New York City. Its taken us a few days to find our way around, walking kilometres each day and collapsing every night. But have we seen things!
Our first stop was the American Museum of Natural History which has the best collection of taxidermy animals and birds we've ever seen. We also saw the Native American exhibition and would have visited more exhibits had the entire museum not been so packed with people that it was difficult getting through them all. Our stroll back through Central Park was a little chilly, but relaxing.
For some reason we thought April wouldn't be as busy as the summer months, and the weather for the first few days was interesting to say the least - a high of 7 degrees, overcast and with occasional drizzle. Alas, none if this appears to have prevented the masses from going out - and it takes so long just to get from A to B.
However, we braved the subway and managed to find our way to Times Square, a truly amazing location full of enormous coloured illuminated advertisements on every available building wall. From there we walked to the biggest department store in the world, Macy's, and caught the escalators to the ninth floor, stopping occasionally to browse.
Two days in a row we lunched at the wonderful John Sullivan's Bar & Grill, an Irish pub with good food and Guinness. On the second of these days Jim located Gotham Model Trains, 13 floors up from the street, and of course we took the time to wander through and chat to the attendant. We also called in at the New York Public Library which has a fantastic 'Readers and Writers Shop' from which I could barely drag myself away.
One of the most spectacular attractions is the Metropolitan Museum of Art which spans 17 acres and exhibits paintings, both masters and modern, sculpture both modern and ancient (Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Medieval, etc.), armoury, costumes, African and Oceanic artefacts and even entire rooms decorated with furniture and fittings from 17th and 18th Century France. We felt like we were back in the Loire Valley.
Exhausted from all the walking we decided to buy tickets on one of the hop-on hop-off buses which took us both downtown and uptown, past the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, the Flatiron Building, Chinatown, Little Italy, the Cathedral of St John the Divine, the Guggenheim Museum, Harlem and the Apollo Theatre, and Battery Park.
One of the absolute musts for NYC is of course the 911 Memorial and Museum. The Memorial is two giant pools of peaceful falling water built over the 'footprints' of the original twin towers. The Museum is an enormous underground cavern that extends down six floors in a figure eight layout and displays photos, films, talks, memorabilia and remains from the buildings' structures. It is indeed a magnificent tribute.
We cruised the Hudson River for an hour and passed under both the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges before sailing past the magnificent Statue of Liberty... as Sinatra sang his famous song. Delicious Guinness Irish Stew at yet another Irish Pub was fantastic, and a great way to complete a fabulous day of discovery.
American Museum of Natural History
New York Public Library
Macy's Department Store
John Sullivan's Bar & Grill
Metropolitan Museum of Art
.JPG)
Times Square
Gotham Model Trains
Empire State Building
One World Trade Centre
Angelo's Pizza Restaurant, Times Square
Outside Central Park
911 Memorial Pools
911 Museum
On the Hudson River
New York at Night
Our first stop was the American Museum of Natural History which has the best collection of taxidermy animals and birds we've ever seen. We also saw the Native American exhibition and would have visited more exhibits had the entire museum not been so packed with people that it was difficult getting through them all. Our stroll back through Central Park was a little chilly, but relaxing.
For some reason we thought April wouldn't be as busy as the summer months, and the weather for the first few days was interesting to say the least - a high of 7 degrees, overcast and with occasional drizzle. Alas, none if this appears to have prevented the masses from going out - and it takes so long just to get from A to B.
However, we braved the subway and managed to find our way to Times Square, a truly amazing location full of enormous coloured illuminated advertisements on every available building wall. From there we walked to the biggest department store in the world, Macy's, and caught the escalators to the ninth floor, stopping occasionally to browse.
Two days in a row we lunched at the wonderful John Sullivan's Bar & Grill, an Irish pub with good food and Guinness. On the second of these days Jim located Gotham Model Trains, 13 floors up from the street, and of course we took the time to wander through and chat to the attendant. We also called in at the New York Public Library which has a fantastic 'Readers and Writers Shop' from which I could barely drag myself away.
One of the most spectacular attractions is the Metropolitan Museum of Art which spans 17 acres and exhibits paintings, both masters and modern, sculpture both modern and ancient (Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Medieval, etc.), armoury, costumes, African and Oceanic artefacts and even entire rooms decorated with furniture and fittings from 17th and 18th Century France. We felt like we were back in the Loire Valley.
Exhausted from all the walking we decided to buy tickets on one of the hop-on hop-off buses which took us both downtown and uptown, past the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, the Flatiron Building, Chinatown, Little Italy, the Cathedral of St John the Divine, the Guggenheim Museum, Harlem and the Apollo Theatre, and Battery Park.
One of the absolute musts for NYC is of course the 911 Memorial and Museum. The Memorial is two giant pools of peaceful falling water built over the 'footprints' of the original twin towers. The Museum is an enormous underground cavern that extends down six floors in a figure eight layout and displays photos, films, talks, memorabilia and remains from the buildings' structures. It is indeed a magnificent tribute.
We cruised the Hudson River for an hour and passed under both the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges before sailing past the magnificent Statue of Liberty... as Sinatra sang his famous song. Delicious Guinness Irish Stew at yet another Irish Pub was fantastic, and a great way to complete a fabulous day of discovery.
American Museum of Natural History
New York Public Library
Macy's Department Store
John Sullivan's Bar & Grill
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Times Square
Gotham Model Trains
Empire State Building
One World Trade Centre
Angelo's Pizza Restaurant, Times Square
Outside Central Park
911 Memorial Pools
911 Museum
On the Hudson River
New York at Night
Wow!! Loving the photos…. sounds like you are having an amazing time…… :-)
ReplyDeleteWe're both absolutely exhausted from all the walking but we've seen so much that its all been worth it. Off to Washington DC in the morning - looking forward to sitting down for most of the day!
ReplyDeletePenny, you're making my feet seriously itch! I love travelling vicariously through you both.
ReplyDeleteOur feet are just seriously aching... but its all worth it! Currently in Miami where its 30 degrees and humid. Can't wait to get on the ship tomorrow!
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