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Published: January 31st 2015
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First full day in New York City today so first stop after a breakfast of pancakes and waffles at a traditional diner was to pick up our New York passes which we had ordered online. Essentially they gave us entry to pretty much all of the attractions for seven days.
First stop was Times Discovery Centre since we were just round the corner. We opted for the Avengers exhibit. We were about the only ones thee and didn't realise it was an 'immersive' experience. First we got our own Avengers ID badges to gain access to the official S.T.A.T.I.O.N HQ. This was followed by multiple briefings by people who took their job ultra-seriously, encouraging us to see the Intel files, studies and experiments. It was a strange experience and we didn't hang around too long. Most likely a lot of fun if you are a teenage boy or have kids though. There were a few cool movie props but the immersive thing was a bit overwhelming!
From there it was on to Rockerfeller Centre, which is actually a complex of 19 buildings over 22 acres. We opted to first do a one hour walking tour of the centre which
was quite interesting, guide talked about the Rockerfeller family and the artwork on the buildings, some of the fights that occurred and history behind some of them. While the buildings are all privately owned they are publicly available so you could just stroll into any of them if you wanted.
We grabbed some lunch at Lenny's and then headed to the 'Top of the Rock', or the top of the GE Building. At 260m high, the 70-story building is the 14th tallest in NYC. Surprisingly, most likely due to being out of season, the lines weren't too bad to get to the top.
There were essentially three different levels so we got lots of great views over Manhattan, the Hudson and the whole NYC area. It was a relatively clear day, although the blue skies had somewhat disappeared between arriving and getting the tickets, then by the time we did the tour and got to the top it was slightly overcast but still quite good.
After a visit to a Yankees Clubhouse where we tried unsuccessfully to get stadium tour tickets, we looked at a couple of shops before walking down to the Museum of Modern Art
(MoMA). It was an interesting museum and quite impressive, six floors of modern art. Being non-art fans we had a quick browse (hour or so) before it was a walk back through town to the hotel.
At around 6pm or so we were browsing tickets online and trying to work out whether to see a 'real' Broadway show, like Jersey Boys. At about 6:15pm I saw tickets for that night for $50 each which was a good price. We were looking on stubhub though and as they were last minute tickets we worked out we would have to pick them up from their pick up location.
By 6:30pm we were on our way to the pick up store via the subway, to then come back to near our hotel. Managed to get to Jersey Boys right on 7pm. Something to be said for ease of ordering online and a fairly fast subway system! Jersey Boys was a good show though. Obviously a few of the audience members were from Jersey though judging from the crowd's reaction at a few different stages.
The tickets were on the upper floor in the centre so we had a great view
of the stage, which was relatively small by comparison to other theaters I have been to. Theatre was freezing cold though and quite old, so lots of stairs too. From there it was a pizza slice for dinner at 10pm on the way home.
A quick Starbucks breakfast this morning on the way down to Madison Square Garden for an 'all access tour'. MSG or The Garden is used for professional basketball and ice hockey, as well as boxing, concerts, ice shows, circuses, etc. It is also where we will be seeing a Knicks Game during our time in NYC.
The tour took in the stadium where we heard about how they lay the ice at the start of the season and then insulate it while they lay the basketball floor or concert floors on the top of it. While we were there they were setting up the venue for a concert that evening.
Also got to tour the suites which I will most likely never see again as well as the locker rooms for the Rangers and the Knicks. Ironically they were somewhat disappointing, only the Rangers resembled a locker room, the Knicks room is used
by some other teams so was pretty much just full of junk.
After the tour we had a quick browse in the shop and a quick lunch before we headed out to Yankee Stadium where we were able to book a tour for Tuesday. It was a fair hike out and they only run tours on certain days so easier to lock it in while we had time.
Back then to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we spent a good hour or two but only looked at a few key things. Again our knowledge and appreciation for art really shone through 😊
That was followed by a stroll through a very white Central Park, stopping along the way for lots of photos. As we were walking through the park the sun started setting over the city so managed to get some nice photos. Also saw some squirrels and lots of people out walking dogs and even out for runs in the park.
Back to the hotel to pick up dirty washing and walk down to a laundromat to do some washing and grab a quick bite for dinner. After a brief visit back to the
hotel we then headed up to the Beacon Theatre to see John Oliver, a British comedian and a TV dude.
The show started at 10:30pm, and we bought the tickets online the day prior and printed out in the hotel before we headed out. He was very entertaining and funny, although both him and the initial warm-up supporting act started off with jobs about Snowmageddon and the shutdown of the city that never sleeps.
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