New York City

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Waking up in a new city is always exciting. I was up and showered and excited. My daughter is a bit of a lay in bed til the last possible moment however. I told her of our plan to try to get up and out so we didn't have any awkward encounters with our guests next door. It was when we were tip toeing out of our room that we discovered they had a review of their costs sheet by their door .... Yeh 😊 this means they were going home so we didn't have to fret over what may go tonight.

We headed down to the breakfast room on the ground floor. It was a nice little set up. There was a make your own waffle maker. Neither of us particularly felt like waffles, but hey, the machine was there screaming try me, so I attempted to make one for Alison. It was an utter failure. First mistake being that there is a spray there to line the hot pan, and it should be used. We didn't realise that til afterwards in our attempt to scrape our attempt out. Also filling it as full as you can also might help. Needless to say, it didn't look a lovely complete waffle like I've seen elsewhere and the centre was somewhat undercooked. Thankfully that wasn't my breakfast anyway, I was happy with the fruit salad, cereal and a coffee. Alison didn't eat too much, she had it all worked out, which I'm sure you will gather along the way.

Post breakfast we headed back up to our room to be dressed appropriately for the weather outside, which was a lovely 55 (yep, I was going to learn the American way for a while, which converted is 13 for normal people). It was such a clear beautiful sunday but iced day. Our neighbours didn't catch sight of us, and we had the plan that if they were there, we would pretend we accidently got out at the wrong floor and hope they didn't spot us again. A whole bunch of worry over nothing.

For the morning I had the plan that I wanted to get up the top of the Empire State Building and see what all the fuss was. I had pre-purchased a New York City pass and this was to be my first stop with the pass and collect my little booklet. As we walked three streets down from 37th to 34th, Alison decided she was a bit hungry and wanted a coffee. Now there are Starbucks on every second corner so finding one was never going to be an issue. Getting an American to write my name correctly was a game we then decided to play. I dont know if I talk real strange or its probably the fact that the name "Kylie" is not a very common name in that country ... the variations were interesting to say the least. This time it was the token "Carley". I'm so going to develop a complex over my name and go to speech therapy so I talk "gooder" I think.

Now Starbucks, what a lovely lovely coffee shop. The coffee of the trip ended up being their Vanilla Spiced Latte. No sugar required, because I guess the vanilla is a lovely sugary treat they add in. Then they top off this divine liquid with a bunch of whipped cream covered in nutmeg or cinnamon. The store we entered was just beside the Empire State Building, and for arriving just before 9am (business rush hour), needless to say the store was reasonably busy. I think they had about four different counters going at the one time with a lady walking down the line grabbing your order then sending you through to whichever checkout she sent your order through to. It worked really well. However our order I guess wasn't the norm of the morning so did take a touch longer to produce. Was all very lovely though. Coffee in hand we then were ready to take on the Building.

Now finding the precise entrance for the tourists should have been a breeze, but I still managed to mess it up. For some reason I walked down 33rd Street looking for it. In the end we went back along 5th Avenue, and found the entrance was kind of bleeding obvious. The advantage of visiting the Empire State Building on a boring day in February (maybe Valentines might have been a touch busier with hopeless romantics proposing?) and at a time that no one in their right mind would be out of bed, it was a straight forward walk through. I did find it totally amusing for the fact I think the initial section had all of about four people if that in it, yet one girl went tearing past us as though they were dishing out only a limited number of golden tickets and if she didn't beat us she wouldn't be allowed to the top. We transferred my internet receipt for a book then made our way to the lifts and to the top.

I can't quite remember the whole process as to if we got out on a set floor first before then getting to the 86th or not, but compared to the Rockefellar Centre it was a quite different process. The Rockefellar Centre when I went up that had a process whereby you were forced in a way to watch the history of the building in the form of a couple of short movies before being allowed to go up. The information section in this building was a tiny bit dull and we just walked on straight past it. Stepping outside to the view was amazing. It felt really secure, however the wind was straight from a freezer! Three of the sides were quite windy, with there just being one sheltered section that also happened to be shaded from the glorious sun that was out. We spent a bit of time wandering each line of the square checking out the buildings. Spotting the Statue of Liberty you realize how tiny that lady actually is. We eventually decided enough was enough and made our way down. On our way out we were asked if we would like to participate in a short survey for which we would then receive a souvenir for our trouble. Considering we weren't in a hurry to go any place in particular we sat down. Doing a survey on the ipads was interesting and took me a while to grab the hang of it, but before long we answered all the questions. As for the souvenir, we received each a hand gel (which came in handy later in the Caribbean), and it said "Empire State Building" on it. Well not the worlds most amazing piece of memorabilia but, we didn't pay for it.

I decided it was time to go see my favorite garden. Having already been to New York, I kind of knew my way around and thought walking along Fifth Avenue to the gardens would be an amazing walk for my daughter to take. Little did I know that she wanted to stop in every souvenir along the way. Now if you haven't been to New York, for every second corner there is a Starbucks, and between every street is practically five souvenir stores ... ok so I exaggerate a small bit, but she wanted to go in every single one. I tried explaining to her that it was our first day in New York and we would be spending a heck of a long time in the city both before and after our cruise, but that didn't seem to matter. The line "Mum can you buy me ..." was stated so many times which was then followed up with "you suck!". I was getting the idea that this was going to be a very long trip. How different children all are.

Along the way there was a cute Teddy bear workshop, where you go in, pick your teddy, they stuff it, then you dress it and take it home. The fact you could also buy these little song discs so that you can put it in the foot of the bear and press and they play a song, and then that they had a "One Direction" song on offer, I was in real trouble! My daughter had saved a portion of money before we went on the trip and I could see it was going to be spend on the first day if she had the chance. I convinced her to wait, just in case she liked other things more, and the restricted luggage space was a pressing issue and I just couldn't see a bear fitting into the picture. We managed to get out of the store without a purchase.

It was along Fifth Avenue that we had to go into the NBA store? Um I don't know when my daughter has ever sat down and watched a game, so was a bit curious as to why we had to go in there. Apparently one of the boys in her class likes watching it, so she had the idea that she should buy something from that team, or the team I didn't know that she even knew about to get "one up on him". So not going to happen on my shift little girl .... Yet another store she left without a purchase ... needless to say she was getting more and more frustrated. I dont think she quite understands the whole concept of window shopping, which I'm an avid fan off, nor the look around and compare prices til you get a deal you would be happy to pay for.

Tiffany's was a store I was excited to go into. I had the idea that on this trip as a memento both my Daughter and self would pick out a piece each. It was going to be a preliminary shopping experience, because I wanted to come back just before leaving instead of lugging it around. I took a token photo of the store while on one of their staircases. I have to say though, walking through the shop I wasn't really that excited. It just reminded me of the time way back in Year 10 High school that I got for my Birthday a Bon Jovi Tape, not that I liked them, but because everyone else was raving about it, so seemed to be the thing to do. The store was also the type of store that had by the looks of it way too many staff that just wanted to pounce on you. That being said, there were some of the staff that looked like they were looking through you and taking up too much of their "air" space. We did a touch of a walk around on a few floors but left the building. I don't know if I was that fussed with going back there regardless of its name.

After having had a quick look in Toys R Us in Times Square I was excited to show my daughter in the FAO Schwarz store. I had put her off buying anything last night, with the promise the store we would enter today was full of magical joy and amazement. Memories from the store from the visit with my son were of the most amazing Harry Potter section and all these other fun parts of the store. I guess I walked in with High Expectations. Fads also change, there was no more Harry Potter ... I'm so last year, and all the fads of the current time just dont grab me I guess. The Hello Kitty section I completely adored, the rest was a touch meh. My babies are all growing up I guess.

We kind of wandered around but got a touch bored before long it was then time for my favorite garden 😊 There is something about walking into the garden from the Plaza Hotel corner. The first little water body had a layer of ice across it, which made it all look like a snow dream. It was just a short way in that my daughter saw her first squirrel. She made me take a photo of it, regardless of the fact we couldn't coax him over closer. It was a beautiful day to go to the park. It was a quiet day, but the sun was out and just perfect for a content stroll. It didn't take Alison long to ask for me to purchase her a drink. I ended up getting two bags of nuts as well. I went for the Coated Almond and Cashews. Now I swear the price changed between that day and the last day we went into the park and suddenly all the prices increased, but that being said the last time we went there it was so busy!

We walked past Wollman Rink, which was being resurfaced by the ice machines, or whatever they are called it ... basically no one was skating. We walked up towards Central drive and the statue of Christopher Columbus then took the most beautiful walk down the section called "The Mall". There was so much snow along the seat line. At the end of the rows, it must be where they just dump the majority of it, and Alison had a ball stomping her way through it all. How it must entertain locals seeing tourists experience their first snow. We had a look at the fountain with no water, then the semi frozen lake that leads over to the famous boathouse. By then Alison was well and truly fed up and wanted to head back.

Along the road I bought her, her first "American Hot Dog". So we've had many a hotdogs at home, but its only a real "american" hot dog if you buy it within America and on the street. They are only teeny tiny little things and not like you could classify it as a meal or anything, but it kept her quiet for all of a minute at least. Thats a good thing!

We walked back towards the hotel as the daughter was getting quite antsy about all this working we were having to do, and no I wasn't about to hail a taxi! Walking down the Central Park Driveway towards the Columbus Circle, towards the edge of the park there is a gauntlet of bike people to get through. All offering you a special price to ride you around the park we just happened to be exiting. It must be a horrible job thinking about it. There were alot of guys with their bikes there, and chances are they might not all even get a passenger through the day.

Now if anyone hasn't seen it, the Columbus Circle is a round about. Ok, so its not a particularly big one, like some I've seen, and not nearly as famous as the Arc de Triomphe (nor was the traffic as crazy). I'm pretty sure if I was driving, the drivers didn't look like they would be nearly as forgiving as the English drivers either. Being a lover of round abouts though, it was a reasonably nice one. I mean it does have a gold colored statue over by the corner near the park, surely that has to give it some points. Heading back through Times Square towards the hotel it really does seem to be always a hub of activity. Would take Kitty back later tonight to check things out again and stay out of the hotel for long enough so we could sleep well.

Back in the hotel Kitty jumped on the TV while I connected to the internet to upload some photos and see what was going on in the world. I needed to brace myself for another onslaught of taking Kitty anywhere there were shops because everything was catching her eye.

We headed back to Times Square where this time it was insisted that I take a photo of her with two of the characters ..... ugh! ok so this is their job and all, but really? having to pay two people for standing there with my daughter? So going to lock up this child of mine before long. Going into the huge Toys R Us it was like asking for trouble. A stand of 1 D things was almost impossible to drag the child away from and it was when seeing her jumping on the little motorized cars I realized she really is still just a little girl and not the grown up monster she tries to be. As a "reward" I allowed her to buy a couple of twinky earrings and fake ring. Hoping that might buy me some time ... we'll see.

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[D MJ Binkley]

NYC
An amazing city