Day 3

This is our last full day in New York. It started with breakfast at Big Nick’s diner, that was a good experience. Next we decided to walk to the south end of Central Park, to pick up a horse and carriage ride around the park. Whilst the walk was for 15 blocks it seemed to be a very long walk.
The horse pulling our carriage was called Dyson and I must say, he did a great job of pulling us for an hour around the park.

Our driver pointed out the many places where filming had taken place in the park, including the fountain for the opening scene of Friends.

We also saw John Lennon’s memorial in Strawberry Fields, directly opposite the Dakota Building, still the home of Yoko.

After our ride in the Park we went back to the carousel house for a ride on the carousel.

After leaving the park we went back down town to Macy’s and the Empire State Building.

Following a well deserved afternoon kip we set off back downtown for dinner and then our Broadway Theatre experience. Sister Act was brilliant!

Finally, a yellow cab trip back to the Hotel and straight to bed, in preparation for a 5.30 wake up call. We have an early start tomorrow, for our train journey to Washington.

Day 2

Today was an early start as we enjoyed a guided tour of Manhattan and a boat trip on the Hudson river. The bus tour took us past the Dakota Building, home to late John Lennon and still home to Yoko Ono, and past apartments owned by Katherine Zeta Jones and John McEnroe. Our first stop was Grand Central Station. The station has been restored during the last 10 years.

The next part of our tour took us through theatre land, Broadway and 42nd Street, the shopping area of 5th Avenue (Rockerfella Buildings and Macy’s), Greenwich Village, Wall Street and into the Financial Centre. This included ground Zero where two new towers are already well under construction, next to the memorial site for 9/11.

After a short lunch we caught the boat for a trip down the Hudson to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Once the tour had ended we were dropped off at 42nd Street so that we could buy some theatre tickets for a show – we are seeing Sister Act at the Broadway Theatre tomorrow night.

Malcolm, being a retired Fireman, wanted to visit a fire station, so we set off to visit Fire Station no. 1 and we met Fireman Chris. He told us the tragic story of how all the fireman from his station were lost when the Twin Towers came down.

After a short rest, late afternoon, we went by subway to the South Seaport area for dinner and great views of the Hudson Bridge.

Finally, to finish the day, we returned to Time Square which takes on a totally different perspective at night with it’s fantastically lit bill boards.

We took a lift to the top of the Marriott Hotel, floor 48, and had a drink in their revolving lounge enjoying a 360 view of Manhattan and New Jersey.

Finally, after a totally exhausting but fun day, it’s off to bed to grab some zzzz’s before a full day off free time for more sight seeing again tomorrow.