Arrival at home

We arrived at Heathrow on time & then went to get our coach tickets, we didn't bother booking the tickets before we went just in case we missed it, turns out we only had about 30 minutes to wait. After a 3-hour coach trip back to Portsmouth, a ferry ride & a taxi we finally arrived at our front door 24 hours after we had set off from the hotel, 11:30 am again. It's good to go away but it's always good to get home. This is definitely one city we will be returning to soon, already planning it.....

Looking back over the last few weeks & months it makes you wonder where all the time has gone in-between. Would we go back & do it all again, I think yes has to be the answer to that one, can’t wait in fact. With that, I’ve enjoyed making this blog of our trip to New York City; this is a place we come to know so well in such a short time. It’s a big city with all the big city problems but with a little common sense & lots of police, these things make you feel a lot safer than I do walking down my local High Street at around 8.30pm on any night of the week.
A truly amazing holiday that we both enjoyed.

Farewell NYC

It's 11:30 am & we have just checked out of the hotel. Where did the last 8 days go? We headed onto the subway to get the downtown number 1 train to Penn Station. Not too far to walk & once you’re in there it's just a matter of trying to buy the ticket to Newark airport, not the easiest thing to do when you don't know they call it EWR on the self-serve ticket machines & not knowing that only one platform is for one train (unlike the UK) but we got on the right one without any problem. Due to Jane being on sticks the fearsome train guard kicked everyone out of the disabled spots that able body people were all hogging, this is not the female train guard you are going to argue with, move or I throw you off the train sort of thing. One thing we didn't count on

when we got the tickets was that we would be travelling on a double-decker train, never even seen one before apart from on TV, so that was a nice surprise at the end of our holiday.
We arrived at the airport about 50 minutes later & made our way round to the terminal on the Air-train. By now it's around 1:30 pm & the flight was not until 7:25 pm. After hanging around a bit we decided to go airside because there are no shops or anything on this side so checked the bags in & went through. Had a bit of a look round in the shops then the last few days seemed to catch up with me all at once plus I had a banging headache. I took some tablets & even managed to get some sleep for an hour or so. Boarded the plane on time & it left on time, what we gained in the time difference going we would now lose on the way back so even though we left at 7:30 pm we wouldn't land until 7:30 am the following morning but it was only actually a 6 hour flight on the way back as opposed to 8 hours going. We both spent the entire flight watching films that we hadn't seen.

Midtown day

Unfortunately, this is our last full day here so we are planning on taking it easy. We caught the subway downtown to 34th street to go into Madison Square Park (not garden that's the home of the Knicks & an arena like the O2) & had a look at the Flatiron building then had some lunch in the park from the Shake Shack. It's called the Shake Shack for a reason, you place your order & they give what looks like a TV remote control, when your order is ready this thing starts to shake & your number comes up on it. There are some wonderful buildings around there & you do get one of the best views

of the Empire State Building along that road on the South side not to mention the Chrysler Building. So now we are back on the subway again to only go a short distance to Herald Square & stopped for a coffee then it was round into Macy's the iconic overpriced shop. We were looking for a small rucksack type of thing because by now we had run out of luggage space but for 120 bucks for a small bag, we went elsewhere, one good thing is they have super-fast free Wi-Fi so we made good use of that & left. This area is quite vibrant, there's plenty of shops around here that sell everything for the tourist so a bit more buying for others & something for ourselves then we were on the subway back to the hotel for a bit as we were planning on going out for our last meal in this wonderful city at Langans. Then our last mooch round Time Square for some replica model vehicles from the city. With that done it was time to say goodbye to Time Square & head back to try & fit everything in our bags & maybe get some sleep for what would turn out to be a very long day.

Downtown & Top of the Rock

Only got a few things planned for today but they should all be top class. The weather was a bit rubbish this morning, cold, dull & windy at the moment, let's hope it improves. First on the list is to get some photos of the west side of the Brooklyn Bridge, bloody Hell it was cold on there today. Walked halfway across it & nearly froze my fingers off because I forgot my gloves then had a walk around City Hall Park & fed the very large squires some crisps. We then hopped on the train & headed down to the south ferry station, there is another stop down there that wasn't affected by the flooding & only a short walk from Battery Park where you get some good

views of the Statute of Liberty. That was a hard one to photograph because the sun was in the wrong place (at least the sun had come out by now) & we did get a good look at the new World Trade Center that is nearly finished. Add a 2 dollar hot dog in & we were having a good time. With that, it was back to the hotel for a nap before we headed out for the evening & something I was really looking forward to. Tonight we had got tickets to go up the Top of The Rock (Rockefeller building), it's not the tallest building in NYC but apparently offers the best all round of the city. You pre-buy your tickets to go to this building to avoid any queuing to get in & after you have been through the airport-style security you are shown round to the lift area.­ I'd never even heard of a multimedia lift before let alone been in one but wow what a ride. When the doors closed behind us nothing happens for a few seconds then all the lights go out, load heavy beat music starts playing & flashing lights above your head make you look up. That's when the lift shaft lights up all the way to the top with small blue lights then it sets of going at incredible speed but it doesn't feel like you’re moving. It's an amazing sight to see as it travels 800 feet up in less than 30 seconds. Once at the top you come out on the first of 3 observation decks at around 800 foot above street level. This level is fully enclosed so it’s a bit

difficult to get good photos at night with the reflections from the glass but what a view. There plenty of seats up here & free super-fast Wi-Fi access. The next floor up has 2 open areas that you can walk out on to with glass panels that have gaps in so you can poke your camera through without the reflection problem. We then moved on to the very top floor, this is the 70th floor & you are now 850 feet above street level. Here you are on the very top of the building, the only thing higher than you is some small aerials & dishes, most other tall buildings you’re still a long way from the very top but not here. When you come out of the other lift that takes up one floor you pass through a light room & if you’re young enough you can run around to make the ceiling change colour then the lights will follow you around. Through a set of doors then & you are out onto the fully open top viewing deck.

At that height, it’s a bit chilly but oddly enough it didn't feel that cold but you do get an uninterrupted 360-degree view over the city, simply stunning the view at night & there was hardly anyone up there at that time but it was 11 pm now. To warm up a bit we went in the gift shop to buy some mementoes (yes, that's at the very top as well) & then headed back down on to the lower floors to use the Wi-Fi again in the warmth & have a sit-down. Then back down in the lift to the lobby area & back out. On the way out we walked through the shopping area at the bottom & got a really nice view of the ice rink that they have in the plaza every year & watched the people skating around. We did see somebody go round then drop to one knee & propose, she must have said yes due to the round of applause from everyone who was watching from the balcony just above, that was the feel-good moment of the day I think. The only downside was they hadn't finished putting up the Rockefeller Christmas tree which is a spectacular sight & has a televised switch on, by now it's 12:30 am or so & time to head back, another late night for us.

Planetarium

Having a lazy day today, just planning on going back to the museum & planetarium today to see what we didn't get a chance to yesterday. It was amazing how much we missed & spent all day in there today although we did get there a bit later than planned after getting off the subway at the wrong stop. Had my photo took with Roosevelt, but he didn't say much, then again he was made of bronze. By the time we came out, it was almost dark so they're where some opportunities to get some brilliant photographs of the outside of the building in the dark & all glass

planetarium building.
As I said it was a lazy day so just got something to eat on the way back to the hotel & watched TV for bit in the evening then Jane went for a sleep while I went out for a walk around but ended getting the subway up to Columbus Circle to photograph it in the dark but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be, o well, you can't win them all can you. Thought to myself sod it so hoped back on the next subway train back to 47th street & went to the Irish pub at 11:30 pm for a beer but embed up having about 4. This place doesn't close till about 4:30 in the morning, not that there was many in there when I went in but started to fill up when I was getting ready to come out. Not too bad the price of beer in there at $7 (£4.40) for just over a pint. Pleasant walk back to the hotel & there was still loads of people about at 1ish in the morning.

Columbus Circle & The Natural History Museum

We set off out a bit later today, 10:20 I think, & dropped down into the subway at the other end of the road & caught the uptown C train to Columbus Circle which is right on the southwest corner of Central Park. Plenty of shops around there including the Time Warner shopping centre. We headed over to one of the food kiosks on the corner of the park & had some brunch, chicken & noodle soup with a bread roll & large coffee for me. There are some impressive skyscrapers in this area as well that are mostly glass & reflect the other buildings all around. We had a stroll around here for a while & spent some time watching people making ice sculptors with chainsaws. With that done it was time to move on so we got the next subway train uptown to the American Museum of natural history (AMNH for short). Considering it's not that cheap to go in at $18 each it was worth every cent. The place is vast inside with around 30

halls or so. We had our photo taken with Dumb Dumb (from a night at the museum movie), it was so funny watching everyone who came into that hall because he was the first thing they seen & immediately stated rein acting the scene from the film. After a lot more walking round in there, it was time for some lunch & a beer in the cafe inside the museum. Not a place we would eat at again, food was an overpriced & not tastiest meal I've ever had, made good use of the free Wi-Fi in there as well though.
By now it was getting towards closing time & we hadn't even covered two-thirds of the place but we had to have a look at the Hayden Planetarium. By this time we had decided we would to make another trip here tomorrow or before we went home at least. Somehow we came out of the building & straight into the subway station that was packed with everyone else who was coming out of the museum as well. Only to be expected I suppose.

Time Square on a Saturday night is not the place to be if you don't like crowds, the place was absolutely packed, you could hardly walk down the pavement without having to fight your way through the crowds but we needed something to eat before going back to the hotel. All the good places to eat where full so we ended up getting some sandwiches (& beer) from the shop on the corner & eating back at the hotel. I decided to go back out again a bit later on to use the free Wi-Fi in Time Square so I could post some stuff on Facebook & check on my emails.

Wall Street and Brooklyn

So where did we go today? We came out of the hotel about 10 am & onto the subway which is right outside the hotel. We were planning on going right down to the southern tip of Manhattan on it but because of the damage that was done by hurricane Sandy the south ferry station is closed for the foreseeable future, no worries we had a plan B. Hopped on another train & went to City Hall station, we were planning on having a look round Chinatown but it didn't look the best of neighbourhood's round there so we walked around by City Hall to a small plaza area where there where some snack stalls. Jane got a chicken & noodle soup that was lovely & only a couple of dollars from a Korean kiosk, I just had a coffee. We dropped back down into the subway then & went to Wall Street & had a walk past the New York stock exchange. Next on the list was the police museum that's only a short walk from there. I thought I'd just nip round there first to make sure it was open as that part of lower Manhattan was badly

damaged during the hurricane a couple of weeks before, even though it looked unscathed it was closed because of it, shame they didn't put it on the website that it was closed. It was amazing to see how much work was going on around there to clear up the mess & repair the damage so soon afterwards. Only a short walk from there was something I've always want to see The Brooklyn Bridge. What an incredible sight it really is. I must have spent an hour or so taking photos round there while we waited for the ferry to arrive to cross the East River to a place called Dumbo where a lot of movie scenes have been filmed just below the bridge. Incredible to see how close to the apartments it is & even goes over some of the buildings. The odd thing was it was really cold when we were in Wall Street but once we were out on the pier & the river it felt about 10 degrees warmer. Once you are away from the tall buildings you do get some direct sunlight on your bones plus there was a nice park to sit in with views across to the Statute of Liberty. I took some more photos of the bridge from the east side as the sun was getting low, incredible how red & golden it looks in the low light. Then a short walk up onto the bridge to take some more photo’s. We were starting to get a bit hungry now so it was time to look for somewhere to

eat but a lot of places where closed over that side due to the flooding & it's a bit off the beaten track for tourist, still you can always find somewhere to eat without too much of a problem, today we got lucky. We came across an Italian pizza place called Grimaldi's coal brick oven pizzeria so dived inside to feed. I don't think either of us had seen a pizza that big before except on TV & for $14 plus $2 a topping it was a great value. We opted for medium size pizza which was about 2 foot across, that's a lot of pizza when it's sat in front of you & the best bit is the kitchen is in the bar area so you get to watch your pizza being made there & then. It took some eating between us & we couldn't finish all it but only left 2 slices, all this for $27 including drinks, tax & tip. The bloke who severed us seemed a bit put out that we didn't want to take the rest with us in a doggie bag, not that there was anything wrong with it but neither of us like cold pizza. We could barely move when we got up to go, this is one place we will be going back to on our next visit. With that over with it was time to start thinking about making a move back towards the hotel as it had been a long day & Jane's leg was starting to hurt. The journey back was a bit of a pain because you have to go down fairly deep into the subway at High Street station Brooklyn so that it can get under the river, that was a lot of steps for Jane to get down with no lifts at this station, there was an escalator but they go a bit quick for her to get on, then we had to change trains at a place called Chambers station that's really large & all underground so that was a lot of walking with lots of steps to go up & down but eventually got to the Number 1 line that would drop us off right back near the hotel by around 8:30pm after getting some things from the local shop to eat. I nipped out for a bit on my own tonight to take some photos in the dark of all the lights in Time square & got the free Wi-fi they have there to work on my phone & tablet computer so I could upload some photos to Facebook. Got back to the hotel & even though it's November you have to have the window open it’s so warm in the room, not got the heating on either. It's funny listening to all of the sounds with the window open, cars, sirens & everybody hooting their horns, which they do all the time here day & night. Don't think anyone knows who's hooting at who most of the time I think so, time for some tins of beer & a bit of TV before bed.

Grand Central Station

By the time we got up this morning, it was about nine & we went out about ten then headed on over to Grand Central Terminus as it only a short walk plus you get to see some of the sights on the way. From the outside, it doesn't look that big but wow when you get in there the place is vast. It covers 3 floors, the bottom floor is where all the tracks & coffee shops are, and the main floor is the lobby & ticket area that you see in all the films. The upper floor is only at both ends, this where you enter the station at street level, with some great views of the staircases down. I think most people go there just to photograph that part & don't actually

travel anywhere. I think the best part of it was the side slopes down to the lower level, if you look up it’s an amazing sight. While we were there we got the 7-day travel MTA cards for unlimited travel on the subway & buses. At $27 each, they are excellent value for money. The only downside is you have to buy them from a machine & there's more than one type of machine in the station. When we finally got the right one it wouldn't accept card payments so we ended using our smaller bills up which I didn't want to do as changing $50 is a pain in the arse.
So then it was out of the Grand Station & lunch time. Where shall we go? So took a walk along 5th Avenue looking for somewhere good to eat. There are loads of places that do food but nothing seemed to appeal to us or have anywhere to sit inside then we came across MacDonald’s, as they say "when in Rome", so we dived in to get out of the cold wind that was blowing down the road. It's definitely not like anything in the UK that's for sure. We had a lovely Aberdeen Angus burger with Swiss cheese, large fries & a bucket of a drink all for $7. We then had a stroll around the shops in the cold & found a 99 cent shop so I got myself a woolly hat & scarf because I forgot mine, a bit more looking at the shops then off back to the hotel for an afternoon nap to make way for the evening out. After they have fixed the tap I could have a nap. I left Jane to have a have sleep & thought I'd go for a stroll on my own for an hour or so. Didn't go far but wanted to check out the subway. There are a couple of stations on either side of the hotel so I dropped down into one them. It's nothing like the London underground where you spend half an hour going miles into the earth to travel a quarter of a mile, it's just under the pavement down a couple of flights of stairs. I only went one stop just to see what it was like & make sure Jane could get down there OK. They go at a Hell of a speed those trains. I got back to the hotel at about six o’clock and had a bit of a rest then we went out for an evening meal, we had no idea where we were going to eat so we just walked around for a bit, it's not like you’re stuck for places to eat in this area it’s just finding a good place. In the end, we came across an Irish pub on 47th street that was tucked away called Langans. The food there was lovely & really good value. After a good feed & watered it was time to walk it off around the model shops in Time Square & even got a couple of free strange energy drinks because the trolley somebody was pulling them on fell over & they rolled everywhere. Finally got back to the hotel around one in the morning again, watched a bit of TV then crashed out. That was another day over with already but we were getting to grips with this place now & finding our way around without any problems.

First night

It was an early start for us today, I think we didn't really get any sleep last night. The taxi arrived to pick us up at about 2:30 am to take us to Heathrow airport & we arrived there about 3:45 with more than enough time to spare. Check-in was about 5:30 for an 8:30 flight to Newark airport. It seems like a really long time when you’re just sat around waiting, it's not like you can get any sleep while you’re waiting. At least the plane left bang on time at 8:30 for an 8-hour flight and on the plus side it got in about 45 minutes early, add that to the time difference of 5 hours & it's still only midday. We had plenty of tea, coffee & the food wasn't too bad either. We got through Newark airport fairly quick & we were soon stood outside in the good old U.S of A by 12:45 pm on a lovely sunny day even though it was a bit cold but it normally is in November. It was just nice to be out in the fresh air & have a smoke, I needed that. With the smoking break over it was time to make a move & get on our way to the Amsterdam Court hotel on 50th street & 7th Avenue in the Big Apple.
So it's back into the airport to catch the Air train to Newark airport railroad station. The Air train is a strange sort of monorail that drives itself & goes all the way around all the terminals every 3 minutes or so & it's free. There are about 12 or so pods that make up the train but they only hold about 6 to 12 people with their entire luggage, we had a pod to ourselves. We arrived at the main rail station in about 10 minutes and bought the tickets for the train to Penn station, at only $12 dollars (£7) each it was a bargain when you consider it's about 20 miles or 50-minute journey. It was a bit clapped out & knackered the train but it got us there, passing through the outskirts of New Jersey is an eye opener, and a bit of a dump, and it looked like mainly industrial round there. We got off the train about an hour later at Penn station which reminded me of Birmingham New Street, buried in the earth, dark & gloomy but we made our way through the crowds & up to street level on 34th street. It was good to get out of the station & away from the crowds down there even though the number of people on the street wasn't much better. We decided to walk from there to the hotel which probably wasn't the best idea because it was a bit further than I thought up to 50th street & took about another hour but we did get to see the insane traffic in 8th Avenue.

We found the Amsterdam Court hotel without any problems, checked-in & flopped on the bed to recover for a bit. The room wasn't very big but it was clean, warm & had a super comfy bed that I needed for an afternoon nap.
So we ventured out a couple of hours later for our first walk around, we

wasn't planning on doing much that evening, just get our bearings, something to eat & some beer of course.

Time Square was only a 5-minute walk or so from the hotel & has to be seen to be believed. There are just so many flashing lights everywhere & the noise is incredible. We had a mooch round in the shops & went to the M&M store which has 3 floors of all things made of chocolate then climbed up the TKTS steps to take some photos. We had something to eat but I can't for the life of me remember what it was now. Nipped back in the shop at the end of the road on the way back to the hotel to top up on some tins beer, got to get your priorities right. We finally got back to the hotel room at about 1 am in the morning (don’t know where the time went) totally knackered but we had packed a full day into just a few hours. I still didn’t go to bed straight away so I sat up for a bit to drink beer & listen to the local radio. Tomorrow would be a long day but I had it all planned out, still, I really should have gone to bed a bit sooner, but what the heck who knows how long it would be before we got here again, so sat there planning & sipping beers until about 3 am.