Greenwich Village

Saturday was perfect for a stroll around Greenwich Village, sunshine and feeling relaxed. We stopped at Caffe Reggio, an Italian coffee shop with a very exotic atmosphere. It had the most interesting toilet, a small narrow green door and was like walking into a cupboard I suppose that's where 'water closet' comes from. Paul had the biggest coffee and the New York Cheesecake, the best for sure, it was the smoothest with a lovely meringue topping.

Later in the afternoon I wandered up 5th Ave on my own for a bit of window shopping and came across this window with a bright display of beautiful floor mats.

We finished the day with a meal at the BB King Bar and Grill, another late night.

Today we were in the right place at the right time with a visit to see Grand Central Station, that was WOW! When coming out we could hear very loud band music. It was a parade for Spanish speaking South American communities, all were dressed in their native costumes and looking spectacular.

Our last day here has been quite hot but we still walked about to soak up the sounds, sights and smells of New York City, the buildings are incredible with beautiful ornate features, not a space is spared. One of the bus tour guides said that you can even buy air space now so you can build ontop of other buildings. It's all WOW!!

Early night, big day tomorrow....we are off to Providence.

Loving New York

Yesterday started with a tour of the Intrepid Museum which is a sea, air and space complex on Pier 86. We had a close up look at the air craft carrier and heard personal stories of air men in World War 11. Paul enjoyed doing some man stuff and I found it intersting, especially the James Bond style spy plane and a look through the submarine SS Growler.

The day was gorgeous so we headed back to Central Park. We still hadn't found Stuart Little! A Pedicab driver greeted us wth a big grin so we thought that sounded like fun and off we went with Joseph. He took us to the spots of interest like the boat house, fountains, bridges and John Lennon's memorial. But still no Stuart Little even though we went by the lake.

But walking back from the park Paul spotted a huge rat hiding behind a car! Girls were stopping and looking but it didn't move then we realised it was stuffed and the parking attendant had a cheeky grin on his face!!

After seeing the show 'Chicago' which I loved with that great music and dancing we decide to line up for more show tickets and amazingly got into 'Superman'! Well that was spectacular!! The sets, costumes, singing, dancing, effects, everything was superb.

Margaret, we tried a soft pretzel, it was tasty but gee the salt made my toes curl!

Our hotel is just off 7th Ave on West 25th street which is a good walk from Times Square. We have done this walk many times now and feel really safe even at night. I love all the interesting characters like the group we met last night. As we were walking back after the show about 10 flash and shiny cars, some Cadillacs, with load music blaring cruised past. They stopped and we chatted for awhile, they call themselves The Lowriders and are very proud of their shiny machines. We also saw 'The Naked Cowboy' hugging the girls and having his photo taken, so much fun!!

Statue Of Liberty

Our main interest today was the ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty. The line up was amazingly long, we had to wait over an hour to get aboard and go through the same security screening as the airports. We are getting used to that as the screening is the same in the Empire State Building and Top of the Rocks. The trip was worth it as it was a beautiful day and watching so many people is an education. This is off peak season so it is a good time to be here.

We lined up again in Times Square for half price tickets for a Broadway show tonight and decided on 'Chicago'. This line was very well organised, it still took about 40 minutes.

Uptown to Harlem

Our 1st stop today was the Museum of Natural History, everything from the smallest bug and butterfly to the largest whale and elephant, dinosaurs, the stars and moon, all very impressive.

Then for a change of pace the Apollo Theater (our spelling....theatre). We enjoyed the atmosphere in Harlem with friendly people stopping to chat. Paul loves The Blues so he bought some CDs from a street stallholder 6 for $10.00, I hope they work!!!

I can't remember the last time I had a hotdog but it was on my list to 'eat a hotdog in Central Park' it may seem a simple thing to some people and it is a good memory for me, yes I enjoyed it!

We finished the day with a night bus tour to Brooklyn and a 'yellow taxi' trip back to our comfy hotel.

Hopping-on-hopping-off

It's 10pm Paul is asleep on the bed (still dressed) we have been out all day. The 'Hop-on-hop-off' buses are fantastic for getting around, our 1st stop was The Empire State Building. It was a bit cloudy but still magnificent, then down to the World Trade Centre area, we sat for a while to try and imagine the Twin Towers. Then Wall Street and a very late lunch at South Street Seaport.

We hadn't planned to go to the Top of the Rock observation tower today but when the bus stopped there just before sunset we decided to get tickets. The fellow in the ticket box asked what time would we like to go up and I said about 5pm he laughed it was already 5.36. time flies when you're having fun. Luckily we didn't have to line up for to long, the day had cleared we had a perfect view and sunset.

Looking toward The Empire State Building from The Top Of the Rock Observation Deck.

The 1st of 7 days in New York

Paul enjoying coffee in Time Square.

We flew overnight from LA to New York and was amazed at how quick and easy it was to catch the train from JFK into Penn Station. Well, I say easy because of the helpful and patient attendant helping us with the ticket machine. We all had a good laugh anyway!

Help came again as we popped out of the ground right in the middle of Seventh Ave. I must have been holding the map upside down! I was wondering do we go left or right and another kind local pointed us in the right direction of Downtown. Our hotel is walking distance in Chelsea with a bonus of free internet, a comfortable room and a view of a very interesting brick wall. It's funny but I actually don't mind the brick wall, there are very old steel shutters on the windows which must hold a thousand stories of the depression and a lifetime of secrets. I think there is inspiration for a Zentangle in that brick wall!

Whenever I have seen a photo of Time Square, I would think that one day we will sit on those red chairs, people watch and have coffee! Tick that off the list too!

2 days in LA

We settled into the old world exotic Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd a bit hot and quite tired after our flight. All I needed was a cool shower but when I walked into the bathroom, whoops, water was dripping quite fast from the light fitting in the ceiling. This turned out to be in our favour as we had to move to another room which was an upgrade and on the 10th floor with an amazing view straight down Hollywood Blvd and out to Downtown LA.

Looking forward to seeing the sights and not wanting to sleep to soon we hopped on the 'Hop-on-hop-off' bus for a loop. We did find it hard to stay awake though. I slept for 10 hours.

The view from our room.