Today started with a trip to the Top of the Rock (viewing floors of the Rockerfeller Centre). A bit smoggy but such a beautiful day meant we could see right over Manhattan at all the sites. The kids were a bit astonished at the size of Central Park, especially when they realised they rode their bikes right around it!
We had an hour or 2 spare so Damian used the chance to do some suit shopping (as with everything, it's much cheaper here for great quality suits). Em and I found a Victoria Secret shop around the corner so we were happy too!!
We then navigated the subway to get to 83rd pier where we caught a Circle Line Cruise around the lower half of Manhattan - a fantastic way to see the city and the guide had amazing knowledge of the city and its sites, including their history. He was also able to point out celebrity homes/buildings, so there was something for everyone! We got up close to the Statue of Liberty, went under the Brooklyn Bridge (rather than over it), saw all of the buildings of interest like the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, areas where movies and TV shows were filmed, and areas affected by Hurricane Sandy about 20 months ago. It was well worth the trip - I'd thoroughly recommend it.
We then caught some subways uptown to Columbus Circle to meet a friend of Damian's and his sister Erica, Christine Burke. While Christine isn't originally from NYC, she's lived her for over 20 years (before and after spending 4 years in Sydney). Christine gave us a great insight into how she lives here - she took us to her favourite spots in Central Park (that we'd whizzed past on our bikes without seeing!), and we watched a bit of a baseball game there too. She also showed us her home in the upper west side, which was so lovely to see less touristy streets and more of the "real" New York. Christine's one bedroom apartment was lovely and spacious - a real find in NYC. She showed us what she called "the smallest kitchen in the world" and she'd be close to correct on this!! She then took us to the riverside park which extends all the way to the bottom of Manhattan Island and we had dinner at a great cafe on the waterfront, while watching the sun set! Perfect! On coming back the kids got their first sighting of fireflies - so fun to watch! Thanks Christine for a wonderful afternoon!!
Home again and time to collapse - more and more walking today but the kids are coping well and we're thoroughly enjoying ourselves!!
Top of the Rock
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