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Published: October 21st 2013
Mosaic artwork at 49th street subway stationSpent time chatting to one of the employees here at the hostel - she is from The Ukraine and is studying English at university here in NYC - has been here for two and a half years and loves it here although she misses her family and friends back home. All the girls that are working here are friendly and very professional. Staff are on site here from 8am until 10pm everyday and there is an emergency phone number left with guests for after hours if needed. Once agaiN I must comment on how great this place is - feel so lucky to have found this ideal place in the heart of NYC.
After leaving the hostel we headed to the train to 59th street and then got onto the Roosevelt Island Tramway - this great little tramway takes you across the east river to the Island in 3.5 minutes. Great views of Manhattan and cost included on the metro card.
On Roosevelt Island we took a bus ride around the island (which is only 2 miles long). The bus cost a quarter each (where can you catch a bus for that price) - and gave us an idea
Taking the dog for a walk downtownof the unique living environment just a few minutes from downtown. There are several parks on the island and people live in apartment style accommodation.
Plenty of good photos from the tramway - such a beautiful day here today. Everyone here has been very friendly and so far we haven't experienced any issues.
We checked out a Bloomingdales store - a lovely department store - we just had a look around and used there bathrooms (can be difficult to find restrooms in the city). Inside of the store we found "magnolia's bakery" so we had to try their famous cupcakes. we bought one cupcake and one pumpkin whoopee pie - a once in a while treat - nice but oh so very sweet.
Headed down to 5th Avenue where we met our tour guide for a tour of Mid-town Manhattan. We have several walking tours booked for our stay here in NYC - these are free walking tours - you pay by a tip at the end of the tour. We have used these guys before here in NYC and they are very informative - gives you a deeper insight into NYC.
Todays tour started at
Roosevelt TramwayBryant's Park- A public park sitting between 5th& 6th Avenue and 41st - 42nd streets. About 25 people were on the guided walking tour. The centre if the park is currently being converted into a public ice skirting rink for the Christmas holiday season.
Our Guide for the tour was a New York local and was full of useful information - he really knows his city well. Some of the Architecture in the area that he spoke about were - the radiator building, Grace building, Bank of America Building, Chyrsler (the worlds tallest building -1930 to 1931)and New York Public library - which doesn't actually lend out books - the lending library is across the road. We didnt go inside today but plan to go back in the next few days.
The tour took us down to Grand Central Terminal at 42nd and Park Avenue - often called "the lovelist train station". The terminal has grand ceilings and elaborate architecture. Also in the terminal are restaurants, delis, bakeries and newstands.
This terminal is the largest such facility in the world by number of platforms. They are on two levels, both below ground, with 41 tracks on the
Queens borough bridgeupper level and 26 on the lower, though the total number of tracks along platforms in the railyard exceeds 100. The terminal covers an area of 48 acres. A very interesting place to visit for sure.
Our tour continued down Park Avenue where you can actually feel the footpaths and roads moving as trains pass by underneath your feet. The roads and footpaths hexpander sign joints like on a bridge that allow the surfaces to expand to accommodate cold extreme weather conditions and prevents the roads from collapsing down into the subway.
We walked down past St. Patricks Church on 5th Avenue which is currently under extensive renovations both inside and outside. Luckily we were able to go inside and have a look at this popular inner city church. St. Patricks is so popular that at Christmas you need to book in if you want to attend a service.
Next we were off to the Rockefeller Centre where the cafe has been closed for the summer and is now an ice skating rink. Had a walk past the "Today" studios where they were busy preparing for tomorrow mornings show and then stopped by Christies - the famous
View of Manhattan from Roosevelt Islandart auctioneers building - if you have a spare few million to spend on art then this is the place to go.
The tour was meant to be a 2 hour tour but it actually took 3 hours to complete. We also enjoy these tours so much even if we are exhausted afterwards!
Walking around the famous 5th Avenue it is evident that New Yorkers are very fashion cons ions and wear a variety of high end labels - most certainly they love to shop. 5th Avenue is loaded I with all the stores you could ever think of including 13 H&M stores.
We finished off the day by walking to the Empire State Building - took the elevator to both the 86th floor and 102nd floor - hoped to get to see the sunset from the top but by the time we purchased the tickets, went through security, stood in line for the elevator it was night time. Still the view was magnificent. Cost was $27 each to go to the 86th floor and an additional $17 each to go up to the 102nd level which is 1250 feet high. Up on the 102nd floor you
On the tramwaycan most definitely feel the building sway!
Today ended up being a 10 hour walking day so needless to say we are once again exhausted. We picked up a Calzone from a local pizza store on the way home - that's us done for another day.
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Emma
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Autumn!
Oh gosh I would love to go there one day...always been on my dream list! <3 xoxooxox http://bit.ly/18DKf2D