New York.... New York!!!.... Day 1....

Very sad farewells with Mum and Dad.... I hate saying goodbye... just too heart wrenching!!!

Here's a lovely pic of the three of us a day prior to leaving.... great times & memories together that's for sure... Love you loads Mum and Dad... your both the best in the whole wide world!!!  Keep doing what your doing as your both an inspiration!!

Saturday 7 October 2017

We arrived in to New York JFK on schedule... touchdown at 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon.  Hopped in a yellow cab and slowly crawled through the traffic to our hotel!! Checked in to our hotel... around 7.00pm!! The Sofitel on 45 West 44th Street.  Great location!  On checking in we got an upgrade to a larger room with a king size bed... Thanks Mr Sofitel.

Flying over Long Island...

Views of New York....

Thought this was an interesting view overlooking the local cemetery and beyond to the skyline...

After freshening up we headed out to check out Times Square.  Wow way too many people!  And too noisy with an Indian festival in full swing too!!  So decided to find somewhere to eat and head back to our hotel for an early night ready for a full day of sightseeing the next day.

Sunday morning we were up and out the door at 7.00am!!! Both of us wide awake.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't crash hot... wet and misty for most of the day.  Stepping outside our hotel lobby it was still dark... and very quiet... felt quite eerie in a way!!!  Found a great little breakfast deli around the corner called Dunhill Cafe & Caterers.

First stop was Top of the Rock for a morning view.  I read on Tripadvisor that it was best to visit the Top of the Rock for the morning sunrise and the sunset from the top of the Empire State Building.

Anyhow on the way we spotted this lady in Times Square taking her pig for a walk!!... only in New York!!!  It reminded me of the movie 'Babe : Pig in the City'.

It was certainly a lot quieter here this morning!!

Then looked up and noticed the M&M store along with the Hershey's store... though this Hershey's store had just closed and is due to re-open in a different location later in the year.

Walked along past the historic Radio City Music Hall... wished we had more time to have gone through it too.

Took a quick look around outside the Rockerfeller Centre before the observation doors opened up.  They had not long re-opened the ice skating rink up too, ready for the Winter season.  It must have taken a lot of electricity to keep the ice cold as the outdoor temperature was still around 25 degrees!!!

Loved the pumpkin displays in the Channel Gardens for October/Halloween....

Unfortunately it wasn't a very clear day... in fact it was quite foggy, wet and miserable!!

view of the Empire State Building and downtown Manhattan

views over Central Park

view of the Queensboro Bridge

The tower on the left is 432 Park... its officially New York's tallest apartment building!!!  On the right is the Empire State Building.

Such a great buzz being able to see the city from up above... even though it was pretty wet and misty!  Next stop Grand Central Station.

On the way spotted the steam coming up through the vents in the roads... according to wikipedia the New York City steam system is a district heating system which takes steam produced by steam generating stations and carries it under the streets of Manhattan to heat and cool high rise buildings and businesses.

Grand Central Station...

The main concourse windows are over 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide.  Before central air conditioning they opened the windows to allow air flow into the terminal.. In my picture below you can see someone cleaning the floor.

Each of the chandeliers in the Vanderbilt Hall weight 2,500 lbs and glow with 132 bulbs surrounded by carved oak leaves.

'Meet me at the clock'  Its known that this famed opal clock above the Information Booth is valued at as much as $20 million!! 

On the way popping in to St Patrick's Cathedral.... it was a wonderful experience as a service was in full swing, the choir in full vocal voice.... very moving!!! I lit a candle and made a wish.

Another bucket list to tick off is a horse and carriage ride through Central Park... it was so nice to have a breather from the rain and cuddle with my hubby :-)

Next stop the Guggenheim Museum.  One of the reasons we wanted to visit this was the unusual structure of the building itself.  Its very impressive inside and out... inside walking around the circular ramp gives you a different visual aspect on installations from a higher or lower aspect.

On the way back we took a leisurely walk through Central Park, thankfully it had stopped raining too.
The twin tower building on the otherside of The Lake is the San Remo - a luxury 27 floor apartment complex... known to varying past & present celebrities.

The adorable Alice in Wonderland statue...

 The Gapstow Bridge... the original was wooden structure...

For over 140 years they've been sailing model boats on this lake... great for young and old to enjoy...

As we had been walking and walking and walking we decided to hop on the open top bus for a rest and an audio tour...

view of Trump Tower

Supreme Court Building

NY City Hall Fountain... 

view of the Trump Building (one with the green spire)

loved all the exterior fire escape stairs...

The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story steel-framed landmarked building located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, and is considered to be a groundbreaking skyscraper.

View of the Marble Collegiate Church Spire and the Empire State Building... this is also where Liza Minnelli married David Gest back in 2002... 

The FBI Building

Zuccotti Park : Mark di Suvero's Joie de Vivre

Different aspects of the Chrysler Building....

A brief glimpse of Washington Square Arch... in Greenwich Village...

Even though it was getting late and starting to go dark we decided to hop on the free Staten Island Ferry to check out the Statue of Liberty....

departing from the terminal 

View of the Brooklyn Bridge... and Manhattan Bridge in the background...

 View of the new One World Tower...

 View of Bayonne Golf Club

 View of Robbins Reef Light Station...

Wow what a full on day.... we walked a total of 20.9kms... 28,074 steps... finished off the day with a wonderful French supper at Saju Bistro and a nightcap at our hotel. 

Tomorrow we aim to visit the Empire State Building, 9/11 Memorial & Museum and walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.