Category: New York City

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New York Day 3 – Yankees and Beckham

Ange Bowman2 Comments

Today we were looking forward to going to a Yankees game tonight.

We headed to times Square early this morning to watch part of Good Morning America. We arrived in time to be right on the barrier behind the set in the street. Only the invited soccer kids were in front of us.

The segment was you guessed it a soccer segment with David Beckham and Thierry Henry. We had to wait for awhile but it was worth it. I got to meet Robin Roberts and she is a tall as she seems on TV. She was really good with all the crowd and spent ages talking to everyone.

The segment we are near the girl waving the Canadian flag …hard to see but we were there!!!
Watch the segment

 

After the show we headed to Stage Deli for brunch. This deli was old style and the staff had been there for a long while. It really gave the sense that nothing had changed inside for many years. The food was good and the service was even better.

After our meal we wandered back towards the hotel to rest up for the game. I headed to Macy’s for w quick shop and picked up some good sale items. It was starting to rain by the time I headed back to the hotel.

We set off around 4pm but it was raining heavily and getting a cab was proving difficult. 20000+ cab and not one to be had for any money.  We decided to have coffee and wait for an hour and see what happens.

 

 

Nothing changed so we headed back to the hotel and found that the game was delayed by the rain. In the end we gave up and went to bed NO Yankees game was a disappointment but glad we didn’t get to the stadium and find out.  As it turned out they eventually played but it was very late when they started, we would never have sat at the ground waiting. Next time!!!!

Day 2 New York

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We got up early again and after breakfast we set out to walk to central park. Down Fifth Ave with a stop in at the Trump Tower, hard to believe that this is or was owned by one man.


 

 

Before we arrived at Central Park we dropped in at the Apple store which was under wraps. So many people and so much beautiful technology in one place.

 

When we arrived at the entrance near
Fifth Ave and organised a carriage ride through the Park. Our Irish driver (most of the carriages are Irish owned) has been in New York for 11 years. This was fun and gave us a small insight to the park and some of the things happening in the park.  It was good weather and a lot cooler than the previous day. After we tipped our driver we set off on a long walk through the park, there is so much to see and there was no hope of us seeing it all. We did get to see
the Zoo and many off the sights at the Downtown end of town.

How big is Central Park?

Our Irish Carriage Driver
  • 843 acres or 6% of Manhattan’s total acreage, including:
  • 150 acres in 7 waterbodies
  • 250 acres of lawns
  • 136 acres of woodlands

How many playgrounds are there in Central Park and where are they?
There are 21 playgrounds scattered throughout the entire park.

Where is…?

Horse park himself like this
on command
  • Balto – East 67th Street near the East Drive
  • Alice in Wonderland – 75th Street just north of Conservatory Water
  • Hans Christian Andersen – 74th Street just west of Conservatory Water
  • The Obelisk (Cleopatra’s Needle) – 81st Street behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art

There also are 48 other fountains, monuments, and sculptures in Central Park.

How many trees are there in Central Park?
24,000, including 1,700 American Elms.

How many benches are there in Central Park?
Over 9,000, which would stretch 7 miles if placed end to end.

How many bridges and arches are there in Central Park?
36

How many species of birds are there in Central Park?
More than 275 species of migratory birds have been sighted in the Park, a major stopping point on the Atlantic flyway.

How many fountains are there in Central Park?

Gazebo in used in Home Alone 2

There are seven ornamental fountains and approximately 150 drinking fountains. The ornamental fountains are:

  • Angel of the Waters at Bethesda Terrace
  • Burnett Fountain at Conservatory Garden’s English garden to the south
  • Conservatory Garden’s Italian garden in the center
  • Untermyer Fountain at Conservatory Garden’s French garden to the north
  • Cherry Hill
  • Sophie Loeb Fountain
  • Pulitzer Fountain at Grand Army Plaza
Central Park Zoo 
After the park we headed back downtown with a stop off for lunch at John’s Pizzeria. The pizza was the best I’ve eaten, the base was just perfect and we had the John’s Pizza (cheese and John’s special tomato sauce) with added pepperoni and black olives. Did I mention it was huge but oh so yummy?
We continued to stroll back towards the hotel walking off our lunch there is so much to see but the best part is just experiencing the sites and sounds of such a busy place. We headed back to the hotel around 4 for a rest and catch up on email and calls home etc.

We decide we would have Korean BBQ for dinner, there were plenty in the same street as our hotel to choose from. In the end we settled on Wonjo. The BBQ meat (BBQ at our table) was really good and the accompanying sides were fun to try and we liked everything they dished up. The meal was finished with the sweetest orange I have ever eaten.

Day 2 Walking 4 miles

An early night as we are planning to head to times square to watch the Good Morning America morning show.

Hot Dirty Smelly New York – I Still Love It!!!!!

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After a near flawless drive in to the big apple we had delivered the car to the valet and the bags to the doorman (too early to check in) we set off to walk downtown to take the ferry to Staten Island.

It was a long walk but we made it all but the last 20 odd blocks a total of 71/2 miles. We were a bit foot sore but recovered enough to walk another mile to Tony Di Napoli’s for dinner.

This place came highly recommended by brother-in-law Scott and he was right on the money. The anti pasta was the best we’ve ever had and the Lobster Ravioli in creamy tomato sauce was equally good.

One of 5 new Towers
Ground Zero

Back to the walk and the ferry. It was very hot walking but worth it as you get to see so much more. Ian was able to eat at least three yes that’s right three hot dogs on the way down. He bought them off the street vendors and gave them the thumbs up.  We were purchasing lots of water which was readily available for every vendor and really cold.

We spent quite awhile at ground zero they are making great progress on the new towers . It is hard to imagine what it would have been like on 9/11.

Remembering Ladder 24
Firefighter that died 9/11

A memorial called “Reflecting Absence” honors the victims of the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The memorial, designed by Peter Walker and Israeli-American architect Michael Arad, consists of a field of trees interrupted by the footprints of the twin towers. Pools of water fill the footprints, underneath which sits a memorial space whose walls bear the names of the victims. The slurry wall, which holds back the Hudson River in the west and was an integral part of Libeskind’s proposal, remains exposed.

Ladder 24 Fire Station

Walker and Arad were selected from more than 5,000 entrants in the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition in January 2004. Construction of the memorial is due to be completed by September 11, 2011.

Eventually we made it to the ferry just in time to take the next ferry to the island. It was a pleasant crossing and it was a chance to sit for awhile and watch the city recede into the distance. We disembarked and waited for the next ferry back again.

Staten Island Ferry

We decided against exploring the island as the main purpose was to actually catch the ferry. We enjoyed the return trip and then set off up town it was now 98 degrees but felt hotter of the street. Not the hottest I ever been but it was warm. Last time we were in new york it was -5F which is -11C. I think next time we will come in autumn or spring.

One

 

Two

 

Three

 

Wine with Dinne
Tony Di Napoli’s 

As previously mentioned dinner was great and I would highly recommend Tony’s to anyone, we were lucky to get there early enough to avoid a wait but by the time we were leaving they were out the door waiting on a table. We have a very nice local wine with our dinner as recommended by our waiter Gregorio.

Tomorrow we are off to explore Central Park and of course I HAVE to visit the apple store.

Roosevelt Hotel New York

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Our home for the next 5 nights. Ian drove from Washington to New York, uneventful trip and

even managed to drive down Broadway and Fifth Ave on the way to the hotel. Although we felt like the odd one out a bit with all the yellow cabs. Apparently, they are more than 2000 in Manhatten and yes I think they we all going our way.

After dropping mum and the bags to the room Ian and I headed to JFK to deliver the rental car back. We caught the Skytrain to Jamaica Station then boarded the metro to Penn Station. We arrived at Penn and decided to walk to the hotel it wasn’t too cold walking and we enjoyed the exercise. We headed to a little deli near the hotel for dinner.

The next morning we walked to Rockefeller Plaza and caught the hop on hop off bus to do the downtown loop. It was freezing fortunately the bus was covered in but not good for photos. We left the bus at the Empire State building and headed towards the top, after a quick security check we were on our way up. The weather was very clear so we could see for miles. After the Empire State building, we headed across the street to spend a bit of time in Macy’s. Back on the bus for the rest of the downtown loop and getting colder by the minute. We had a good day but were pleased to see the hotel and hot showers.

Didn’t feel like going out or dinner so order in Chinese which arrived what seemed like mere minutes after we ordered it. The next day we worked out they deliver using bikes which is how they get through the traffic so quickly. It was delicious and my wonton soup was the best.

The next morning we walked to where we could catch the Hop on Hop off bus for the uptown loop. This took up both sides of Central Park and past the Museum (we had complimentary tickets so decided to take a look) it was interesting and a good place to warm up before the last part of the loop back to Fifth Ave. We left the bus at Fifth Ave and walked along Fifth till we got to 46th street (back entrance to the hotel) It was interesting and looks of great shopping where the plastic could be melted into an unrecognizable state if shopping was the go. Too cold for me but saw a couple of places I would visit tomorrow. The concierge got us reservations at Becco’s for lunch tomorrow, can’t wait it is supposed to be fantastic. We walked up to a Pizza place on Fifth Ave for dinner. It was really good, so good I went back for a second slice. The slices are like a small pizza at home.

Today we were going to take the two-hour circle line cruise but 10am came around too soon and we thought 4pm would be too late for us as it was a two-hour tour. We walk down Fifth again to Macy’s, I picked up some sports shirts for the boys at NBA store on the way.

We made it to Macy’s and spend three hours exploring the store before walking down Broadway until we hit 46th St again and headed to Becco’s for the best Italian I had outside of Italy. Two bottles of wine later and stuffed full of pasta we waddled back up 46th through Times Square to our hotel. Definitely, no dinner needed.

Sarah this breaks all early bird records dinner at 2pm in bed by 5pm asleep soon after.

Our final full day in New York we finally got motivated enough to make the 10am Circleline cruise and to our surprise and delight, it was heated inside. A good thing because the ice was forming in the Hudson and it was a whopping -7c at 11am halfway through the cruise. The ferry had to break through the ice near the wharf to get underway, tour guide suggested that the river would freeze right over if the cold keeps up much longer. The cruise was again very informative and well worth doing we cruise around the downtown area, the statue of Liberty and up the east river under the Brooklyn bridge and back again. After the cruise, we caught a taxi back to the hotel and rested up for dinner. We had a dinner reservation at Benjamin’s Steakhouse at 6pm.

What can I say about dinner it was terrific the service was outstanding and we decided to go with the house specialty Porterhouse for three. The plate can out with two of the thickest T bone steaks I have ever seen which had been aged for a minimum 25 days. It was sliced in filet pieces and cooked to perfection. The waiter served it at the table and we had creamed spinach and mash as sides. This was a memorable meal and I will have to go back when next in New York. Mark and Frank McKillop eat your heart out.

Will add pics from LA flying there now