The Last Farewell - almost!

Last full day in the city,so we wandered north a little, checked out a couple of craft shops I wanted a look at, and ended up having lunch in the Parker Meridien, a very posh hotel on 56th Street.

We weren't quite as out of place as you might think, because behind this curtain,
lies one of New York's best kept secrets!

A small room, about 15 foot squared holds an old fashioned, down and dirty burger joint that would look more at home in a roadside motel! Oh, but the food's good!

Had a wander round the bottom end of Central Park. Some day, we'll spend a day or two exploring all of it, but not today! Next stop was FAO Schwartz. Little bit disappointed, as they didn't have nearly as many collectable dolls as last year - but they did still have the baby dolls that creep Chris out! You can also make your own muppet, but as they come in at $100+, we decided not to. They didn't look as good as they do on the website, either.

Back to the hotel to pack, via drinks at Trump Tower!

This evening, we headed back to Coney to watch the Cyclones again, this time beating the Williamsberg Crosscutters. :) I could make a habit of this!

We're now almost packed and ready to come home. Check out tomorrow is 11am, so we'll mooch about a bit, before heading to JFK at tea time. Flight is DL154, leaving JFK at 10pm, arriving Manchester 10.10am the next morning.

I don't expect to get a chance to update this from the airport, although you never know, so we'll see y'all when we get back to good old Blighty!
Today's pics here.

Confessions of a shopaholic

Did a fair bit of shopping today - down to Century 21, where this week's stock seemed a bit better than last! Up to 34th St next, wandered round Borders and then clothes shopping along 34th and past Macy's.

Since we couldn't agree on a Broadway Show to see, we decided to go to the cinema tonight, and saw Ice Age in 3d. Techniques have improved since the days of red and green lenses, although you do still need glasses. No Oscars, but a good way to pass an hour or two! Afterwards, we wandered along 42nd street, as far as Grand Central Terminal. That place is massive, you could easily get lost in it. It also appears to have a patrol of national guards! It was a pleasant evening for a wander though.

Tomorrow is our last full day, I can't believe how fast it's gone! Tie up a few loose ends, finish off any shopping, then pack for Thurday, I guess.

No pics today, I'm afraid!

An Intrepid Adventure

Chris's choice today, so we were back down to the Hudson and the piers again, this time to visit the USS Intrepid, which is now the Museum of Air, Sea and Space. We missed a couple of bits that Chris couldn't access with his stick - watching one kid take a tumble down one of the near-vertical ladders was enough to make us appreciate our limitations! (The kid was ok, and got his just desserts for messing on the stairs!)

The place is huge, and a big kid's dream! More planes than you'd know what to do with! The biggest of the lot is parked on the pier beside the aircraft carrier - Concorde. It's surprising how small it is inside.

We skipped the USS Growler - they have a porthole you need to get through to be able to go on the tour - and neither of us were game for climbing through holes 18 inches off the ground!

Headed over to the East Side for lunch and some shopping. We found an O'Neill's bar on Third Avenue, which does great burgers!

Came back to the hotel to grop off the shopping, and grab a siesta - oooh, foot soak! This evening, we mooched round some of the touristy shops on Times Square, and indulged in a bit more people watching. The atmosphere's great round there, really chilled out! We keep talking about going to a Broadway Show, but we can't actually agree on one we both want to see!

Today's pics are here.

Let's go round again...

Back down to Pier 83 and the Circle Line today, this time for the 3 hour cruise right round the island. First half was very similar to the Harbour lights tour, but once we got past the Queesnboro Bridge, we saw parts of the island that you wouldn't necessarily recognise as Manhattan. Round the north of the island is very hilly and wooded, as opposed to the urban jungle downtown! A lot of the undeveloped land up there, and the New Jersey Palisades on the opposite shore, were donated to the city by JD Rockefeller, to preserve them as parkland.

Dinner was back to Lindy's for the best steaks we've ever had. And, of course, cheesecake! What can I say!

Evening was spent wandering round Rockefeller Plaza again, and watching a rather unusual spectacle - Manhattanhenge. The city grid is off true north/south by about 30 degrees, so a few weeks before and after the equinoxes, the sun sets right along the streets. A blinding spectacle! ;)

Today's pics are here.

From Top to bottom!

We covered a lot of Manhattan today!

Met up with friends, Tug and Paul, outside Sylvia's in Harlem, where we had some good ole soulfood for lunch. Some of the best chicken I've ever had!

Next, we had a wander round Harlem, past the Apollo Theatre, and on to Morningside Park. Harlem seems like a separate place to the rest of Manhattan, it has a very different feel to it. The buildings seem lower, the streets seem wider and the infamous grid system isn't quite as prevalent. The street vendors' stock reflects the differences, too. Loads of incense and home stuff, fewer pictures of the Empire State Building, CDs and DVDs, rather than handbags! It feels like a place people live, rather than go to.

Next, we hopped on the subway, right to the other end of the city, down to West 4th Street and Washington Square park, where we mooched about and watched the numerous buskers. Among the best were Castle Critters - hand-puppets lipsync-ing along to easy listening, and Tic and Tac, two performance artists with some fantastic banter, who finish with a leap over 5 audience members!

After than, we headed back up to Midtown, and Times Square, where we took advantage of the deck chairs on Broadway for some more people watching.

After we said goodbye and went our separate ways, we chilled for a while and wandered round the shops at Rockerfella Plaza, before grabbing some dinner and heading home.

Tomorrow will definitely be a chill out day!


Todays Pics here.

Water Wonderful World

Headed back down to Coney Island today. Imagine Skegness with sun and sand! Wandered along the boardwalk, ate hotdogs at Nathan's, and wandered through the shows. Ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you, the freak show is alive and well in Coney Island. From Snake-girls, to headless women, from the smallest lady to the biggest rat, they're all on show! We didn't stop and see any of them though!

We did stop at the Aquarium, to go and visit the walruses again!

The evening was a lazy evening, spent people watching on Times Square, followed by a walk past last year's hotel. It's amazing what's changed! Scaffolding's come down, scaffolding's gone up, and a whole building has disappeared. Nice, quiet, lazy evening!



Today's pics here.

Closest we've come to a lazy day!

Spent this morning indulging in some retail therapy. There's a great - cheap! - shoe shop on 14th Street near Union Square, called DSW, where we got a few bargains. We also had a wander round Union Park itself and sat in the sun for a bit. Most of the parks over here have a great idea - a doggie run! It's an area of the park set out where dogs can run around, meet other dogs, and do what dogs do! Double gates mean they have a hard time escaping, too! Then we headed up to 34th Street near Macy's for a look round, that's the other area where they've blocked off a section of Broadway and pedestrianised it. As with Times Square, it seems odd, but it makes it so much easier to walk about.

We headed back to the hotel with a dozen of the finest donuts known to mankind, too!


Headed down to pier 83 on the west side, where the Circle Line Tours leave from, and booked the Harbour Lights tour, which is a two hour tour going round past the Statue of Liberty, up the East River as far as Queens, and back. With any of these tours, a lot of it is the luck of the draw with the guide, and we got a good one! Plenty of info about the history of the city, very matter of fact about the World Trade Centre sites, and the ship we were on was one of the ones that helped Flight 1549, when it ditched in the Hudson, so he had a few things to say about that!

It was a very relaxing way to spend the evening, and we plan to do the full 3 hour trip right round the island, too! Looking forward to that one!




We've also got tickets to go back and see the Cyclones again before we come home, too!

Pics for today are here.

We're both knackered!

Just two stops today.

We spent most of the day at the American Museum of Natural History. We walked for miles, and still only saw about half of it, the place is massive and something of a maze! We'll save the rest for another day.

One thing - the New York City Pass it worth it, purely for skipping the queues! We'd have spent ages waiting to get in otherwise.

We had a short wander through Central Park on the way back to the hotel - a wonderful, shady oasis in a hot, busy city!

After dinner, we went for a wander round Times Square. They've blocked off a chunk of Broadway, creating a pedestrian area there, put out a load of tables and chairs where you can sit and watch the world go by.

We ended up in Madame Tussauds on 42nd Street. Again, it was straight to the head of the queue with the passes. I'm glad we had them, as neither of us thought it was worth the money. Still, we saw more than a few famous faces!












As before, more pics can be found here.

Take me out to the ballgame

Don't you just love jet-lag? We were asleep by 9 o'clock last night, and wide awake at 6am!

Wandered and subway-ed down to the Financial District, and sat and people watched at the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Bit of shopping at Century 21 - must depend on your luck whether you get a bargain there or not. We got loads last year, and almost nothing today. Oh well.

Lunch was burgers at Lindy's deli - followed by cheesecake... mmm... Great burgers, fantastic service.

Tonight, we headed down to Coney Island to watch the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game. Don't quite know what either of us expected, but it was great fun. Really relaxed, social atmosphere - really can't imagine Rangers or Man U singing Sweet Caroline or throwing t-shirts into the crowd! Or having a race between three hotdogs.

Oh, and they won! They're currently unbeaten at home this season.
















Full day's pics can be found here.

Monday's pics

Photos of the hotel room, and from Top of the Rock can be found here.

Enjoy!

On arrival

Not bad flight, ended up arriving slightly early, and got straight through immigration - they took one look at Chris's walking stick and fast-tracked us to the head of the queue! Which was nice. Chris had a rather awkward moment when the immigration officer asked if we were on honeymoon - thought he was going to turn tail and get back on the next flight home!

We were met at the airport by a man from Strussers limo service, holding a sign with Chris's name on it!

Checked into a nice little suite at Radio City, with a bedroom, kitchen area and bathroom. As you can see, it gets Chris's seal of approval...

Food, Top of the Rock, and try and stay up long enough to beat the jet lag now!

The night before...

Tonight, we're in the Crowne Plaza, Manchester Airport. Simple, functional and with a great Irish bar!

Tomorrow, we check in early, get Delta flight 155, leaving here 11.55am BST, and arriving at JFK 2.45pm EST.

We're booked into the Radio City Apartments, on West 49th Street, near the Rockefeller Centre. Their site is linked in the sidebar, and you can find the reviews on Trip Advisor.

Today's the day!

Off to Manchester in a few short hours, then fly out tomorrow lunchtime!

Just in time for the weather picking up, it seems!