Eventually bothered to get ready and headed across the Hudson to Manhattan at about 11am. Was going to take the free bus up to our first stop, but as we got on it, the driver got off. Sat there for a while and thought I wonder how long it will be before he came back. Decided to get off and walk as it wasn't too far and not too hot. Walked about eight blocks in total. Just as we arrived at our destination, so did the bus.
Our destination was the Skyline Diner on the recommendation of Alice and George. Had a very good brunch.
www.skylightdinernyc.com
Next went to a subway station to get a 7 day Metrocard. Even though we are only here for three days, it will be cheaper than paying individually for rides. Tried to get one last night but hit a snag. When you pay by credit card on the machine, it asks you for your Zip Code. Now, being foreigners, we don't have one, which means you can't use the card on the machine. Or so I thought, but before leaving this morning I did some research. Turns out if you put 99999 in as your zip, it recognises your card as a foreign one and then the payment goes through. Tried it, worked perfectly. Felt very smug.
Caught train to the southern tip of Manhattan. We had prebooked our next activity for 2pm, arrived at bit early but were allowed in.
It has changed dramatically in two years. Again, as with the United 93 memorial, it is a tremendous piece of design and even though there were loads of visitors, there was plenty of space to find time to reflect on all those names around the edges.
Having spent some time at the memorial we moved on. Sat in a small cafe to have a drink and cool off. The headed down to see the Wall Street Bull. Couldn't believe it when we got there. There was a massive queue of people waiting to have their photo taken by it. Why? Yeah have a look at it, but to queue up for what must have been half an hour at least, seemed an incredible waste of time.
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| What a load of bull! |
Onward to the Staten Island ferry. Again a massive queue. Got on ferry, rode it across to Staten Island and then back again. It is free and serves a purpose for New Yorkers, but it was just full of tourists going back and forth wanting to see the Statue of Liberty for free. Like us. Can't see why they don't charge non residents a fee. Anyway, we got a great spot on the way back so we could get some good shots. Some Chinese bint asked us to move so she could have her picture taken with the view behind her. Ann told her to Foxtrot Oscar. Got some great shots of the downtown skyline.
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| Lady Liberty |
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| The new World Trade Centre now dominates |
Got off and walked back towards the Bull on our way. Sat in the oldest park in New York, the Bowling Green. It is very small. Watched a bride and groom have their pictures taken in front of the fountain. Then spotted lots of mice have a great time in the shrubbery.
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| Mickey Mouse |
Next caught metro north to the Flatiron Building. There was some sort of filming going on. Turns out to be a Brazilian film.
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| Looks like a flat iron! |
Wandered down towards the Highline Park. Last time we were here, we didn't get the chance to see it, so we thought we'd make the most of a beautiful evening. It is a park set in an elevated section of a disused metro line. So it is this narrow strip of greenery above ground level. Got there had a look. It was busy so didn't walk along it.
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| Highline Park |
Heard some music playing in the distance. Went to investigate.
There was a concert being held next to the Hudson River. Tried to see what was going on. Eventually asked a security guard who was playing. He said The Killers. Ann sounded impressed until I reminded her that neither of us could name a Killers song. She then realised she had no idea of what the Killers sang. The man then told me I looked like an uncover policeman. He said he was good at spotting them. Quite odd really. Decided we didn't want to pay to watch the Killers so instead caught the metro to our last stop of the day, The Westway Diner.
westwaydinernyc.com
We saw this on an episode of Smash, so looked it up. Had free wifi. Googled the Killers on my phone to see what it was all about. Turns out they had played in the UK today. Thought that was odd. Spent more time trying to find out what was happening in the park. Eventually found out the band playing is called 'The Kills'. Blokes accent made it sound like the Kill...as. Had more good food. Six NYPD officers came in and ate. Told Ann they had come in to make contact with me to see how my undercover work was going.
Eventually we caught the free bus back to the ferry. Got on board. Driver went mental and flew across the water. He made a sharp turn at one point, so we were up at a forty five degree angle. Pretty awesome.
Ann is now asleep. Our legs hurt a lot.
Looking forward to an even more awesome day tomorrow.
States visited - 16
