Hello and welcome to the second week of New York!! We had such an eventful, exciting and productive first week so here's to another fun filled week!
Day Eight
Today's main attraction we were visiting was the American Museum of Natural History. The world famous, truly spectacular and the extremely interesting museum was featured in Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum starting Robin Williams. Just to say, we heard about Robin Williams passing this week and truly can't believe such a childhood legend has gone and in the way he did especially. Rest in Peace Robin xx
We started the day with our usual activity of breakfast...more specifically bagels!! We are starting to get slightly sick of them but they are still extremely yummy!! Today was different to the other days though, it was so cloudy! But on our way up to the museum we saw the Empire State Building in a pretty cool way, we were actually going to go up there this morning however this weather definately changed that plan! Sorry about the unrotated picture below, for some reason it won't see that I have changed it but blogger reverses it again! Anyway...here's the picture...
As we got about half way there, we saw these buildings. These are at the south west corner of Central Park and on previous bus trips we were told that right at the top of the right tower is where Beyoncé and Jay Z live, or at least is where they live part of the time!
Then we passed the Dakota, this is where Yoko Ono lives (John Lennon's widow) and this is also where he sadly got assasinated years ago, right at the front entrance. Over the road, on the west side of the park (you know, the massive one!) there is the area of Strawberry Fields.
Then we arrived, at the American Museum of Natural History (I'll call it the AMNH from now on) and the first thing that grabs your attention is the huge statue of Theodore Roosevelt at the front beside the magnificent set of of stairs that lead up to the entrance.
As we had the New York Pass (7 day pass), we had to just show our cards and we would be granted entry. This saved messing around with money and also if you did enough attractions, you would get your money's worth. We paid $200 for 7 day pass and actually got $350 worth of attractions for that (going in to the future then). Good decision and well found Chris :)
We got to the front door and then the amazing artifacts started, it was a huge dinosaur skeleton formulated in it's full form in the main lobby. The fact we were amazed by this and we hadn't even gotten our tickets made us excited to see the rest! :)
We then got our tickets and headed in. We saw lions, rhinos, elephants, zebras, moose, elk, grizzly bears, black bears and brown bears, condors, penguins, all the birds you could imagine , all the mammals you could imagine...just phenomenal. Highly recommend, it is certainly a must do and well worth it even if you paid the full entrance fee!
There was also artifacts found from the 'caveman' time and also the American Native Indians.
Then it was back to the animals...gorillas, tigers, ostriches...again, everything you can imagine, it was there!
Then it was the bit Chris was looking forward to, the dinosaur exhibitions upstairs! The infamous T-Rex!! The first thing I thought of when I saw it was it running around fetching the bone in 'Night of the Museum'. They were completely baffling. The size and the quality of the fossils were just amazing. I would go as far to say that it's the best museum in the world.
Look at them teeth!
Taking a nibble of my head!
We then headed down to the bottom floor. Literally the place is 4 giant and FULL floors, with 45 exhibition rooms to it. I was talking to a guy and he said it took him 6 hours to get around the whole place. In total it took us 4 hours to see it, and we totally understood how it can take that. We had to get back for 5, dinner time at the hotel, so we left about 4.30pm. We were there from 12.30 to 4.30pm and even that wasn't enough time.
Bear claw!! (...jenna!! haha)
Nat and Chris :)
The final room we saw was the ocean room. I took this picture below, which I love, and it shows how fantastic the backgrounds, the colours and the actual fossils are kept and maintained. Also the design of the environments around the animals are so well researched and designed!
Oh and I forgot to say, there was a gigantic whale (actual size I should say!) right above our heads. Them things are tiny!!
It was then time to go, we had done all the room but we took the time to say bye to Theodore!
Thank you AMNH, we absolutely loved the visit!
It was dinner time and it was delicious as ever :)
We headed out after dinner to adventure again and whilst we were away, for a second we thought we were back at Koh Tao. Every morning we got our breakfast at a local cafe restaurant called... (Below)
I then nearly got called into a ice hockey match!
Whilst looking around Nat spotted this bakery. She told me it was from Sex and the City programmes and so we went straight in and looked at the delicious and (expensive) cupcakes. I'm sure they're tasty but we had just had tea so didn't buy one on this occasion. Maybe next time!
We finally got back to the room, got our usual hot chocolate and tea from the lobby. The staff were welcoming as always, saying 'Welcome Home' as we arrived!
Day Nine
This morning we enjoyed the usual......BAGELS! Crikey we are eating a lot of them! They are so lovely, toasted and a bit of butter, bobs your uncle!
Due to it being crazy busy this morning at breakfast, we sat outside. It is actually lovely and warm outside, due to the a/c probably warmer than inside. It's all closed in but you get a real New York typical view of the blue sky so it's lovely. To be honest most of New York is skyscrapers! I love it!
Today was tour day, due to having booked in to do a walking tour at Central Park. It would something new compared with always riding on a bus and also being in Central Park we would be told about all the TV and Movie secret locations which was an exciting prospect.
We were 20 blocks south of Central Park so we headed slowly up to there for the start of the tour. But on the way Nat pointed out that the New York Public Library was where (again) Sex and the City filmed a scene. This is where Carrie and Big almost get (nearly) married. Where she runs down the stairs and out the front door, this is where it was!
Chris was forced to have a picture haha! He's such a big fan of the film!
We then made it, a sign was being stood outside the Plaza Hotel! It's such a magical building full of history, celebrity stories and film sites. We were then faced with actually finding the Tour guide. We had being given a map but he was in completely the wrong place so we were lucky to find him! If we hadn't found him we would have being charged for it on top of the New York Pass (this was included).
This bridge has been featured in a ton of films, most known being Home Alone (where he meets the pigeon lady) and lots and lots of other films. Such a pretty setting too.
On the picture below, the black building on the left, behind the white building (plaza) is Chandlers work building. They did a shot displaying the exterior of this building being his workplace (series Friends...not too well known that program!).
In the south east corner of Central Park is the Mall. It is a straight strip of 'street' where lots of stalls reside and also on either side there are huge statues of influentialial personalities including William Shakespeare.
On the floor, you can actually pay half a million dollars to have 'a tile' placed on the group along the mall displaying your name. Obviously Trump got in there!!
There are so many lovely things in Central Park! We had a little break so I grabbed an ice cream from a vendor. At the top of the mall was this musical dome thing, haha, it was lovely and a nice place to stop.
And then when we started the tour again after a short 10 minute break we went to OFFICIALLY the most filmed location in all of Central Park. After you see the pictures, you will remember it :)
Inside there were some singers, amazing singers actually and the location was beautifully acoustic it was perfect.
Just outside of there, there was this fountain. We found out that originally the designers of Central Park made this the only statue in the whole park, but obviously as time has progressed there are now lots! But this one was the guides favourite as it was the first one to be constructed.
And in his honour of course!
Such a great day!
Day Three
Today the plan was to do a few things, starting with a tour included in our New York Pass, Madison Square Gardens All-Access Tour!! We were very excited due to this arena being so famous and known all around the world. It also houses the New York Clippers, New York Liberty and the Rangers. So,all the time it's transforming from basketball court to ice hockey, back and forth constantly. Not including the vast amount of concerts that have been staged there! MSG was only round the corner so it took no time at all to get there straight from finishing our breakfast. We went to the desk and enquired when the next available tour was, to the good news of 15 minutes time. We bought our tickets, handing over our passed, and headed towards the 'waiting area' for the upcoming tour to begin!
We were given these all access tour lanyards to put around our necks to make sure we were recognised as visitors and not freaky people that'd snook in. We were hoping we were able to keep these due to our absolute love of souvenirs :) There was no word whether we could but hopefully at the end we'd find out.
We then were called to start the tour! The first stop was abit like walking into the past due to it us going to the 1968 North Corridor. It was decorated as it was back in 1968, it's there little bit of history showing these original posters (prints of course) and the somewhat lacklustre painted walls.
We loved the idea of it though, due to all the rest being up to date, the stage and seats having gone through a 1 billion dollar renovation...yes 1 BILLION! It is nice to keep just a small part as original as possible.
This is the food court area, the 2014 version of course. As stated before, the whole place has had a 1 billion dollar renovation and it really shows however I have no idea how it got to the billion marker. I guess things are expensive! There is a corridor that covers the whole circle around the main stage and all around there are events from MSG's history in regards to each individual date of the year. For example. On the 11th October ...this happened etc. A really cool idea. We literally wanted to go read all 365 of them and meet up with the group later. Even if we wanted to, we probably couldn't due to security being very tight and everytime we went to a different floor a new staff member would be the at the back of the group making sure people didn't run off. They would walk us to the escalator, make sure all were on, and then a new person would take over on the higher floor. To be honest I felt pretty uncomfortable, I know it's a security measure but no need to be so close and obvious at what you're doing.
There are also these feature boards, which hold actual memorabilia, posters and signed equipment from a 'memorable event' over the history.
A little fact you probably didn't know, I didn't know this, that Michael Jackson performed his last ever public concert on the 10th September, 2011. Yes, the day before the tragic 9/11.
We then had a little look in the beer room. Basically there is beer, there are lots of different pumps situated around the Gardens and there are thousands of pipes leading out of this room and making their way to each and every pump.
Then it was time to sit in some seats, and they were very comfortable seats. I don't know whether it was because it was empty but I felt a little disappointed with the size. It kind of didn't feel as big as I'd expected it to be. Still amazing but just a bit surprising.
As we were heading around to the next stop, we came across this man you may possibly, probably not know of, only Elvis Presley!!
We then went to the 'Bridge' which are seats situated ... on a bridge style format. Really great seats and cheaper too so well recommended to go sit on them! Great birds eye view and not too far back at all.
The penultimate stop was in the 'posh bit'. It's basically a suite where the people can be in an hour before and an hour after the event. It's got a tv inside the room so they may as well be at home and save their money, but I guess some people have more money than sense. The guide said a lot of money would have been exchanged on them tables...a lot!!
It's all lies......IT'S OUR SUITE!!
We then got to see the changing rooms :)
Then on the way out we saw what courtside seats would feel like!
It was then the end :( We had a brill time and couldn't believe how fast it went. Madison Square Gardens is amazing and I would love to see a concert there. On the subject of concerts, another fact is that the artist that has played there the most is Elton John with a total of 61 times. However, due to Billy Joel's monthly contract to play there, and them continuing to sell out amazingly, he will soon beat Elton due to having played there 55 times.
Now then.....this is for Nat. She was so excited to go here and it was very.....hmm hmm interesting! Some bits very shocking, haha we only know!, and was a tour of course with the New York Pass. We wandered from MSG to the ... Museum of Sex. Yes there is a museum of Sex.
As soon as we went in we saw a bouncy castle, but not a normal bouncy castle, it was full of breasts! Yes you read it right!
Then we raced penises!! I won of course!
We had a rematch and the Nat won!
Then there was a climbing wall!! It was hilarious!
There was a lot of different exhibitions in there, some very disturbing including one covering animal sex with some artists just being plain disturbing. But it was a fun hour and that's what travelling's all about, having fun!
Between this and Grand Central Terminal, we nipped into a sports shop. Chris had been looking at buying some new trainers (or sneakers!) so he had a try of them. Nat also had a look at some but on this occasion they left it for nearer the end of the stay, to make sure they had enough budget left!
Then was the most amazing thing, Grand Central Terminal. It may only be a train station however it is architecturally beautiful and simply bewildering. I remember seeing it in the animation Madagascar and so it was weird to be actually there. Also from The Day After Tomorrow, a lot of films and programs have been shot there!
We did an audio tour and found out that there is a staircase in the middle of the information kiosks and it leads down to the kiosk directly below on the lower floor. Interesting fact!
We had to hold it up to our ears so it looked like we were on our phones constantly!
Then...I saw some payphones. Then I saw a sticker on them saying, '4 minutes worldwide calls for a dollar!'. I thought straight away, I'm going to ring home! So I did, I got some change from a local shop round the corner and gave England a ring! It was hilarious at first due to me trying to be funny and saying, 'Madam, your pizzas ready for collection' but Mum hung up!! How rude!! Turns out she couldn't hear me so I tried again, with another dollar!, and finally got through. I said, 'Mum, it's me...', to the answer, 'Who?'.......oh Mum hehe.
We had a lovely but short chat and I'm pretty sure that phone did me out of 2 minutes!
Then it was time for......
We asked the lady outside what the waiting time was to get to the top, and she said an hour. That is actually pretty good as it always has a stupid waiting time!
We got our tickets and headed to the lift, oh sorry the queue! Then another queue and then got the lift to the 80th floor! Only to come out of the lift with all the windows covered and then to join another queue to make the final 6 floors up to the top, the 86th floor. However, as we were waiting and sods law, nearly got to the front, they made an announcement. The lift had broken therefore we could wait longer for the one working lift or go up the stairs. We chose the stairs, it's not everyday you walk up to the top of the Empire State Building in New York... :)
Before too long, we were there!! The Observation Deck!
It was stupidly busy however this was fully expected. The view was amazing, just amazing and you could see for miles and miles. Personally it was hard to compare it to Rockefeller Top of the Rock but if I was brutally honest, due to the craziness and comparing the view, Rockefeller just wins it. It was totally overlooked and due to the hype of the Empire State it kind of softens the amazement of it due to seeing the view from it constantly on TV and the internet. Don't get me wrong it is ridiculously good though :)
Please don't lift children...
Seeing the competition, we were stood right where these people are and it was weird to think that we were so high up! Bloody crazy hehe!
Loved the lobby so much too! Was so majestic but do excuse my arms, not sure what's going on there!
We had such a brilliant and fun-filled packed day, as we do every single day of this trip, and it wasn't over yet! We saw this gorgeous police horse and asked (of course!) to have a pet. Beautiful horse and obviously so well looked after and groomed!
We got dinner at the hotel from Tuesday to Friday so tonight the cupboard was bare! :( Oh well, we went to Guy's Restaurant from Dives, Driveins, Doughnuts, Dunes and Diners (whatever its called haha). Nat and Chris are big fans so we gave it a try!
These are nachos and thankfully we shared this! Portion sizes here are big!
We then got our own individual meals, which were delicious!
Then we ACCIDENTALLY got dessert!! I look so disappointed that I had that in front of me!
Chris looks so disappointed with that dessert... hehe
Nat too... where did these desserts come from!!!
We then looked at the signed stuff that were located around the restaurant and with Nat and Chris been big fans of Guy, this was pretty cool.
We then went to a gift shop and were total cool yankee chavs!! Loving life haha!
Being American with the hands! Our hats are so suited ha!! We made such great friends and charmed the shop owner he gave us both a free American badge as well as the taxi I bought!! Such a tourist!
And that's it for Part 3 of New York...stay tuned for the last part coming up shortly :)
Hope you enjoyed,
Rach xx
No comments:
Post a Comment