I knew I should have taken a notepad to New York, I'll never remember it all, but here goes. I had a brilliant time, I have returned completely knackered but it was worth it
The flight was good, the train connection from Newark to New York easy, well it would have been easy had I not had a very large purple suitcase, we took a taxi from Penn Station to our Hotel. The Casablanca Hotel had the best reviews on Tripadvisor I always use that site before I go anywhere. The reviews were right, we couldn't have wished for a better location, it was a stones throw from Times Square, the staff were exceptional, it provided complimentary snacks, coffee, tea throughout the day and between 5pm and 8pm every night complimentary wine and cheese. Of course when you're in New York you don't really spend that much time in your hotel!
We arrived tuesday evening, dumped our bags and headed out to Times Square, had a look around and then headed up to the Russian Vodka Room, I had been there previously and actually remembered where it was, I also remembered that they made the best Cosmoplitans in New York, so we had a couple and felt very "Sex in the City" then we had a couple more, and then the lovely Svetlana said in a beautiful Russian accent "Only five minutes of happy hour left - one more?" Oh go on then ...now Svetlana's Cosmopolitans are VERY strong, so we left feeling more "Sick in the City" but did sleep like logs.
The guys at the front desk in the Hotel suggested we do the open top bus tour, and get a 2 day pass as it was only $10 extra, we got on the bus an firstly did the Downtown Loop, it was a hop on/off thing so we got off a Ground Zero there were a lot of people taking pictures and video which made me a little uneasy, but what made me feel even more uneasy were the people making money out of all this sufferering with "souvenior brouchures" containing pictures of that terrible, terrible day. I couldn't stay long, we did go to the church next to the sight, they had removed all the tributes and had stored them for people to see, it also showed how the many volunteers has worked, how they set up kitchens to feed people, cot beds for them to rest in, each bed had a stuffed animal placed on it, it was touching, and heartbreaking and I left feeling humble and emotional. I wasn't ready to get back on the bus so we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge it was an amazing feet of engineering, and the views of Manhatten were breathtaking.
We got on the next bus and carried on with the tour, we stopped for lunch at an amazing if touristy place called Ellen's Stardust Diner where all the waiters and waitresses sing while serving, they were amazing none of them would have been out of place in the West End. We then did the Uptown loop which went through Harlem, and past the famous Apollo Theatre where many stars started out at their talent nights, including Ella Fitzgerald who according to our tour guide actually went to enter as a tap dancer, but four excellent dancers had gone on before and she didn't think she could follow them so sang instead....and history was made. We finished the tour, walked back up to Times Square went for dinner and ended our first full day in NYC. We sat in the lounge in the Hotel and planned our next day....it was time for Lady Liberty.
Thursday we used our bus ticket to go to Battery Park where you can get the ferry for Ellis Island, we arrived and got greeted by an enormous queue or line (if I am to use the local lingo). However it did move very quickly, we got on the ferry and went first to Liberty Island, the thing that struck me was how small she was - I don't mean small in that way but small to how I imagined her. Nevertheless she is a beautiful thing. We left Liberty Island after a hotdog and went on to Ellis Island, it was so intersesting they really have done a great job in trying to put across what it must have been like for the people who arrived there, some as young as nine had travelled alone from their original countries looking for a better life. Some stayed, some were sent straight back, children were separated from families, some of the stories heartbreaking. It was another day that had touched us.
We returned to Battery Park and walked, looking at the Memorials to the fallen, then walked up to Southside Seaport for a well deserved beer and a look at the tall ships. We got back on the bus got off at The Rockefeller Centre and went to the "Top of the Rock", the views were spectacular, you had beautiful views of Central park, the Empire State, and the whole of Manhatten, seperated not by railings but thick sheet glass, they had kindly left small gaps between each sheet so you could stick your camera through. We used our bus ticket for the final time to go on the night tour, what was great was the time we picked, it was about seven so on the drive out of Manhatten we saw the sunset over the skyline, we drove into Brooklyn and when we drove back it was dark so we saw the skyline lit up. They had lit the Empire State in red, white and blue in honour of Memorial day......did I mention it was fleet week when we arrived so there were thousands of Marines and Sailors walking around the city in those gorgeous Richard Gere uniforms .....I had been very excited by this until our tour guide said they were all between 18 and 24!!!!! Our tour guide also told us the best place to get Pizza in NY was John's he was right, we went on the way back to the hotel Sarah and I agreed it was the best pizza we had EVER had.
And so to Friday ....what a day, we started off at the Empire State Builiding, now a little tip is buy your tickets on-line for a start, if you don't want to wait in "line" for a long time, pay a little extra for the skyride as well, it's an awful "flight simulator" type ride thing as if you're in a Helicopter flying over NY driven badly by Kevin Bacon, but on the plus side you do miss all the "lines" Now while the view was exceptional and the building outstanding, I think I had been spoiled by the views from "Top of the Rock" it was less crowded, the views were better, but I suppose you can't not go it would be like going to Egypt and not seeing the pyramids! After Empire state we went to the TKTS booth to get tickets for the evening, the booth is great you can up to 50% of the tickets for some of the plays/shows on/off Broadway the only thing is of course you have to wait in line! The line for the "shows" was enormous (my fault I thought you had to line up at 3pm, but it was 2pm) so we chose a play instead..... and what a play, we saw Vanessa Redgrave in The Year of Magical Thinking. It was based on the book of the same name, the memoir of Joan Didion. I can't tell you how good it was, I know one thing I will never complain about learning lines again!!!! Vanessa was on stage alone for 90 minutes, no interval, and for 90 minutes she talked, I was spellbound. I have heard various directors over the years saying you can't just sit still, you can't have your hands by your side, but she did, it was the stillness that grabbed you, brought you in to her world, believe in it. What a performance, what an actress, what an evening. We crossed the road to Juniors, we sat in the window where I could see the stage door, I was secretly hoping to catch a glimse of her leaving but didn't. Several people did wait outside the stage door for almost an hour (I watched them while we ate every time the stage door opened their faces lit and then fell when they realised it wasn't her) eventually a stage hand popped out her head and said she had left already......I guess if you don't want to be bothered by fans the stage door is the last door you would leave by. We ate dinner it was not particulary good I think the size of the portion put us off it could have fed at least four people, walked back to the Hotel and so ended another day.................to be continued (or you'll never read it all!!!!)
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