Day 4 in NYC

Last Saturday, our last day in New York City.  One last breakfast for Debbie and me.  Decided to try out a deli across the street from Appleby's. We had french toast, which was good but not great (no berries, no whipped cream!) but the price was right.

Debbie made faces for the camera

Walked Debbie back to her hotel and made sure she got her ride (a very posh Town Car) to the airport.  Waved her off and headed off on foot down the Avenue of the Americas (where I was delighted to see they are still celebrating the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup win)

and made my way to M&J Trimming, a store full of eye candy in the form of ... you guessed it, trimmings!  Ribbons, buttons, sequins, feathers.  It wasn't hard to find a few treasures there to bring home with me.

Back to the hotel the long way round, had a bit of a stroll along Fifth Avenue and various streets while admiring the architecture.

Had another look at the outside of the New York Public Library (I do love those big stone lions!) but couldn't go inside, as it was just before they opened at 11 a.m. and I needed to keep moving.

Had my picture taken with you know who, since I hadn't had a chance to take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to see the real thing.

Took a shuttle bus to the airport.  Spent the first 45 minutes of the trip picking up other passengers but it's also a good way to see parts of the city you might not otherwise see.  Picked up a bite of lunch at the airport and amused myself while I ate by watching this guy contort himself on the lounge seats to try to nap.

Plane was delayed two hours due to mechanical difficulties which meant they had to fly in another plane for us bu eventually, we were in the air and I was on my way home.

Alas, this picture would be so much better
without the dust particles on my camera lens
looking like amoebas! But for now,
let's pretend it's raindrops on the plane window!

What a wonderful trip it was, I was so glad to have had a chance to catch up with my Australian friends and spend time in The Big Apple!

Day 3 in NYC

Last Friday in New York City, we had breakfast at Appleby's again.  Partly for the Wifi but mostly because I wanted pancakes, and man, were they good!

Next stop was the World Trade Centre memorial.  I'll be sharing more details on that visit next week on the anniversary, but for now, let me tell you it was incredibly moving and I'm really glad we went to see it.

Lunch was at Ellen's Stardust Diner, where the wait staff sing pop songs and Broadway show tunes in between serving customers.  They were quite the talented bunch! Here's Debbie singing along with one of the waitresses:

After lunch, I took myself off to The Ink Pad (also recommended by Julie Fei Fan Balzer) to check out their supply of rubber stamps and crafting supplies.  Wowza, what a collection they have packed into that rather small space!  I picked up a number of goodies there - washi tape, a couple of stamps, some of the new Tim Holtz layering stencils, a tropical collection of gelatos (the kind you paint with, not the kind you eat!).

Back at the hotel, sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Jen and Mel, who were on their way to the next part of their honeymoon, a cruise to the Greek islands.

Debbie and I had dinner at the little Italian place beside their hotel by the name of Da Marino, which turned out to be an excellent choice - the food was great.

Afterwards, we used the half-price tickets we'd picked up at the TKTS booth in Times Square around 5 p.m. and saw another Broadway musical.  This one was a comedy called "First Date" and it was one of the best I've ever seen (totally different from Wicked and I have to admit I liked it just a little bit better, that's how extremely good it was!), it was just so cleverly written.

Me and Debbie, dateless at "First Date"

Here's a little peek:

Trust me, if you're going to New York any time soon, you really ought to go see this show, you won't be disappointed!

Day 2 in NYC

Thursday began with breakfast at Appleby's - only a block from our hotels, serving up good food and free Wifi. Yes, that man is carrying an umbrella but he only needed it for five minutes.

A visit to Lee's Art Supplies (as recommended by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, a fellow artist and native New Yorker).

A walk in Central Park.

Lunch was a hot dog from a street vendor, just because I had never done that before.  Who knew the mustard was going to be so darned hot??!!!

More walking, past the Guggenheim (closed on Thursdays)

followed by a visit to the Museum of the City of New York - quite interesting, quite unique.  We watched a very interesting 25 minute film on the history of the city, narrated by Stanley Tucci.

A short walk through part of East Harlem to admire the street art

followed by a ride on the subway (oooh, firefighters!), back to our hotel.

Dinner and drinks on a rooftop patio.

A Broadway show - Wicked!!  We laughed, we cried, we enjoyed it very much.

Another great day in the City of New York!

Day 1 in NYC

I flew to New York City on Wed morning.  It was rather grey and foggy on the ground in Toronto but nothing but blue skies and sunshine once we hit cruising altitude.

Took NY Airporter bus to midtown Manhattan which dropped me off at the Port Authority bus terminal just before noon for a mere $13.50 (as compared to $40 to $60 for a cab!).

Glad I booked a hotel room so I wouldn't end up like this lady!

Since I was travelling with just a small carry-on suitcase, I had no trouble walking the eight blocks to my hotel except for the fact that it started to rain lightly on the way and it took me a bit of time to dig my umbrella out from the bottom of my suitcase while standing in a doorway.  Even though check-in time wasn't until 3 pm, the hotel had a room ready for me and I spent some time unpacking and gluing things in my trip journal while listening to the rain and thunder outside.  I didn't have much of a view, just a view of a brick wall across the way and enough of a break between buildings to see a patch of sky!

My room in the Amsterdam Court Hotel was quite small but very clean and private, and certainly all I needed for the 3 nights I was in town, since I was mostly just there to sleep and shower.  The only downside was the fact that there was no desk, which meant I had to sit on the one chair or on the bed to write in my journal, if I didn't want to sit downstairs in one of the hotel lounges.

Location-wise, it couldn't have been more convenient - it was two blocks from Times Square, one block from the hotel where my friends were staying (which was fully booked, which I why I had to stay somewhere else) and literally across the street from the theatre we were planning to attend the next night.

I was scheduled to meet up with my friends at 2:30 at their hotel, so I headed out about an hour later, once I thought the rain had stopped and had a quick tour around Times Square and a quick bite to eat at McDonald's. Not very adventurous, I know, but I was more focused on staying nearby so I would be on time to meet them, as I was getting messages on Facebook that their bus from Maryland was running late.  In the end, they arrived on time and we met in the reception area of their hotel as planned.  They dropped off their luggage and we set out on our adventures.

Slightly soggy Times Square

It was me, my friend Debbie from Australia, her sister Jen and her partner, Melissa.  (Mel is originally from the U.S. and they had been in Maryland to get married, as same sex marriages are legal there but not yet in Oz.)  Someone mentioned they wanted to see Grand Central Terminal. I knew where it was, since my airport bus had stopped there on the way, so off we went on foot to find it.  The ladies stopped for a hotdog ("street meat") along the way, since they hadn't had lunch:

We passed by Bryant Park

and the New York Public Library (the big marble building with the stone lions out front):

before reaching the Terminal itself.  It's a beautiful building inside, in spite of the swarms of people. It was hard to take photos without having a total stranger or two in the frame! (click on photo for a larger view)

We then walked to Macy's, where Debbie did a little shopping for gifts to take home.

After that, we walked back to their hotel and had some snacks and champagne in Jen and Mel's room to celebrate our first day in the Big Apple.

Their view was just a little bit more interesting than mine, including a typical NYC rooftop water tower.

We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's (with New York cheesecake for dessert, of course!) and took in some of the unusual sights around Times Square.

Jen, Mel, me and Debbie

By the time I got back to my hotel room, it was after 10 p.m. and I was pooped. I had walked more than 21,000 steps that day, my all-time highest number since I started wearing a Fitbit to track my steps in January 2012!

Flying Home From NYC

I'm back from my 4 day mini vacation in New York City and I'm bushed.  Man, that place is busy! You just can't sit still, you have to keep moving.  I'm still sorting through all the photos but I did want to show you these cloud photos from the flight home yesterday.  It was grey and hazy as we were taking off but once we got up to cruising altitude, there was all sorts of cumulus activity going on!

I love how sometimes they look like majestic mountains rising up and other times, like a snow landscape or a collection of cotton balls artfully arranged.

I really liked this one, with the ball of the sun showing through the dark top layer of cloud and the rays of light below.

As you can see, there are advantages to sitting in the window seat!