Blogs from Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, North America - page 10

Sooo much done, but still so much to do. But before that, time to have a big ol' healthy breakfast of Nutella French toast American style! When I say American style I mean a serve big enough that not even I can finish it, and that's saying a lot. The quaint little venue this morning was called Penelope's and we met our Pokémon hungry friend Fish there first, and as it wasn't ready we managed to get a quick coffee and Pokémon walk in before being seated, much to the joy of our non Pokémon peeps. With a late start, a walk around, an extended breakfast and a bottomless mug of coffee we found that we didn't have a lot of time to dilly dally before the show Aladdin was to start at the Amsterdam theatre. ... read more

Late start, but woke refreshed and hungry. Down the road for a bagel, coffee, wifi and a brief attack plan. First stop was Magnolia Bakery near Central Park, because as EVERYBODY knows this is where the Sex in the City girls get their sweets from. One cupcake and thirty photos laters we walked back to Central Park via the Gateway to another world and the building that was attacked by Stay Puff in Ghostbusters! I am the Key Master! Nice viewing of Central Park via both feet and horse drawn cart. Got the driver to take a nice photo of us and then his horse decided to walk off without him. Just as I was about to launch into my 'wild west runaway horse drawn cart routine' the dude hoped back in and continued the tour. ... read more

On my recent trip to and from eastern Europe, I had some ridiculously long layovers, part due to my own planning, and part due to total BS. The worst one was at JFK in New York, a five hour layover!!! Plus they lost my bag! So, how do I cope with this nonsense? If I was a working stiff, I would probably work most of the time. But now that I am retired, I just like to eat lightly, drink, nap, and relax. What is the best way to do that? My first choice is the Business Class lounge. When I had gold status with United, it was a no brainer. Or if I fly business, I get complimentary access to the lounge. It really is a great place to camp ... read more

After a surprisingly restful night in our tiny, but very expensive, JFK hotel room, we took an Uber into Manhattan, and got dropped off at Schwartz Luggage Storage, the only place to leave luggage near Grand Central Station. The business is less than bare bones, and not the cleanest place in the world, but the employee was pleasant, and the prices reasonable... From the storage place, we walked to Times Square, and then down to the entrance of the Highline. As it was a warm sunny Saturday the park was crowded, but still pleasant. There is a huge development going in next the entrance: Hudson Yards is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States and the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center. The site will include more ... read more

Our final day on our cruise was another sea day. The sea was rough and it was very windy on deck. We think it must be the tail end of another cyclone. Thankfully there wasn’t any rain and the sun was out. Mum and I had a really lazy day watching movies on the ship funnel. It was hard to say goodbye to our service team. Everyone has treated us like royalty. The ship docked very early and we were able to disembark by 9:30am. Yvette and Margaret were flying home but Mum and I still had a few more days and fly out on Halloween. After dropping our luggage off at our hotel and with the advice from our porter that the next few days weather was going to very wet we headed back down ... read more

Stepping onboard the Disney Magic felt like coming home and I love the way they welcome every family onboard. The atrium was decorated with Halloween decorations and will be our home for the next seven nights. Not only is our cruise a Halloween cruise it’s also has a Marvel day. We’ll be sailing up the Canadian Eastern coastline stopping at Prince Edward Island ( aka Anne Island ), Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia After our mandatory safety drill it wasn’t to long and we were sailing past the Statue of Liberty with cocktail in hand. The shows on board the cruise are spectacular and started with the welcome aboard show ( Mum and I missed this our last cruise ) The Cruise Director ( aka Julie from the Love Boat) welcomed us on board and announced ... read more