OUR RETURN TO PERTH VIA USA NEW YORK

New York ! New York !

Day 1

We arrived last night at JFK Airport at 9pm after a very comfortable flight.  The only reason  I write comfortable here is because we were upgraded to Business. Will I EVER be happy with cattle class again. NO!! the only thing about economy is it is MUCH cheaper.

I have been a little worried about arriving here at nIght but it was fine. After landing we joined the long long queue to have our fingerprints taken then we were out to collect luggage.  My case is easy to find.  Then next thing we know we are out looking for a way to get into New York. It was great, an 8 person shuttle for $20 each and with a drive like we are in the Grand Prix , hey presto we are at 9th Ave and  41 St. New York.

By the light of the next morning, We are happy with our studio apartment at Metro Apartments

They live up to the amount of money they charge, it is a bit noisy but,

             HEY WE ARE IN NEW YORK,
                                  THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS!!!

and it is very handy to everywhere, we are right where it shows 41st street.

Day 2 

Today we were up early and went down for breakfast for our first experience in a diner down the road.

Then we hit the town like two little kids. Oh my G,  there is the NYPD.

There are street barrows selling hot dogs and drinks on street corners everywhere. Is this breakfast US style?. Or is it a snack on the way to work.

Already we are seeing characters. This guy calls out “ Hey Nana take my picture.”

Then we are near Times Square. There are already people everywhere while the trucks are still making deliveries. 

Maccas  still has bright lights on in case you miss it at breakfast time.

In the UK every bar man thought we would drink Fosters and we would never touch the stuff. It looks like they will think the same thing here!!

After walking around Times Square goggling at everything we got a 3 day ticket on the hop on off bus.  First a look around Down Town Manhattan.

OK off we go!!

A sea of yellow taxis. Check out the bus on the right side. Most of the big vehicles here have this long bonnet. Is it to scoop up late crosser on the crosswalks?

Note the tubs of plants in amongst the concrete jungle here.

 Yep this is the Empire State. The top tower is way up there somewhere.

The inside is just beautiful.

The Flat Iron Building. Some nice trees here.

A fence of Memorial Tiles for 9/11. People add tiles to memorial fences all over America.

 Off the bus to look around the Village.

 This area has some nice green to offset the high rise. The window cleaners must have a busy job.

 Back on but it is getting very hot. You can see by old bag head here. Anything for a bit of shade. Already it is 95F that is 35c to us. Sitting up here is hot work and it is high humidity.

 We see a sidewalk stall with hats and more hats. Obviously they know this is just where people on the buses are getting too hot and thinking of getting off and looking for shade.

Kevin gets a little more stylish number.

Back on and next stop is Vesey St where you can line up to get a ticket to go into the National September 11 Memorial if you haven’t booked ahead.

The site is in amongst the new buildings going up to take the place of the 7 which went down or were taken down after 9/11.

 The new buildings reflect some of the old buildings still close by.

There is a lot of security around here and we are seeing the big and the little of the NYPD. 

 We join the long queue to the Xray machines.

 Quite scary when you see the footprint of the Towers.

Inside we walk around the park and take photos. 

Almost 3000 people from many many countries died right here. It is very moving to see where the footprint of the buildings have been made into fountains with 9 metre drop into an infinity centrepiece and surrounded by names of the victims.

Seeing this really bought it home.

Soon it was time to get back on a bus to Times Square. How exciting, the atmosphere is amazing, the colours and sounds fill your head. We sat in the grandstand and took it all in.

This is the board with names and discounts for Broadway Shows that night. Mr Poser is there to answer questions. But I think he is more interested in being noticed.

This spray painter was very good.

We spent time getting in the right place so we appeared on the billboard. I have a pink top on.

Then it was time to head for the comfort of our new home in New York.

5 streets and 2 blocks from Times Square  it is very central and great for walking home and we feel quite safe.

Day 3

The temperature this week has been around 38c and humid. There is a chance of a thunderstorm  and the sky is misty. We walked down to the Hudson River to get the circle ferry around Manhattan Island.

You get a different perspective looking across the water and buildings show their individual design and colour rather than just a skyscraper look.seen from below. The building heights on Manhattan Island vary due to the underlying bedrock.  The Skyscrapers cluster where there is an underlying rock base.

  There are about 80 housing blocks on the lower east side which are all the same and were once inexpensive housing, now they fetch very high prices.  

It was exciting to see the Statue of Liberty.

It was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of  the city and the temperature on the water was really pleasant but there is plenty more to see. We walked back via another route and  passed this New York style car park, a good solution to using a small space.

 

Back into Times Square and before heading off in the bus again we went to shop at the M and M's.

Three stories of M and M's in every shape of packaging you can imagine. You can even get personalised printing on each and everyone.

Everyone is busy busy

We are starting to see some of the New York characters in Times Square.

Another nutcase we saw walking along.

Today we go to Lower Manhattan again and notice different things to yesterday.

The staircases on the outside of buildings are for the fire department to get to upper floors. Can you see the Little Piggy roast beef shop.

This old and new building in one. When it was first built the owners ran out of funds. Years later the new section was added on top.

We went to China Town which is on the no rock part of town so all is low rise. We thought it would be a good idea to come back for a foot and back rub.

It is hot and quite often when the bus stops someone hops on to sell bottles of cold water which is greatly appreciated. Collecting the plastic water bottles for recycling pays 5c a bottle or can. What a load for this lady but it must be worthwhile.

The water tanks on top of buildings are strange to us. They are made of wood so the water doesn't freeze in the winter.Some of them have been turned into an art piece.

This is a sign we don't see at home, they are along the snow plough route.

The crosswalks signs are great, easy to see and when the red comes on there is a countdown in seconds. I can cross when it is showing 10 seconds to go.

 The lights were being turned on in the buildings as we headed back to Times Square.

We had another good night watching the crowd.

On the way home we had dinner at a little Mexican place which displayed the large A symbol in the window. The food was good and served with Sangria.

 There is a good system in New York for safe eating places. All places serving food are checked by the Health department inspectors.If they pass all the health checks they can display the symbol. It is really good as you can feel quite confident eating out at inexpensive places.We saw them checking one place we ate in.

There is a big police presence in New York and lots of security cameras.

We feel safe walking home as there are always plenty of people walking around. We pass three homeless people on the same corner and they always say hello as we make our way home.

Day 4 
Today it is looking and shopping day.We wandered up 5th Ave, 57 st and Madison Ave. Mostly it was to look and exclaim as to who has money to shop there, if they were in the shop right then or was everybody like us on holiday and looking.  Poor Kevin he indulged me today but he also enjoyed checking out the female shoppers. First, Prada and  Hermes, I couldn't afford the label on a Hermes scarf. We checked out Louis Vuitton, loved the spotty building.

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Tiffany and Co. We called in here as we have a granddaughter called Tiffany. Loved the diamonds, looked at the so called 'little gifts collection'. I decided that as much as I love Tiffany,  a coin purse with label inside printed Tiffany and Co worth $78 was not going home with me. I checked out the silver charms for my bracelet as I wanted something from USA and thought a Statue of Liberty was nice but the label said $200 so I left it there.

We decided a little less upmarket was the way to go so off to Macy's. Here I bought a silver Statue of Liberty charm for my bracelet at a bargain for one tenth the price for the one at Tiffany's.

Macy's still have the original wooden escalators.

We also visited Wall Street and the charging bull.

Not a pretty sight.

This view is better.

Wall Street is near Bowling Green which for some reason the Queen of England owns. Another thing to Google.

Day 5
This morning we got up bright and early to go walking in Central Park. We took a bus and on the way there we passed the apartment block where Yoko Ono still lives and where John Lennon was gunned down outside. It still gives the tour guides something to talk about as the lamps in front still burn in memory of John Lennon. I guess Yoko pays the gas bill.

We also passed the Guggenheim Art Gallery not as impressive Bilbao in Spain but still very impressive.

We had a lovely time in Central Park it was nice to get away from the traffic noise and crowds. At the boating pond you can rent these yachts. 

Or you can walk, ride or cycle.

Or just stroll

Of course on the way home we checked out the break dancers in Times Square.

Day 6
NEW JERSEY AND PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

Today we were up really early caught the train over to New Jersey to visit a friend.  Pat was born in Sydney but lived most of her life in New Jersey. After a stop for coffee she drove us down to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. So now we have been in two states of the 49.

We went to see the Liberty Bell.

Then lined up to tour the Independence Hall. The sign at the security checkpoint was a bit unusual for us to see as it listed no weapons and showed a gun.

After lunch we drove back to New Jersey and on the way back to Pat's home we called in to shop at  Walmart, another USA experience for us.

We had a great home cooked BBQ then  back to the train to New York.

Well in  the 6 nights in New York we have been Down Town Manhattan, Up Town Manhattan, East and West Manhattan,  Under Manhattan by subway, around Manhattan by boat and over the bridge to Brooklyn.  It is time to leave for our next discovery.

Early next morning we're back on a shuttle bus to Kennedy Airport and across the USA to San Francisco.

I'm a little late entering our adventures on the blog but as you can see, Life is Hectic!