ timed-entry pass“ (free, to book in advance online) necessary, masks and social distancing. Only entrance: Gansevoort Street
- Central Park: (pic further up) open with masks and distance rules. No group activities, visitor centers, playgrounds and athletic fields are closed.
- Markets/Foodhalls: food stalls and stalls open for pick-up. Essex Market (pic below): 8am-6pm, Sun. 10am-6pm ), no seating for customers, some stalls are closed. Smorgasburg: „SmorgTo Go“ in Williamsburg (51 N. 6th St./Kent Ave) with ten alternating vendors, daily 11:30am-8pm for order pick-up.

Traveling to the Alps - an experiment

Traveling isn't really fun in present times, even not a short excursion. At least, not for us. We checked it out last week.

Thanks to a coupon from our health insurance company for regular check-ups/dentist's visits/cancer checks we drove to the Alps, to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GAP) - closeby Zugspitze. From a hotel list, we had chosen a 4-star Sporthotel in GAP for two nights, easy to reach by car, not quite two hours from where we are living.

Well, besides the flaws of the hotel itself (built in the 1980ies and correspondingly old-fashioned and outdated in some regard), there were a lot of Corona-related rules and restrictions, not all of them making sense (as everywhere). Wondering, whether our politicians and other officials ever check out what they are enforcing?

At check-in we received a list of "instructions" and got to know where to wear a mask and where not, how the spa/pool area can be used (time slots on reservation, 1 hour only) and how the restaurant is operating (reservations necessary for dinner and time slots for breakfast). Though, there were two restaurants and a bar mentioned on the website, there was just one restaurant with a beergarden available. Since the weather wasn't perfect, the beergarden was closed and the restaurant only opened at 6 pm. No coffee & cake or ice cream in the afternoon, no drink after dinner.

The menu was very restricted, too, no single soup, no desert menu, but, nevertheless, exorbitantly high prices for the quality. It was also encouraged to order meals "To go" and to pick them up at the reception. When you had successfully carried the styrofoam boxes a couple of "miles" to your room (the hotel complex is huge, different buildings connected by a tunnel system, 150+ rooms/apts), the meal was luke-warm. And then, we noticed, that they didn't pack any salt and pepper. In the restaurant, tables (of course, table clothes or cloth napkins were eliminated) were set up in the required distance, but waiters were constantly bumping their heads because of the hanging lamps - originally, one over each table.

What we didn't read before was that rooms are only cleaned on request (you have to ask the day before, before 3 pm. Check-in time is 4 pm!), and that you have to give a 4-hour time frame for cleaning. Also, there are no extra blankets/pillows, no notepads, no brochures, no cushions for balcony chairs in the rooms anymore, no cushions for the chairs in the pool/public areas. Only plastic cups in the room, which leads over to the crazy amount of waste (pic was not taken at the hotel, but is sort of representative!). Most breakfast items are packaged, sanitizer wipes were piling up in the fitness room waste baskets, new rubber gloves are used for each towel a guest is picking up. Can't even imagine the number of empty bottles of hand sanitizer every day!

To wear a mask in the dressing room of the (mostly empty) pool area is sort of crazy - how the heck can I undress with a mask on? No mask while working out, but mandatory in the bathroom, which is only accessible by one person,,, Chaotic arrows for entry/exit in the reception building and a guarantee that you aren't properly understood thanks to your mask and their plexiglass.

Well, until rules and regulations won't be relaxed in Germany (meaning the virus is "gone" and a vaccine/medicine is found), we won't travel overnight anymore, or, at least, we will not stay in a hotel.