Is it day 3 already! We got up pretty early, ready to start the day and get out before the city got really busy. Times Square is a very different place early in the morning, you have the time and space to really look around and take in the big theatre signs, fashion bill boards and a whole lot of New Yorker’s commuting to work, there’s iconic yellow taxis cruising by, street vendors setting up, it’s all happening.
We hot footed it to the Rockefeller Plaza so we could go to “Top of the Rock”, we’ve watched every episode of 30 Rock and have been really excited about visiting this landmark. We had read that if you had to choose between going to the top of the Empire State Building and 30 Rock, then 30 Rock should be the one you go for, purely because when you get to the top and you are taking your photos, you actually get the Empire State building in the shots, makes sense doesn’t it? Although should we be fortunate enough to go back, we’ll need to go up the Empire State Building for a change!
30 Rock was magical, I say this because when you get on that elevator and it shoots you up to 70 floors in next to no time, it’s quite something. The glass roof on the elevator shows you the ascent to the top, an incredibly memorable experience. Then you get out and you head to the observation deck, like me, the eager beaver that I am I was snapping away with my camera on the first observation deck, having no idea if you keep going up you get those beautiful unobstructed views, so make your way to the top and gaze over New York in all it’s glory, you can see EVERYTHING and the photos, well, the photos will be epic. Once you get back down to earth you can take some time wandering around the plaza, keeping an eye out for Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy of course!
We zig zagged our way through town toward Roosevelt Island Tram station, about 25 minute walk from the Rockefeller, we paid $2.50 and in approximately 5 minutes we were walking on Roosevelt Island down towards the FDR Four Freedoms Park. Now if you are looking for some downtime from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, then Roosevelt Island is perfect. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and the skyline views are amazing. There was a juice van just outside the tram station that served gorgeous smoothies, just what we needed as the weather was toastie and with walking about the place we were parched. I opted for the Blitzer – carrot, mango and pineapple, yummy!
No rest for the wicked though, we were on the tram heading back into town. We thought we would have a stop off at Bryant Park to see what was happening there, as it was summer there was events there throughout the day, we just so happened to stroll through the park the same time as The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society showed up! That was an eye opener. A local guy was laughing at us as we were so very British about the whole thing, trying desperately hard not to look at the group of women all sitting around the park stairs, completely topless reading their books, acting like it’s something we see every day of the week. We stopped to chat with the New Yorker who strangely thought we were Australian, the Geordie and Edinburgh accents must have threw him a bit, but clearly our belief that we blend in with all the New Yorkers was just a fantasy, it would appear we stick out like a sore thumb, probably my continuous look of awe at all the new surroundings… not very subtle!
So back to the streets and we were now in search of the Highline, which is about 45 minute walk away on West 30th Street. We thought we might grab something to eat here, but there wasn’t all that much in the way of vegan fare, but walking through the roof tops on a beautiful sunny afternoon was really very relaxing… that was, until the shake down! This lovely little man, a Tibetan monk we think, was wandering around the High Line and made a bee line for me and in less than 2 seconds had a little wood bead bracelet on my arm! He gave us a notepad and expressed that he didn’t speak any English, but the gist was to right down on the notepad what your wish was. It is only with hindsight that I know what the note pad was. However at the time, all I could see was that someone had written before me, Plis and $10. So I thought, well I’ll just do the same, as soon as I wrote $10 he magically popped a bracelet onto Martin’s wrist, and I’m thinking, no danger am I paying $20 dollars for two 99 cent bracelets so we pointed at the 2 for $10. I know, I know, still a bit much and of course my wish is now also eternal plis, which I have decided is a mixture of peace and bliss, so there! (I’m still wearing that bracelet 3 months later and I love it and what it reminds me of!)
It’s getting later now and we’ve still not eaten and my tummy is rumbling, we’d made a note of some of the vegan places we could grab lunch at, so we set out to find Terri’s which was nearby on 60 West 23rd Street, Martin grabbed a couple of chairs and we ordered a feast of Chickpea “Tuna” Melt and a Thanksgiving sandwich, I sat myself down for the first time in about 5 hours and tucked into my long awaited lunch.
With a full tummy, I jumped off the stool and almost passed out… I had been walking all day in a pair of sandals and the entire underside of my feet were covered in water blisters, I have not know pain like it, I couldn’t walk, every step felt like I was walking on hot coals. I had to take 5 minutes just to get used to standing on my feet, thankfully I managed to hobble my way back to the hotel, it was only 1 and half miles away, but it felt like 10, ouch! I think Martin was slightly worried that he might need to give me a piggy back, but his dignity remains in tact!
Phew, well, that was day 3’s escapades, we crammed in a lot on another fantastic day in New York City finishing off with dinner from Whole foods and another early night ready for tomorrow… you thought we did a lot today… you ain’t seen nothing yet!
