New York, New York!

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Days 50 - 52 (20th - 22nd Nov) NEW YORK CITY !!!!! We were both very excited to have arrived here... We landed at 9:30pm the night before and all the way from Newark Airport to the City we were trying to spot the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building or anything else that was in our imaginations of New York City... no luck though, we were a little disorientated. Not so bright and early on Sat we eventually got out of our hotel by 10am and headed for Empire State Building... we experienced the NY SKYride (similar to SKYride in Sydney Sky Tower) getting a little outdated but did provided some useful information. This is located on level 2 with the ticket offices, then you are guided to the elevator and crammed in (about 12 of us!) and you are on your way to the Observation Deck. These first elevators only take you to floor 80, then you must exit the lift and make your way through the souvenir shop to the next one for the last 6 levels to the main deck. You can go up to the 102nd floor but the view is pretty much the same, so we didn't. We had "Cab Driver Tony" on the audio guide explain to us at 7 different points what exactly we were looking at which was both entertaining and informative. It was very busy and very cold, and still our stay here lasted until about 1:30, there is heaps to see. We quickly checked on our washing and then made our way on foot a couple of blocks to Times Square to exchange our Hop-on, Hop-off vouchers for tickets. We had just enough time to fit in the tour of Uptown New York, which visits Central Park, Harlem, Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan Island and Museum Mile. We stayed on the bus for the entire trip, it was freezing up top in the open air, and you had to remain seated at all times whilst the bus was moving as the street signs and traffic lights hang low enough to take you out if you're not careful!! Jess could spend a whole month here and still not get to see everything, she loved it... The only thing that could have been better was the condition of her shoes... South America and the Theme Parks had worn out her runners, so she was down to a pair of slip-ons which are not really made for the sort of km's we were walking.. he he, new yorker style! The tour dropped us off back at Times Square, next was the NHL game (for those who need a better explanation, National Hockey League - Ice Hockey that is!). The Concierge at the hotel had given us directions to get the Stadium which was about 45 mins away on Long Island. We caught the subway and a cab and had a ball. Mischa scored front row seats for only $35 each right next to the walls where the players smash each other into. The puck also came flying our way quite a bit, Jess jumped every time 😊 THe game was New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers, and unfortunately the home team was thrashed (seems to be a pattern forming here... each game we have been to except for the Dodgers, the home team have lost.... look out Manchester United, here we come!). We had heard that the best place for pictures of the city was the "Top of the Rock" Observation Deck at the Rockerfeller Centre, we read that it doesn't close til midnight, but the last elevator up goes at 11pm, so we tried to make a dash for it.....and...... we missed it by 4 mins..... so we retired for the night with the intention of getting up early for church in the morning. The thing is we had to get our washing done, which finally finished at about 1:30am (mischa, the legend stayed up to go collect it from the hotel laundry)...
Well, we did go to church but the service wasn't until 11am so it wasn't really early.... We attended City Bible Church (formerly New York CIty Church) and it was great, the people there were really friendly and it seems like God is doing great things expanding their congregation in the city, they are soon to open a 2nd location. We were invited to their Thanksgiving luncheon but we declined as we were trying to get the the New York Jets game at Meadowlands Complex. Mischa had seen that there were lots of tickets last night still available so we thought we would try and get one at the gate.... unfortunately by the time we got there they were completely sold out except for 2 tickets that these guys were trying to sell us "for a really good price". Jess was very hesitant so we just jumped back on the train and headed in to catch a broadway show. When we reached Times Square we had just (only by 5 mins) missed the matinee performances for most shows, so we stood in line for evening tickets. There are so many shows to choose from, it was a really hard decision, but we went with Mary Poppins, we got great seats, for half price, 11 rows from the stage. It was an amazing show, if you get the chance to go to Melbourne or Sydney (hopefully Brisbane!!) you should see it, fantastic!! We had a late lunch and then headed over to the ROckerfeller Centre for our 2nd shot at going to the Top of the Rock. It was right on 4:30pm so when we got to the top we had the last few moments of daylight, dusk and then on our 2nd lap of the building we had the lights being turned on all over the city, with the 3rd and final level the most spectacular views of Central Park and the Empire State Building all lit up! Fantastic Photos!! After Mary Poppins, we cruised to this Bar, Restaurant & Amusement place, D&B's, for some dinner. As it was game day, the place was really busy and they were showing one of the others games (NFL) being played live. We ate and then spent an hour and a bit in the amusement section trying our luck at all sorts of games, winning lots and lots or tickets that only ended up getting us a travel mug and some lollies (gotta love it!!). By the time we got back it was after midnight, so we went straight to sleep, again with the intention of getting up early, packing our bags and going to see the Statue of Liberty... Well, this time we did actually get up pretty much as planned, we were packed and downstairs, checked out and bags in storage by 8:15am, yay! As we walked to the bus stop we came to one intersection where we found snow on the footpath, just on this one block... now today wasn't as cold as it has been, so we were a little confused, until a nice gentlemen all in black with a headset asked us to take an alternative route through the intersection then we heard "Rolling again in 2 minutes" and we knew that we had stumbled upon (on the main street!) a film set, it was pretty cool... extras walking around, lights, cameras, unfortunately no big stars or action shots though! The guide on the bus said that they were filming now but the film probably wouldn't be released until late next year, if not 2012, so we proably will have forgotten that corner shot by then! We caught the Downtown Loop tour to Battery Park where the ferry leaves from and were at Liberty Island by 9:30am. Unbeknowns to us (poor researching skills here..) to get access inside the monument or climb to the crown you must purchase passes a couple of days in advance, before your arrival to the island, so we couldn't get in but we had a beautiful walk around the bottom of the statue and we had another audio guide to tell us all about her. She is beautiful...
We had a only a few hours left before we had to leave for the airport so we had lunch at Planet Hollywood and stopped in a few stores for some shopping..., Jess got some gloves and make-up and we made a quick stop at Macy's (very cool...). Just as we were arriving back at the hotel to collect our luggage a shuttle bus pulled in, so we got a ride back to Newark straight away. It was the scariest ride yet (in America that is, Mischa is a very considerate and cautious driver compared to this one!!)... Reminded us of South America a little, funny that, because when we got the the airport our driver told us that he was originally from Uraguay 😊 !! The whole United / Continental merger is really knocking us around a bit, we unfortunately were at the wrong terminal, luckily this time there was an airtrain, in San Diego we had to walk... and then for the 2nd time, on check-in, we were advised that our flight was very overbooked and Jess has a seat but Mischa had to wait and talk to the staff at the gate, hairy scary stuff, but it all worked out okay... Our flight left New York at 7:15pm and landed in London at 7:25am the next morning...

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