Posts Tagged ‘statue’

USA 2009 – Day Thirteen

September 16th, 2009 - 10:54pm - No Comments »

Day Thirteen – 16th September 2009
New York
22:54 – Hilton Garden Inn

We woke early again today, and headed straight for breakfast at the “Empire Diner“. The place is an old school car diner on the corner, right in the middle of the city.

For breakfast, we ordered French Toast and bacon to share. I had a orange juice which continued the trend of very sweet juice I’ve had here. The French Toast was easily large enough for us both to share, and the bacon—all mine—really crispy. You just can’t get it like that back home!

Totally full, we headed toward Canal St where we saw the famous “Hook and Ladder 8“, the fire house used in Ghostbusters. It stands alone but definitely doesn’t seem to be a tourist attraction of any kind. Nearby was an art shop Justine wanted to see, so we checked it out too.

The next destination was Wall St. We checked out the sign posts and the small street. While we were looking around, an older man started talking to Justine. When we told him we were from Australia he began to talk of crocodiles and the Great Barrier Reef. His friend come along and tried to stop him from embarrassing himself by explaining what Melbourne is really like.

Nearby is the famous “Charging Bull” statue, which had quite a crowd around it, despite it being in the centre of the street. It’s a much larger statue than I expected and quite impressive.

From there, we went to Washington Square Park, where an Arc De Triomphe replica is located. We sat in  the park for a while, watching the squirrels, which are used to humans.

As we headed to the subway, we saw a “Maoz” which we ate and enjoyed very much when we were in Barcelona. We hadn’t seen one since, we grabbed a falafel wrap and filled it high with vegetables.

Full—again—we took the subway to Grand Central Station, where we saw the high ceilings and army guards, armed to the teeth. Hanging around for a while, we wandered and noticed the New York City Public Library. The front was covered with scaffolding but instead we headed inside. After a bag search—really?—we looked around inside. The place feels more like a European museum, and it’s hard to find book’s anywhere.

On the third floor, we were able to see one of the very few Gutenberg Bibles, which were the first books printed with movable type in the 1500′s. Remarkably well preserved, too.

Back on 5th ave, we went to the Build-a-Bear store to build “Merl”. Then we headed to see Rockefeller Plaza, it’s an opulent, deco-styled plaza with bronze and brass statues, carvings of Greek gods on the buildings and waterfalls.

We walked around the plaza for a while—we nearly ate at a cafe which is replaced by the famous ice skating rink, but the selection was sparse and the prices high—and spotted the Rainbow Room. Sadly, it closed earlier this year even though the sign remains. Across the road is the Radio City Music Hall building. The whole plaza is a city into itself.

Heading further nearly we spotted a Lindt store, so ventured inside and brought a few chocolate. Nothing we’ve not seen before, however, Further north still we saw the southeast corner of Central Park, where the Army Plaza is located. Deciding to come back another day we turned back at the Plaza Hotel.

Across the road is FAO Schwarz, which we checked out. It didn’t seem nearly as large as Hamley’s in London so we didn’t stay long – but we of course made sure we caught the huge piano.

Back at Rockefeller Plaza, we waited for night to fall and headed to the “Top of The Rock“. The views at the top are spectacular and include the Empire State, Chrysler Building and a massive dark patch that is Central Park.

On our way back we nearly bumped into Kristen Schaal, an actor on “Flight of the Conchords“. Not an “A-List” celebrity but the most famous person we’ve seen here.

Back towards the hotel we stopped at BRGR where we had dinner. I had an organic beef burger and Justine a turkey burger. Both burgers were pretty good, and the “black and white shake” was delicious.

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