The Apple Stretching and yawning

Thursday 2 August 2012 – It’s just the Apple stretching and Yawning

Day 111 and 49 to go

Good morning New York! After a fabulous night’s sleep we were awake at 6.30am watching TV news and getting our head around our day. I checked the computer to decide on what we do today before having a shower and going downstairs for breakfast. Sitting at the window looking out on 57^th Street, it was the quintessential US scene with yellow cabs, American flags, NYPD and construction workers.

With food in the belly and our map marked with the place to see we got out on foot amongst the concrete jungle that is New York.

We walked along 57^th Street passing over the well-known streets of Madison Ave, Park Ave and 5^th Ave. The streets were packed with vehicles and the sound of emergency vehicles. We made it all the way to the East River expecting to be able to walk along the riverside but it wasn’t to be. We got glimpses in parts but had to stick to the 1^st Ave heading south until we reached the United Nations building, passing Trump Towers and stealing glimpses of the Chrysler Building along the way.

We entered the initial courtyard and took some pictures before continuing on our way to 42^nd Street where we walked through the Tudor City and passed the very ornate red brick buildings. Our next stop was the Chrysler building to check out the art deco foyer. It was very impressive.

The Chrysler Building is next door to Grand Central Station and we entered the station to check out the amazing main concourse and we weren’t disappointed. The roof was painted in a beautiful teal colour with gold painted star signs. The windows at either end were immense and there was so much white marble. It was really beautiful.

With our wander through the station complete we moved on to the New York Library just up the road another ornate and intricate white marble building. I was interested to head there as the book “Contest” by Matthew Reilly was set in the library.

The building is set over 3 floors with grand staircases sweeping upstairs. We checked out the NYC lunch display that only made Paul hungry. We walked through the main reading room and into a hall lined with old books, mainly religious. Hmmmm.  We were not sure if there were books here that would actually interest people. Maybe they were hidden in a different area that we didn’t get to.

With our viewing of the library complete we made our way down 5^th Avenue detouring into Bryant Park behind the library where the cast of Mamma Mia were entertaining the crowd. It was now quite warm and we were in need of refreshments. We walked onto Times Square where the bright lights were blazing. We found the Heartland Brewery to stop at for a well-earned drink. Paul enjoyed their tasting plate and then a pint of Farmer Jon’s stout.

Now feeling better we continued our walk through Times Square. It was busy with tourists but I didn’t feel crammed in. We bought tickets to a comedy show for tonight playing at the theatre where Seinfeld taped his show endings. Should be interesting.

We made another stop at a bar for another drink, Paul finally ticking off his 100^th beer from his list. Back out on the street we waked into Toys R Us a massive store with a giant ferris wheel. Oh to be a kid again. We then walked into Foot Locker to check out their gear. I was surprised at the reasonableness of the prices.

We continued our walk down 7^th avenue, stopping for a hotdog, bananas, some drinks and then returned to our hotel for a rest and to take stock of what we were doing.

We watched some of the sport channel while I worked on the blog. We looked at the hop on and off bus routes that we have decided to do seeing the city is so large and Paul’s hip is not playing nice at the moment.

At 4 we ventured out again this time taking the subway to the Empire State Building so we could experience some of the best views of New York, unfortunately the long wait put a slight dampner on things. We entered the marble lobby and then up the escalator to join the first of the queues. We passed through the x-ray check then started the cattle grid snaking round and round.

Once through this first bit we were given false hope that we were getting somewhere only to be disappointed it was the photo call instead. By now Paul was getting irritable and for someone who hates queues and crowds he was well over it. We were pushed through to the next area and this time into an elevator and up 80 floors. Again we had our hopes dashed that we had made it. No another line that continued to snake around. By the time we reached the front we were ushered into another lift to make it up the next 6 floors and finally 1 hour later we were looking out over Manhattan and it was an incredible sight. There were 360 views looking out over the sky scrapers of NY as well as the East and Hudson Rivers and beyond to New Jersey, Brooklyn and Queens. Wow it was just so immense and gave a great perspective as to just how massive the place is. Unfortunately it was a little hazy and the blue skies appeared quite dirty but it didn’t impede the view.

With our walk around the outer edge complete we made the decent again joining lines but they were not as long thankfully. Once at the bottom again we made our way out and next door to the Heartland Brewery for a drink that had been well earned. We then made our way back to the hotel via the subway once again.

We had a quick rest before having a shower and getting ready to go out for the evening. By 6.30 we made our way out on the town heading towards the Broadway Comedy club. Once we had located it we went back to a café for dinner enjoying a salad.

We made our way back to the comedy theatre just after 8 and hung out in the lobby waiting to head in. We were eventually shown our seats at 8.45pm. We had to order a couple of drinks while inside. We sat listening to a couple opposite us. The New Yorker was trying hard to impress his Brazilian date. It was quite amusing.

There was a line-up of 5 comedians taking turns over the next hour and a half. They were quite funny at times and we enjoyed the evening with many laughs.

At 10.40pm we left and made our way back to the hotel. It was still quite warm and there was still plenty of traffic and people about. At 11pm we walked back into our room and it was time for lights out.