Empire State of Mind

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Day 195 (Saturday 31/10/09, NJJ)
Up at 8.30am. Even though we are 10 floors up we can still hear the roadworks below very clearly. Nice brekkie at hotel. Left around 10am. Subway from 169th St to 57th St. Walked to stop for Uptown loop tour near Plaza Hotel. Whilst on the tour we saw where John Lennon was shot and the Seinfeld Soup Nazi location. Got off the bus at the Natural History Museum. It was free due to a Halloween celebration which turned out to be a total cutefest, there were loads of children and some parents in fancy dress with trick or treat bags. The museum was great. I especially liked the blue whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life and also the dinosaur exhibit. The best outfit in the museum was a kid dressed as Donald Duck, fab. Outside Jay had a pretzel and I had a hot dog. Back on the bus for the remainder of the Uptown loop. It was a lovely warm day. Passed General Grant's Mausoleum/Memorial, saw the 'fake' Cotton Club. We got off the bus at Central Park. Had a wander around FAO Schwarz (saw the 'Big' piano), Tiffany's and the Nike Store (where they had loads of Queen Paula, as in Radcliffe, stuff for the marathon). Saw Trump Tower. Bit of shopping for tac on Times Square. Over to Rockefeller Center by 6pm to experience the 'Top of the Rock' observation deck. It was just getting dark and the light was lovely. Great views of the city and the Empire State building looked particularly lovely. It was lit up orange for Halloween. Back to ground level where we wandered by the gold statue and ice rink. We got on the subway just after 7pm. Got a takeaway for back at the room. Jamie watched World Series baseball. Bed at midnight.

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