The last few days have been busy and enjoyable.
We have been to the 9/11 site and walked around the 2 memorial pools and through the memorial museum with items left from the horror. It is a very moving experience and hard to believe that human beings could inflict that amount of pain and destruction on other human beings.
Yesterday we went up to the Observation Deck on the 66th floor of the Rockefeller Centre. We were told that the view from there was as good as the view from the Empire State Building. While we don't have a comparison we were not disappointed. The day was clear and we could see for miles. The queueing was still there but we only waited about 30 mins.
Ted and Gloria, a couple we met on the cruise, live in Brooklyn New York and invited us out today to ensure we saw New York through the proud eyes of locals. Gloria's family originated from Italy and she lived all her life in the Italian area of New York. We drove through all the narrow streets of Little Italy and Chinatown, stopping at the small intimate shops that only the locals know exist. Ted drove us over and under and around the Brooklyn Bridge and finished our Brooklyn tour at their house for morning tea and pastries that Gloria had purchased in a small Italian pastry shop. We then drove to Coney Island to see the beach and enjoy a hotdog at the famous Nathan's World Famous Frankfurters, which has been selling hotdogs since 1916. This was our first hotdog in NY as we had been a little hesitant about having one from any of the vendor carts which are on every street corner. The volume of diners was evidence that the food was fresh and safe to eat at Coney Island.
When in NY do as the locals do so they say, so I enjoyed my hotdog with chilli, sauerkraut and a beer in a cardboard cup. It actually all tasted rather delicious.
Ted and Gloria dropped us back in town right in the middle of the street markets on 6th Avenue. These markets went on for about 20 blocks, selling food, craft and the normal souvenirs. We bought a hot cob of corn which looked pretty safe to eat and enjoyed the ambiance of the markets basically at our door.
We popped the cork on the bottle of champagne in the fridge with Keryn, while we exchanged news on each others day's activities. Keryn and I walked down to the corner to Times Square to check out tomorrow's theatre times for the show Annie. We are going to the show together tomorrow. Times Square on Saturday night was certainly jumping. It is like being dragged along with the tide of people at The Brisbane Show.
David and I went to see Wicked the other night and loved it.
We have seen and done a lot in NY and are ready for home. Tomorrow is packing day as we fly out on Monday. Ken and Anne left NY 2 days ago to spend a couple of days in Washington befor flying out for Brisbane today.
The Buxton family sent us a photo of their new addition to their family- a little black puppy called Max. We look forward to meeting him when we get home on Wednesday.
This will be my last entry on this blog from OS as I am sure that packing is not something worth recording or worth reading about. USA flights are tough on overweight so it will be carefully packing and weighing tomorrow. They charge $25 for each bag anyway and $100 for each and every bag over weight.
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