New York State of Mind

Well lets start again with I heart New York and I always will. I love Central Park, the Hudson River, Times Square, the old brownstones in Brooklyn(Andrew and I spent a wonderful week in one a couple of years ago. It snowed heavily the day we arrived and it was more stunning then any picture)and most of all I love the people of New York. They are friendly but they don't take B*llsh1t and thats my kind of people. There is the most amazing energy in New York that just makes me come alive. I could go on for years:) There was a time in my life where I would loved to live there but now with Ewan my priorities are different so my number one city in the world is Sydney but NYC is a very close second. I was actually picturing how to convince Ewan that Central Park would be an amazing back yard but I know its a hopeless case. Andrew and Ewan both like at least nine months of the year to involve sunshine so I know its a hopeless case. So onto our trip..

It was way to short. Three nights in New York is just impossible and I was left feeling we had missed out so much.

Day one

After finding our hotel and checking in Ewan just wanted to run around. So I opened up his nappy bag which was mostly filled with toys and let him have a run around the hotel room. We stayed at the Doubletree Suites on Times Square and its an awesome place to stay if you are family or actually if you just want some space. There is a lounge with a sofa bed, a huge bathroom, a mini fridge and coffee spot and a big bedroom with the most heavenly bed I have ever slept on. Seriously it was like a giant soft cuddle. Andrew and Philip headed out to find some basic groceries and dinner. They returned an hour or so later bearing groceries and McDonalds. Yes I am a bad Mom but its not like we have one in our little town and he loves their junior burgers. So tummies filled Ewan passed out in his new Winnie the Pooh travel bed and the adults watched the worsening news about Hurricane Irene.

Day Two

First order of the day was hit B&H Photo. Its this huge store that sells all sorts of electronic stuff and its way cheaper then we pay in SA. Its a jewish run store and I knew we had been there to long when Ewan piped up with Oh Vie from his pram. Andrew is obsessed with this store so yeah we were there much longer then anticipated. Still we all got ourselves awesome cameras at maybe a third of what we pay here plus my camera is still not available here so booyah! The trip back to the hotel was made more difficult by a huge rainstorm. I have never been that drenched in my life outside of a shower. Eventually there was no more point in running. Luckily our hotel had lots of towels in the bathroom. A dry and warm Ewan went down for his nap. Philip and I went out to get Italian for lunch. Yes it cost quite a bit but the food was fantastic and the portions well American sized. The white zinfadel was lovely and having the space to eat in our hotel was very handy. Later in the afternoon I went across the street and bought tickets for the Gray Line bus tour. We did the tour last time and it really is a great way to see the city. The subway may be cheaper but its not like you see much. We all hoped on the night tour. New York at night is stunning. The guide was great and Ewan was really well behaved and enjoyed chatting to the ladies behind us. In fact he was incapable of shutting up but they loved it and were talking to him. He was distraught when they got off the bus a stop before us. We where all still kinda full from lunch so we went to Juniors and bought a cheesecake to share. It really is the most awesome cheesecake in the world. Melt in your mouth good.

Day three

Today was an early start as we had to try and find the bus that was supposed to take us to our sightseeing cruise. We couldn't find that bus anywhere. Eventually we just took a cab and discovered that the cab(like I had been saying all along) is a really easy way to get around. The cruise was a bit crowded but the views were great and its always impressive seeing the statue of Liberty. Amazing to see the difference between New Jersey and New York. Garden State? Really I drove all over that state last time we where there and all I saw was factories and other industry. Maybe they hide the gardens. We got the free bus back to the hotel and went on the Uptown bus loop and Ewan had his nap on the bus. We took a nice long walk through the park and had yummy hot dogs from a cart in the park. Ewan ate a really nasty pretzel but he seemed to like it. We then had the fun of trying to catch a cab at rush hour to get to the Top of the Rock. Most of the cabs where off duty or the driver couldn't understand us. Eventually a New Yorker caught a cab for us and explained to the driver where we wanted to go. We got to the TR and discovered the tickets had been left on our hotel bed. Andrew ran back to the hotel to fetch the tickets. We amazingly got to the door at the time on our ticket. TR kicks the Empires States ass. At the Empire State it took us over an hour to get to the top with all the security checks and endless photos. This time we arrived and in ten minutes we where looking at the amazing views. The roof of the lift is glass and has lights along the lift shaft so you can really see how fast you are moving. The views are fantastic and you can see the whole of central park.

We got back to the hotel and had plans for a great dinner out only to discover that our flight for the next day had been cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. The next flight JetBlue could give us was late on Tuesday(four days away) and going via Boston. We didn't really want to stay in New York as the whole city was coming to a stand still at 12 the next day as a precaution against Irene. We really felt lucky the first Hurricane to hit New York in 110 years and we where there. So with help from a fairly exhausted but still friendly concierge and lots of time on the internet we managed to hire a big 4x4 for the drive to Orlando.

So Hurricane Irene well thats tomorrow's story.

[caption id="attachment_76" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our Hotel in New York"][/caption]