Leg 5 - New York City

NYC skyline from the ferry (view to the north)
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We arrived in NYC today after leaving Orlando at sparrow's fart (a South Africanism, I think) - and promptly took to catching up on some much-needed rest. It is now safe to say that the warm part of our travels are over. NYC, Boston and England are not going to do anything for the tans.

We are staying on Manhattan island in what is formally known as the Theater District. To put it on the map for you, the western boundary of the area meets the Hudson river and the northern meets Central Park (its kind of on the middle of the island). These landmarks are still not as close as you might think. In the area are Rockefeller Centre and Times square is about 3 city blocks away. Toyt!

Nicki and Miss Liberty
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We are staying at the apartment of Mark and Neil (Mark goes back to Daryl's RAU days and both worked with Daryl at Deloitte in Jhb). The apartment is 'cosy', perfect for the cooler weather outside.

We started out seeing New York from the Circle Line ferry. It leaves from one side of Manhattan and it takes you all the way around the island. Its an amazing view of all the famous landmarks. We saw: The Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Trump Towers, World Financial District, Ground Zero, Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges and a whole lot more. I had to go outside to take decent pictures and my hands near froze off.

Times Square
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The following day (Tuesday) we walked down to Times Square and did a few touristy things in the area. We checked Rockefeller Centre (where the huge Christmas tree is up in December and where they have an ice rink outside), 5th Avenue (huge, larnie shopping district for those of you who don't know), St Patrick's Cathedral (absolutely beautiful!!), Central Park (well, part of it anyway). We walked it all and were pretty pooped by the end.

On Wednesday we wised up and got tickets for the open double decker tour buses - well worth it!! Started off past Macy's (US department store, but this particular one is the biggest single store in the world with over 80 departments) and then went to Empire State Building. For those of you who don't know, Daryl struggles with heights and, even though there were some nervous moments up there, for the part he handled it pretty well. Luckily it wasn't windy that day! The view from up there is pretty spectacular and they built it in only 13 months! We then went to the Flatiron Building. This is that triangular-shaped building you see in the movies that comes to a point where three different roads intersect. Apparently it was the first ever sky scraper (only 19 stories).

Times Square (mirror image)
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Next we went through some of the famous suburbs like Soho, Greenwich Village and Little Italy. That took us to the civic part of the city with beautiful, old courthouses and government buildings.

We got to Ground Zero and took a few hours there going through all the pictures they've hung up at the site, as well as the tribute museum they have there. Few interesting facts: Each of the towers had its own postal code and the new Freedom Tower will only be complete in 2011. I'll have to bite my tongue here because I don't want to turn this blog political and seem disrespectful to those that died there, so I'll just nip it in the bud right here. Interesting conspiracy theories on Google Videos though...

The ice rink at Rockefeller Centre
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After that we were toured out for the day and it started to get chilly. We went through Wall Street, Battery Park, the United Nations (not part of the US, but its own diplomatic area), past the Waldorf Hotel and back to Times Square where we got off. We were chilled to the bone!!

MBJ organized for us to go to a Broadway show at night and so we saw Les Miserables. It was really good (and really long). Next time Nicki will sit with us we promise - this is a 'you had to be there' kind of joke. Nicki went to the rest room during the intermission and because the line for the ladies was so long, she only got back when the 2nd half had already started. The ushers found her another, better seat to watch from! Anyway, on this one street, about 250 metres in total, they are showing: Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Spamelot (won quite a few Tony awards), The Producers and Mama Mia - no shortage of entertainment here!

St Patrick's Cathedral
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On Thursday we took the bus tour Uptown. Not as much famous touristy type stuff to do in this area, but still beautiful and interesting. Saw where many of the movies (e.g. Die Hard 3) and sitcoms (e.g. Sex and the City) were filmed. Saw another part of Central Park, saw the Dakota building where Jonh Lennon was shot (and where Yoko Ono still lives) and saw museum mile. We got off at the Guggenheim Museum only to find out that it is closed on Thursdays!! Unlucky strike of note!!

We went to a Saffa's birthday party that night at the Corner Bistro - awesome little bar with these delicious home-made hamburgers and great prices. Some of the boys got nicely tanked thanks to the dark beer and Jagers. Friday morning was thus used for some sleeping in.

Downtown from Empire State Building (yes, believe it, Daryl actually went up Empire State Building)
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Friday was chilly as anything. Spent some of the day in Times Square mulling about. One of the empty stores was being used as an Oscar display. We got to see some of the old Oscars and also got to pose with an actual Oscar statuette. The guy in front of us took pictures of us with his Polaroid camera - what a classic!! Spent the night at a club, BLVD (Boulevard), that night and got in late again.

Left on Saturday on the Amtrak train to Boston, Massachusetts!!