We didn't bother with the subway as we did not want to miss anything by being under ground. We walked up and down all of the avenues on our way to and from attractions just so we wouldn't miss out on anything. Lucky for us we also came across a few extras things that weren't on our list of things to do but were greatful to find them.
The uptown tour included Times Square, Theatre District, Columbus Circle/Time Warner Centre, Lincoln Centre, Central Park/Strawberry Fields, American Museum of Natural History, Cathedral of St John the Divine, General Grant's Tomb/Riverside Church, Apollo Theatre/Harlem, NY City Museum/Conservatory Gardens/El Museo del Barrio, Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Frick Collection/Whitney Museum, Central Park Zoo, Plaza Hotel/Carnegie Hall, Winter Garden.
The downtown tour included Macy's Empire State Building, Flatiron District, Union Square/Ladies Mile, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown/Little Italy, Canal St, Site of World Trade Centre/St Pauls Chapel, Battery Park, Ellis Island Ferry, South Street Sea Port, Lower East Side, East Village, Kip's Bay, United Nations, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Rockefeller Centre.
We also did a night time tour over the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn and a NY Harbour night cruise. There is no way to do justice to all of the fabulous things we saw there and we took way too many great photos to include here so these are just a few snap shots from some spots along the way.
Lady Liberty
The Staton Is Ferry over to Ellis Island gave us great views and for free!
The floor piano in FAO Schwartz, the one used in Tom Hanks' movie BIG. McDonald's on Broadway, there are over 300 golden arches in the Manhattan district alone. Our guide could not believe that we lived in a country without McDonalds.
5th Avenue attractions, Trump Tower and Emily and I did all 6 floors of Tiffany's - no purchases unfortunately.
Smoke stacks in the middle of the street, to relieve the pressure in the subways. NYC streets are incredibly clean, but late in the afternoon all the rubbish from businesses is piled up on the sidewalk ready for the trucks to come and collect during the night.
We stayed in the fashion district at the Affinia Hotel on the corner of 7th Ave and 31st street (across from Madison Square Gardens) most streets in this district are dedicated to fashion designers and all things fashion. We spent a good 2 hrs or so looking through shops purely dedicated to beads, one for zippers, one for lace and buttons etc etc. Emily was impressed by this giant needle and button sculpture. There is also a fashion walk of fame in this district for all of the pioneers of fashion design and some modern ones including Ralph Lauren
Magnolia Bakery where the girls from Sex and City get their cupcakes. Battery Park where everyone plays a quick game of chess on their way home from work. We stayed and watched for about 30mins - the games were so fast it was difficult to keep up.
The view out of our hotel window, looking up 7th Av to Times Square, during the day at 6am and again at midnight
Central Park is huge with plenty of free activities and sights to see. Emily and I paid our respects at the John Lennon "Imagine" memorial in Strawberry Fields, which was covered in fresh strawberries and roses. Dylan wanted to know why we were spending so much time visiting dead people on our holidays - not quite getting the significance of it all.
The front door of the Dakota Building where John Lennon was shot, just on the corner opposite one entry to Central Park. Yoko Ono still lives in this top floor apartment
The very first Macy's store on Ladies Mile (where in the olden days all of the respectable women shopped) and the modern day Macy's store. Covering 2 city blocks with 8 stories in each - there was a whole city block floor just for ladies shoes - oh my goodness - what an experience!
On top of our double decker bus and driving past another enterence to Central Park with all of the horse and carriages lined up for the tourists.
Outside Madison Square Garden, across the road from our hotel, unfortunately no shows on the week we were there. General Grant's memorial tomb.
The Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Emily inside the Plaza Hotel, made famous by the childrens movie Eloise. Talk about fancy, tuxedo clad waiters at your beck and call in the foyer. We were a tad under dressed in our shorts and sand shoes so did not stay for high tea or cocktails, oh well maybe next time.
The Apollo theartre in down town Harlem. These brownstone tenement houses were bought by the council for $700k each, renovated and are now selling for over $4 million each.
The United Nations Headquarters and the back end of the Wall Street Bull. Notice how shiny the balls are, everyone gives them a quick rub for good luck, there were so many people lining up to get a picture of the front that I couldn't get any where near that end.
Yet another M&M World. Three level street parking in NYC, as space is at a premium.
The street vendors, fruit & veg, pretzels, peanuts, icecream, donoughts - you name it, it was available on ay street corner, who needs real supermarkets?
On our harbour cruise we passed the NYC golf driving range, a fully enclosed cage on the Hudson River, notice the nice little luxury cruiser moored infront. The cruise also included a pass by Lady Liberty.
Wondering what happened to all of the rubbish piled up on the street. It is put on this rubbish barge and taken off Manhattan Island to another dumping ground. Just like the rubbish barge in Stuart Little movie.
At the end of every night we would make it back to the hotel , pop the kids into bed and head down to the hotel bar and meet our new friends Bill and Hazel from Melbourne. We would swap stories about our day and rate the different attractions that we saw. All happily assisted by our lovely Irish bar tender (in the middle) who loved to keep the drinks topped up and talk to some Aussies.
