New York City
The girls hit the big apple!
After arriving back in Kingston on Monday evening, I headed over to Michele's to regroup and pack for Our trip to New York City. After rising at 5.30, Michele & I quickly readied ourselves and went to pick up Carrie in order to make our way down to Syracuse to pick up our train. The border crossing was uneventful and I was duly fingerprinted and issued with the obligatory green card.
Unfortunately, our train out of Syracuse was somewhat delayed and we were a couple of hours late getting into PennStation. That however, did not deter us. After locating our apartment (311 East 61st) and depositing our baggage we hailed a yellow cab and headed off down to Little Italy. Here, we were able to enjoy a leisurely dinner on a restaurant patio whilst enjoying people watching.
Day 2
After some consultation, we decided we would head off in the direction of Times Square to try and pick up some tickets to a Broadway show. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll down 5th Ave trying to absorb a myriad of sights and sounds and breakfasted in the square at the Rockefeller Centre. We were lucky enough to be able to obtain tickets to Chicago. Following this we decided to visit Saks in an attempt to find Shelly a handbag. On the way, we were hijacked by the makeup artists at Nars and we all received makeovers. After our transformations and parting with a few dollars for makeup we took a cab further downtown to visit the WTC Memorial site.
What a transformation from when we last visited. The Memorial site consists of two page pools - essentially footprints of both trade centre buildings the were destroyed in the attacks. The names of every victim are enshrined around each pool. Above us rose the Freedom Tower -still under construction but nevertheless impressive.
Whilst in this area, we visited St Paul's Church -a place of pilgrimage. This church essentially became a focus for relief workers and victims in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. Inside are significant mementos, letters of peace & hope and images which chronicle the aftermath of 911.
It was nearing beer o'clock when we left the Memorial so we duly found ourselves a little bar, had a quiet ale and snack and headed off to China town in search of handbags. Nw, since we were last in NYC, the trade in illegal fakes has been cleaned up considerably and each shop had an array of fairly similar bags. These were not really what we were looking for so we moved on to Little Italy for another delicious authentic Italian New York cuisine.
Day 3
Still stinking hot!
We decided to begin our day with a stroll to Central Park. As this wasn't too far from our apartment we were soon enjoying the sights of this famous American Icon. After a few hiccoughs, we managed to locate the famous Strawberry Field and I posed for the obligatory snap. John Lennon's apartment is directly across the road from this site. Here we're mingled among the many tourists who were happy to pose for photographs outside the front gate.
Hailing a yellow cab (we are now very adept at this - just like true New Yorkers) we headed down to 33rd street for a little more serious shopping. After exhausting ourselves (we are, after all propping up the American economy) we lunched in an Irish pub, taking the opportunity to sample yet more beers.
Late afternoon was spent on the Staten Island Ferry where we were able to see the Statue of Liberty. The ferry ride was also a welcome respite from the hustle of a Manhattan. After inserting ourselves into yet another yellow cab we returned to our apartment to freshen up before heading back down to Broadway. Dinner was at the famous Playwrights Pub and our show was at the Ambassador Theatre. A classic take of murder & mayhem, Chicago is the ubiquitous Broadway experience. I can now also say I've seen two shows on Broadway.
Michele also decided that it was appropriate to round out the evening with a cocktail at Sardis - a classic after Broadway venue for those New Yorkers in the know! One chocolate martini later ( yum) we set off through Times Square ( just make sure we were fully on sensory overload), hailed a cab and headed for home. Tired and with sore feet, we all agreed that the past couple of days have been excellent!
Day 4
Again, after a late sleep in, we packed, said farewell to our apartment and headed off to our breakfast venue. (We are almost locals) A quick ride downtown saw us at Penn Station where we caught the 283 to Syracuse. As I write, we are still on the train, kicking back and enjoying a well deserved rest!
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