New York, New York

Times Square

After a great deal of consideration we decided to drive to New York. Well actually drive to New Jersey and then bus the 30 minutes to New York. As we were planning to visit Washington DC as well it seemed it would work out better with the car. All went well, although we are not sure we would have gone without a GPS. We (or was it the GPS) only made one small mistake which luckily was easily rectified in a couple of minutes. It only took about 3 hours to get to our hotel and by 12:30 we were in New York. 

Hot Dog anyone?

The trip to New York was designed to be very Symi focused. Apart from Rob and Fiona's requests for the 9/11 Memorial and the Brooklyn Bridge the itinerary was all hers. We started at Times Square very near to where the bus dropped us off and headed up to Central Park for a pretzel and a hot dog. Verdict from Symi was that the hot dog was good and the pretzel not so much. We wandered around for a while taking in the sights before heading down fifth avenue. The next stop was to be FAO Schwartz (used to be the biggest toy store in the world) but we were side-tracked by the Apple Store. Wow - so many people looking at phones and computers. Rob is quite taken with the iPhone 6. Quite a step up from the $15 pay as you go Walmart flip-phone he is carrying this year.

FAO Schwartz proved a hit for Symi. She wandered around looking at everything. She was particularly taken with the Lego with large models of the Statue of Liberty and Batman.




















Fiona had done a little private research and informed Symi that the Lego store was nearby. This was instantly added to the itinerary. Before that could happen Symi was lured in by the candy land area.  After filling a bag of goodies for the road we were off to the lego shop. This also proved a hit - for both Symi and Rob. Rob was having difficulty working out whether he wanted a lego kombi, formula one car or mini. Symi decided to go for the large cup of lego pieces. You could choose your own from a pick and mix. That decided we left the lego store for a quick visit to Tiffany's. The lack of prices on any items was intimidating - although Fiona found lots of lovely things we decided not to get a pick and mix cup there.

Outside the Lego store was the Rockefeller Centre. We did not go up as it was beyond our budget (you have to have some limits when you don't work for a year!). We did spend a while watching the skaters in the ice rink they have set up in the plaza. We kept going down fifth avenue and had a look in the New York Public Library before finding some dinner. We walked passed Times Square for a look at the lights and then headed home on the bus for a well earned rest.

Walking down 5th Avenue

Next morning we were up early and encouraged by Kirstie, Symi added Toys'R"Us to her list - biggest toy store in the world. She was well impressed with the indoor Ferris wheel and the large Barbie house. In the interests of fairness she felt she should also try the candy (we are in the US) in this store. Overall FAO Schwartz was delcared the winner. 

We then visited the 9/11 memorial which was quite sobering. Last time Rob and Fiona were in New York in 1998 we went up the World Trade Centre. Then it was onto the subway and down to Lower Manhattan to take the Staten Island Ferry for a view of the Statue of Liberty. We did stop for a quick lunch on the way for anyone who is worried about how long it might be since Symi or Rob ate. We enjoyed the ferry and on our way back could see the Brooklyn Bridge which was our next objective. It took a while to find the way onto the bridge but once we did it was a great walk which we all enjoyed.

We followed this up with a walk through China Town to Little Italy. The rain started to come down so we decided to have dinner. The dinner was great - with a complimentary glass of wine. We took the subway and lots of underground tunnels along with half of New York and made it back to the Port Authority Bus Terminal to catch our bus home. The terminal is huge. We imagine there are people in there who have been lost for days. We ran to catch our bus which unfortunately did not arrive. Luckily for us we were near the front of the queue which snaked back for a very long way. Finally a bus arrived and we managed to get a seat for the ride back.

Much as we all enjoyed New York we were all looking forward to a bit of piece and quiet next. We were off to Maryland to stay on a farm much to Symi's delight.