We woke early on the morning of leaving the Berkshires, packed and left, travelling towards New Haven, CT. We of course had to do the obligatory cache for Steve to log yet another state.
The cache was a goody. Did the tree grow around the rock and lift it into the air? Maybe.
Drove past Yale university on the way to the station. We jumped on the train and had an uninteresting travel into NYC passing through a lot of backyard businesses. We then caught 3 more trains and then walked down to Izzy's house to be told off for not contacting her so that she could collect us from the station. We settled in, had a shower and beer then off to one of her brothers restaurants near to the station. I went to phys ed college in Scotland with Izzy '67 to 70 and have had no contact since but we did spend a lot of time together in class. She being an HA and me being GU and we were in the same B1 section. Izzy and her partner Sharon have been so hospitable, Iz has left us her car most mornings for us to drive up to the station to catch the NYC train. They live 60 kms outside the city on Long Island. The trains are amazing, so long and the commuter ones are 2 storey and cold. After day 1 I took my jersey to wear for the 1 hour ride. We bought ourselves a NYC pass to allow us free entry into many places which was great as we then did many things we might not have done. The best thing we bought was a week long ticket on the metro, this made life so easy just swipe it through the gate and enter and we bought a ticket for all the trips on the commuter train in and out of the city. All this made our lives a lot less stressful as we moved around. The things we did in the city were, the Intrepid Museum (a WWII aircraft carrier) with the space shuttle Enterprise and submarine called a Growler which patrolled the Mediterranean to keep an eye on Russia during the Cold War.
I just had to take this one for Jim Guy. UPS have a presence in New York City :)
After that we took the Hop on Hop off water taxi to Battery Park where we ate lunch and then walked to the 9/11 tribute centre and memorial park which is very beautiful and very moving.
Ground Zero - very moving
Back to the ferry and round to Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty which finished our trip.
Rushed to Penn station via the metro to catch the train home giving us a 12 hour day, leaving and returning at 8.
Day 2 was the the museum of Natural History where we joined a tour for the Dinosaurs among a few other things including the "Star of India". Lunch in Central Park then we tried to hire bikes but ran out of time so did the Rockefeller centre which was fun but quite a bit of faffing around as you had to wait for the time stated on your ticket to enter the complex so we went to Starbucks for a seat and a drink and some WiFi too for 1/2 an hour.
Central park and Uptown.
The Empire State Building and Downtown Manhattan from the 87th floor (Top of the Rock)
After the centre we passed Madame Tussaud's which was also free entry on our NYC card so we hopped in as it looked fun. Steve had to have a photo taken with Angelina Jolie (he had to get Brad out of the way first!) and he then insisted I had one taken with the Beatles.
Angelina happened to be walking past and stopped for a photo op.
Well, why not. Its not every day that you get to hang out with the Beatles.
We then caught an earlier train home, showered, beered and then down to Robs other restaurant, the Rocking Fish to be shouted by him a delicious seafood dinner starting with oysters. He also insisted Steve tried a flight of 4 beers after he had already drunk 2 schooners so he came home very merry.
Day 3, Wednesday we caught a later train as that evening we were going to The Jersey Boys on Broadway and then up the Empire State Building. Today we did manage the bikes only to discover that the caches in Central Park had fallen off the GPS. Luckily we had Lizzie with us (the IPad).
Alice in Wonderland in Central park
Our lunch spot in Central Park
We then decided that maybe we would not come into the city the next day and if we wanted to get the later train to catch the bus on Friday we needed to know exactly what we were doing so off we went to Penn station to work it out. We then wandered into and out of Macey's, definitely not in the mood to shop, and on up to Times Square to take in the sights.
A quiet day in Times Sq. The intersection between 7th Ave and Broadway.
We then thought, we have a spare hour, so let's go to Grand Central Station and get an audio walking tour. This station is spectacular, we did the tour and then ate dinner in the downstairs food hall, got ourselves up to where the Jersey Boys was showing with time to spare. The show was fantastic, a standing ovation, we loved it. Then we quickly walked down to the metro and on up the Empire State Building. It took us an hour to get to the top because of the queues of people at 10pm. At the "top", 86th floor it was clear, cold and on one side, windy. Stunning view, but not as enjoyable as the Rockefeller centre. Not sure whether that was day vs night, or just bigger queues and more people about. $25 entry, free on our NYC card and another $17 if you wanted to carry on up to the 101st floor! There were hundreds of us - ka-ching. The observation deck stays open until 2am every night. 16 lifts up to floor 80 and then only four up to floor 86. We walked the last 6 floors, quicker than another 1/2 hour queue for the lift. After a quick look around with the crowds we left to catch the 2345 train home. Luckily we still had time to buy 1 litre of takeaway beer to drink on the train. Home by one, exhausted.
Today we have just chilled, happy to be on the Internet and catch up. Iz came home after lunch.
Here is Izzy with Lindsey outside the Fire Station in Northport
We took her out to introduce her to some of the local caches and are possibly going for a drink to her brothers cafe then Pizza for dinner. Tomorrow it's back on the trail again, onto Washington DC for the final 4 days before returning to Florida for the last 10 days before returning to NZ for the last 2 weeks of winter. The choice was $400 for the train to DC or $54 for the bus. We're on the bus! One hour longer but also one hour more for Lindsey to cat nap and we are told it is a more scenic route.