New York, we did it our way..........

View from Empire State Building
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Day 21 - Thursday  24 May 2007 ( 490 hours down 398 to go)

Due to the six hours time difference between Paris & New York we woke up very early and waited until breakfast was available at 6.30am, went down and had a great buffet breakfast looking out over the Hudson River as dawn broke over the Manhattan skyline.  I started with the traditional New York Jewish breakfast, bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, tomorrow I think I will scrap the bagel and have twice as much smoked salmon. The morning is magnificent and the maximum temperature for the day is expected to go to 90F/32C which is a lot higher that average for this time of year.

Julie's sexy new shoes
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To avoid the crowds we decide to make an early visit to the Empire State Building as Julie did not go up it last visit. We soon master the subway system and arrive in the near vicinity. No line up so we go straight up and there are only a few people at the outside 86 level so we get a good look around and then go up to the 102 floor level which is enclosed and provides a great view, but not a King Kong or a Naomi Watts to be seen for miles.

As it is the Memorial Day weekend, similar to our Anzac Day, and most of the retail stores have sales we move on down to Macy’s and have a great time as most clothes are 50% reduced and if you are a visitor from another state or country they give you a further 11% off. We then grabbed a cab to another store, Barneys, which makes our David Jones look like a Kmart, so no money was exchanged there. Julie had seen a sexy pair of shoes advertised in a magazine in NY and the store was a quick walk down Madison Avenue so we set off in search of the holy grail. We find them, they are sexy, and they have them in her size so a credit card is quickly swiped to complete our quest. Then on down to Union Square to look for a shirt for Richard at American Eagle, a couple of novels at Barnes and Noble then on back across the river to check out the neighborhood. The area around the Hotel is predominantly a business and financial district where workers commute and go home at night so there are a few bars locally to service them and not much else. We find a nice bar/diner overlooking Manhattan that has a singer and a table outside, happy hour priced drinks and good food all within 150 metres from hotel, bliss.

Manhattan at dawn
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Pedometer reading 20956 (new record)

Day 22 - Friday 25 May 2007 ( 514 hours down 374 to go)

Another beautiful morning in New York, the harbour is like glass and the fishermen on the wharf along the front of our hotel are out in strength this morning trying to catch the stripped bass that are coming in from the Atlantic Ocean to spawn and they are on the bite this morning. Minimum legal length is 28 inches/ 72cm so they are big fish, like small tuna.

Fill up at breakfast while overlooking the fishers and take off for the day, back up to Macy’s for another look, just in case we missed something, then down to Grand Central Station to take tour of the Station and surrounding buildings. The guru of the area that usually takes the tour had pissed off for the Memorial Day Weekend, so we had a boring little architect who was very knowledgeable on the buildings and history but was not very entertaining. I soon decide that a cold beer at the Hyatt next to Grand Central was a better deal so I left Julie to discover the history of the Chrysler Building and the Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Station
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As it was another beautiful day we decided on a walk through Central Park, so we grabbed a cab to the Southern end and commenced walking. With the weather and holiday weekend the park was packed with people, it was a very pleasant walk but the place is so big the legs started to get a bit sore so it was eventually time to find an exit and a subway station to get back to our Hotel. On the last train under the Hudson River just as we pulled into our station they had a power failure which stopped everything, so escalators were out and we took the 15 levels of steps up just to finish me off. As we got outside we found a big hullabaloo going on. It looked like a car had either blown up or caught on fire. There was a huge crowd, sirens of fire trucks and police cars heading to the area. We were very happy to get back into the sanctuary of our hotel room and later learnt that a manhole cover had blown up under a parked car just as it was reversing out, resulting in second degree burns to the driver, and one burnt out car. We were both very knackered so ordered room service for dinner, chicken club sandwich and a quiet night in front of the TV.

Chrysler Building
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Pedometer reading 13333

Day 23 - Saturday 26 May 2007 ( 538 hours down 350 to go)

It’s 7.40am Saturday morning when I would normally be walking down the first hole at Grange after a penetrating 250 metre drive, but here I am stuck in the hotel dining room being force fed smoked salmon looking out over Manhattan, not a bad second choice.

This morning we decide on a three hour boat cruise around Manhattan so it’s back on the Subway up to 42^nd Street and walk down to the pier. Cruise is very good and goes by all the normal tourist sights of Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Battery Park and then under the bridges, Brooklyn, Manhattan & Williamsburg. As it gets further around the landscape on both sides changes to more industrial and public housing and later Manhattan is mostly a Public Reserve and is natural bush. It’s about here that we start to nod off a bit as it is very peaceful and quite warm. After the cruise we walked back up to Times Square and up to 47^th Street to visit the apartment block where we stayed last time. Times Square is jam packed with tourists in town for the holiday weekend and people going to the 2.00pm matinee sessions of the Broadway shows. Walked along Broadway, bought a couple of CD’s from a couple of emerging Rap Artists for Andrew and they autographed them. As we have tickets to see The Lion King tonight we checked out the theatre location and found a restaurant that looks good for a pre-theatre dinner. Get back to hotel for a rest and scrub up for our big night out on Broadway.

Lady Liberty
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Get back up there at 5.00pm and there are twice as many people as earlier, check out restaurant, waiting list is 1 hour so we put our name down and walk around a bit more. After about 30 minutes we are sick of walking in the crowd so we go back to wait. Just as we walk in we hear “Richard, table for 2” so we push past the crowd waiting for a table and walk in, you get lucky sometimes.

Now the Restaurant is called “Bubba Gump Shrimp Company” and is based on the Forest Gump theme and it is huge. We get a table on the first floor overlooking Times Square and order, Shrimp stuffed with crab for Julie, and mixed shrimp platter for me. Both meals were great and very filling and we were soon back out on the streets lining up for the Lion King at the Theatre next Door to Bubbas. Our seats are very good, seven rows back from the Orchestra near middle. Lights out, curtain up and opening scene is fantastic but within about 10 minutes I am nodding off, Julie keeps jabbing me but that eventually stops as she is nodding off as well. We welcome intermission as it gives us a chance to take a walk and wake ourselves up for the second half. We are OK for a while but soon start yawning and closing the eyes. We know that everyone we know that has seen the show really enjoyed it and here we are falling asleep. Whilst we think the sets and the costumes are very well done the story is basically a Disney cartoon with no recognizable songs so we walk out slightly entertained but a little disappointed.

Times Square Broadway at night
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Getting home was a breeze as Julie has the NY Subway system under total control and we are home tucked in bed within 35 minutes.

Pedometer Reading 17310

Day 24 - Sunday 27 May 2007 ( 562 hours down 326 to go)

Big sleep in after our wild night out on the town, open the curtains to see two Cruise ships coming up the river to berth. This morning we decide to satisfy one of the things that I have wanted to do for a long while, walk the Brooklyn Bridge. Julie wants to walk both ways but I convince her to navigate the subway across the bridge, get out and walk down to the wharf area, grab a slice of pizza at the famous Grimaldis or an ice-cream at the Brooklyn Ice-cream Factory. Not a worry, we are soon over at Brooklyn and have a look around, Grimaldis is not open yet but has a line of people waiting, so it’s ice cream. The wharf area is a favourite place for couples to have their wedding photos taken with the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop. There are three brides (all Asian) posing this morning. We grab an ice-cream and head off to find the Bridge Walk path which is easy to find. Whilst we didn’t expect to be the only people on the bridge the large number walking, running, roller blading and riding was quite a shock, but then again it is Sunday, holiday weekend and a beautiful day. Very enjoyable walk, 2000 steps and the surprise to me was that you walk on top of the bridge down the middle. We then walk on down to the Battery Park area at the bottom end of Manhattan where all the cruises leave from to go to Ellis Island and to the Statue of Liberty. Managed to pick up a couple of pairs of shoes on the way, which was a bonus for Julie.

Brooklyn Bridge walk
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The lines of people wanting to take a cruise was huge and the knock off street vendors were out in force but very nervous and always ready to pack up as the Police were also there in similar numbers. But I managed to get a good looking Gucci watch on the run for $10.00.

Walked along the esplanade area for a long way and checked out a few restaurants for later, found a nice pair of earrings and back home to rest the legs.

For dinner we head on back to Manhattan to the Liberty View Chinese Restaurant and yes we did have a view of Lady Liberty. We enjoyed a nice meal, Roast Duck and Pork Ribs, and our surprise a Rosemount Cab Merlot for $25.00.

Staten Island Ferry
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Pedometer reading 22423 ( a new PB)

Day 25 - Monday 28 May 2007 ( 586 hours down 302 to go)

As today is the Memorial Day holiday and not much is happening we decide to explore the Greenwich Village, SOHO, and Chinatown areas by foot. Funnily enough Greenwich does have a nice village atmosphere and is very easy to walk around. We find a hairdresser shop open so it is time for a haircut for Richard. SOHO area is a lot more commercial and we come across a food shop that Julie had read about, Dean & Deluca, which has the best range and best presented food that we have ever seen. Too bad we filled up at breakfast. We move on down to the Chinatown area which is just crazy with street stalls selling cheap bags, watches, t-shirts & sunglasses and touts asking if you are looking for knockoff bags & watches. We come back across the river to Jersey and have a walk back into the Jersey City area which is pretty seedy once you get past the financial district so we head on back to the hotel for a rest and a quiet drink before dinner.

Snug Harbour Park
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For Dinner for we choose to eat in the Hotel’s only Restaurant as it is the closest and the view is pretty good. Waiter is a pain, but food is good, grilled prawns for Julie and lamb chops for Richard, washed down with a very nice Bonnie Doon Riesling from California.

Pedometer reading 19015

Day 26 - Tuesday 29 May 2007 ( 610 hours down 278 to go)

As we have explored most of Manhattan we decide to spread our wings and catch the free ferry to Staten Island and check it out. Took the 2,3, subway uptown one stop to transfer to the 1 line going downtown to get off at Ferry Station, Julie has got this system worked out so well, people ask her for assistance every day (mostly Poms and Japanese). After a pleasant 30 minute cruise we dock at Staten Island and make our way up to Snug Harbour, which is a historic park with theme gardens. Only trouble is I decide to walk instead of catching bus which is the wrong choice but I don’t complain. The park is very quaint with beautiful trees a series of colonial buildings and we have a look at the Chinese Scholar’s Garden which is a sister garden to a garden we looked at in Suzhou, last year.

Manhattan at night from our room
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Next door is an outdoor restaurant and the temptation to have a sit down, a cold beer and a toilet stop is too hard to resist and we also share a Cuban Panini. Refreshed we explore the White garden, the Chinese Peony garden & Tropical Glasshouse and this time we take the bus back to the Terminal to catch the train that traverses the length of the Island. Train takes 40 minutes and there is not much to see other than looking into the backyards of Staten Island houses which all look the same but very American. Arrive at end of Island and there is less to see here so we wait for the driver to have a leak and then head back to the Terminal to catch the ferry back to Manhattan.

We get back to Hotel foot sore and too tired to go out so we share a packet of Thai flavoured chips for dinner and retire to bed to watch several episodes of the Sopranos on HBO. A big night out for our last night in the Big Apple.

Pedometer reading 15601