New York Blog - Weblinks

Hi!
As I wrote the blog I should have provided links to the places we visited for your information! Here are some - more to follow!

The Hotel Mela                      http://www.hotelmela.com/

Roosevelt Island                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Island

Central Park                          http://www.centralpark.com/

Times Square                        http://www.timessquarenyc.org/

Broadway Theatre                http://www.broadway.com/

Planet Hollywood                  http://www.planethollywoodintl.com/locations_newyork.php

New York Pass                      http://www.newyorkpass.com/

The Flatiron Building             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building_(Atlanta)

Battery Park                           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Park

New York Pretzels                 http://www.nypretzel.com/

Street Vendors                      http://newyorkstreetfood.com/

Statue of Liberty                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

Ground Zero                          www.groundzeromuseum.org

The Skyscraper Museum     http://www.skyscraper.org/home.htm

Last Day! Oh no!

So, here we are.....the last day of our trip! We got home eventually! It was a long time....up early in the morning, out to enjoy the last day and then transfer to the airport. Then we had to get through customs, get our boarding passes and then visit - duty free! The vote was three to two so we lost!
Then it was food time! Linda and Lauren went for pizza while Andrew and Kelsey decided that at least once they should go McDonalds! Tip for future: don't order a milk shake without asking for it cream free! Totally spoilt by a cream top to it!
Then it was waiting....and we got on the plane at around 9.30pm. We were a little late in taking off but were air bound by 10.30! Night flight...so have to try to sleep. Sleeping is never easy in a plane! We also gained 5 hours so we touched down at 9.30am at Heathrow! Then another wait for the flight to Aberdeen! More customs and security! Then more waiting for the plane!
I think this is the worst we have felt when getting home with jet lag! We got home around 4pm and we basically went to bed for 4 or 5 hours! Then we were up for something to eat and then back to bed! Another 12 hours plus and we were back up! Still not quite compus mentus but getting there! I will be adding more to my blog very soon! I will sum up the trip, New York and some do's and dont's for going to NYC,
Ted

Me on the News! I'm on the TV!

Checking my flight reservations!

'Oi! Privacy please!'

Sprucing up for the flight!

Not quite the view we hoped for!

Breakfast view in Bryant Park! Empire State in the background!


New York Public Library. I tried to get a copy of 'Paddington' but they did not have one! Tut!

Sitting relaxing at Grand Central Station! You must sit a lot as there are no trains!

My last indulgence! New York cheese cake!

Checking my portfolio before we go! Always best to be on top of things!

Almost There

Well, here we are back at the hotel! Bags packed and waiting for our transfer. We checked out at noon but our bags are still here.

Today:
1. Pack
2. Out for breakfast! Nice simple breakfast from a stall in Bryant Park! Lovely sitting outside and enjoying our last breakfast aldente!
3. Quick visit to the LIBRARY! Lovely old building with a great sense of history and oppulence! Lauren quite impressed!
4. Stroll to Grand Central Station! Still saw NO trains! But a vast, cavernous building that at peak times must just buzz with commotion! Wandered about and found the 'whispering arches' Linda wanted to find! We then left and came back to the hotel to finish packing and have a shower!
5. Walk round Times Square! Lauren and Kelsey wanted some last minute shopping! Kelsey had to get her Levi jeans! Lauren eventually decided to buy something! Andrew got some.....ties! How original!
6. Fossil - To get some shopping for Mark! The staff are very friendly!
7. Lunch in a Times square diner and then a quick visit to Footlocker! Lauren was not going to let Andrew buy tainers - as he was not 20 and would not be swaggering around Turriff with his jeans tucked into his trainers! Her relief was so noticeable when they did not have his size! Kelsey was VERY keen - she thought we could share! Would they have to hop everywhere? One shoe each seems silly to me!
8. Now at hotel waiting for transfer bus!

I will sum up my trip and my thoughts once I get home! What a place! Every bear should visit here once!

Thanks for readig!

Ted

Times Square! Mounted Police Alert!

Last night in Times Square! It is very busy as ever! But very muggy! Heavy rain NOT far away as we would discover!

Thanks to the very friendly mounted policeman for posing with me for my photo!

I'm Singing in the Rain....

Well, here's my last evening blog from the Hotel Mela! Tomorrow is our last day! We need to check out by 12 noon but are not pocked up until 4.30pm to go to the airport!

Tonight the biggies had a stroll round Bryant Park before going back to get the other! They then headed to Times Square to do some touristy shopping! List for tomorrow: Ties!

The bad bit of the evening was ANOTHER visit to ETERNAL 21! sorry, Forever 21! However, this was the Times Square shop....not 5th Avenue! So that would be ok! WRONG, they are nothing but consistent! Only 4 floors this time...but just as few changing rooms and as many people trying to get in to them! Andrew and I walked round the shop as often as we could without seeming a little.....what's the word.....? Then we went or a walk round Times Square! That would help! No! Back we o and still no sign...despite another walk round all floors! So up to the entrance area again! This place should have a HEALTH WARNING posted outside and M&S style seatsvat the door for husbands, fathers, boy friends or anyone of the male gender (unless you are Gok Wan!) to while away the hours! Space invaders or hand held games! Or a system like public baths where shoppers are given a coloured band are old when they need to be out of the shop!

Anyway, eventually....after spring was beginning to show signs, did they appear again! Now it was off to the tourist shop and Hershey's! I don't know why but that always makes me think of the old, OLD programme that used to be on TV when I was young, TinTin or even 'The Flashing Blade'!

Anyway, on the way we were set a challenge! A mounted policeman was standing in Times Square near the TKTS booth! Linda dared us both to go and ask if we could get a photo of me ON the police horse! They do this thinking we won't do it! So, what the hell, it's the last night and they can deport me if necessary! We went up and explained about my blog and the policeman never batted an eyelid when he said he'd hold me! I could t o on the horse as he may, MAY, bolt off if a stranger is on him! So, not wishing to argue Andrew said that was fine and I got a photo with one of NYC's finest! A nice way to end the holiday!

Then on leaving the touristy shop it was PELTING it down! It was bucketing! It was reining very hard! Lightning flashed above and we made our way to the diner we were oing to for tea via he hotel to drop off the shopping! We had a lovely meal in the Red Draon Diner and even the two others enjoyed it!

Then it was back to pack and get ready for tomorrow!

I will blog tomorrow Shen I can! I just want to thank everyone fr taking the time to read my ramblings and look at my photos! I've had blast!

New York, New York - so good they named it twice! Perhaps I should change my name to Turra Ted, Turra Ted!

Anyway, more tomorrow if I can!

Thanks

Ted!!

Monday' Photos so far!

1. I'm expanding my knowledge at the Public Library! Will it rain? Will it freeze over? ( I wish!) do they have a good bear section? The classics.....Winnie the Pooh? Paddington? Bears and lovers?? Bear Expectations? Moby Bear? Bear Grit? A tale of two bears?


2. Grand Central Station (Above)
It's huge! But not ONE train in sight! Reminds me a bit on British Rail?
3. Barbie Foozeball!
'Come on ye Barbies!' If the Dons looked a bit more like this they might get more spectators!,

4. Time for CAKE! Any time is cake time! Who cares if it's a girly colour! Yum!

Silly me! I forgot getting lost!,

I. Kelsey, Andrew and I got 'way layed' in Grand Central!

II. L and K instead on going back to the hotel before going to the diner or breakfast! Linda and Andrew went and got a table, at the same place we were at the other night, as we waited for them to appear! Come out of the hotel, go to the end of the block, cross 6th Avenue and there we are! So, we waited, waited, waited AND waited! The waitress got fed up waiting and began to think we were just there for the free glass of iced water and there was not really our of us! Then when I left 'To go look for them' I could see her thinking that Linda will get up next and we will have had a nice cool drink fir nothing!

However, I went back to the hotel, to to the 6th and no one there! I went back to the diner and fully expected them to be there! No! Nothing! I went again and went the opposite direction and found them sauntering back down the street looking at me as if it was MY fault!

Anyway, we got breakfast and it was lovely! Note to Celebrations and Baxters of Speyside! When you order pancakes here you get THREE large pancakes and not just one! If L and K had realised then they ay well have shared!

Good times!

Monday in NYC -Shopping and Getting Lost!

Time is running out on my trip! I love he hustle, the bustle and the sheer vibrance of the city! It certainly is the city that never sleeps!

It is SO hot today - even before 10am it was 93 degrees! We did sleep in a little today as we felt there was not the same urgency to bout and about! Today was going to be a shopping day! Help! As you can understand I can't BEAR shopping! Unless it's for me! I wonder if there will be a honey shop, or a Peruvian antiquities shop or a a magic shop where I could get Sooty a new wand? They said there was a Bear Factory! But there's no way I'm going there! I don't need stuffing, I don't need any minor operations and I am not going to view bears being put through such ordeals thank you very much!

So, we were ready to go - but the girls were not! Well, one of them anyway! So Andrew suggested to Kelsey that they nip alngo see Bryant Park and the Public Library while we waited! We did this and Kelsey enjoyed figuring out which direction the flood water came cascading down towards the library in 'The Day After Tomorrow!' So having achieved this Andrew suggested they nip down to Grand Central Station or a look! So off they went! They got in no bother and I got my photo taken there to add to the collection! So, back out and back to the hotel before the other two get fractious! However, we ended up lea ing by another exit and ended up at the other die of the station! So, if we had nt stopped and asked we could have been heading away from the hotel! Back on track (get it??) we head back to the hotel! Being trained in map reading helped us survive and we were soon steaming back! Our pace was a lot quicker with just the two of us and we soon saw familiar sights signalling we were getting close to our destination!

So, having collected the other two we were off to Times Square so that Mark could see us on one of the webcams there which streamed pictures live all round the world! Apparently he tracked us on at least four different cameras! Having ticked this off the list it was now time to hit 5th Avenue to.....gulp.....shop.....and shop!

First - Fossil! I saw lots of hand bags, bags and MAN bags but nothing that looked remotely old or pre-historic! No ammonites, tribolites or petrified remains of any sort! Andrew did look petrified once or twice when Linda picked up hand bags....but she did put them down once the assisted wrestled them off of her!

Second - a jewelers to see Panora beads! No New York ones but an apple which apparenty will do!

Third - Banana Republic! Well, fr all the time we were in I did not see ANY bananas and was
not asked for my passport once!

Third - H and M! Four floors of the same thing! Is there not one in Aberdeen?

Fourth - Forever 21! SIX floors of clothes for the young at heart! Gents - yes.....you've guessed it......SIXTH floor and not one thing for the discerning bear!
Now, do you want to know why it's called Forever 21? Well, it has something to o with being in it FOREVER!!!! 6 floors, LOTS of clothes and very few changing rooms! We left the ladies queueing r the changing rooms and waited by the door! Seats for the waiting gents? NO, not one! Anywhere for bears to wait? NO!

After getting so disenchanted by the wait we fought our way through the customers to the back AND THY WERE STILL IN THE QUEUE!

FOREVER 21? You enter as a 21 year old and leave with a bloody zimmer 40 years later! By the time you escape the clothes either no longer it you or they do not suit you! And don't start about queueing to pay! It would have been easier to go home and order online AND wait for delivery! Perhaps they should go into partnership with FOSSIL as they are made for each other!

Fifth: Abercrombie and Fitch!
Now we side stepped this as Lauren decided she might want to get an iPod touch! So we headed to the Apple shop at the junction of Fifth and 58th!

Any way - A and F first! From the visit we had yesterday I could place it in the category of the designer shop for the young with more Money than sense! It is similar to Holister and Jack Wills! They want to seduce you with their great products (at high prices) but insist on making things difficult on two counts!
i. The shops are almost totally in darkness! So you can't see a damned thing and spend half the time squinting at the goods, let alone trying to suds out the size, and the other half apologising for continually knocking into people!
ii. They also insist on all their workers being of model like standard so that nt only can you not see what you ate buying you just know that when you wear it it won't look the same as it does on the assistants! But, that's why it's dark....so you can't see how bad you look in comparison and you can't see that it is two sizes two big for you! However, when an assistant does go past there is a slight increase in the available light as when they see you struggling to see what you have and how silly you look they SMILE and their perfect teeth cause an increase in the ambient lighting! Oh yes....and they all must ge at least 6 foot plus and o wider than a telegraph pole - and that's just the ladies!

Not only that but they had bare (not bear!) assistants at the door o that you could get your photo taken next to a tall, athletic, teeth glistening hunk before trying to find what you are after! How sexist! Lady assistants there? NO! Discrimination or what! If the ladies get it why not the guys?

So, we avoided all of this and went to the Apple Store! One of three stores in Mnhattan this was a subterranean shop! You entered and descended into the depths! As opposed to 'A and F' above and Jack Wills, Apple shops exude light like no other! Their products must be seen in the brightest, clearest light to show their magnificence! It was like the Aberdeen store but on STEROIDS! it was HUGE! Is this what they keep referring to as 'The BIG Apple'? It certainly was!

However, it was all in vain! Lauren changed her mind - but in the meantime Andrew went round as many iPads as possible setting them to show MY BLOG on the screen! Lauren thought he was sad! I thought he was just trying to publicise my ramblings!

So, back we went to meet them VIA the FAO Schwarz shop so Lauren could see the BIG piano and I could get a photo of 'The Barbie Foozeball Table' to post on here later! Perhaps if the USA had entered the barbie team in the final of the ladies world cup yesterday they might have won!

So, we met them.....feeling quite annoyed we had been some time and headed off to a deli for lunch! Note: when Andrew and I nicely commented about the time spent in ETERNITY 21 ( sorry, Forever 21) we got little sympathy!

We went back to the jewellers or the little Big Apple pandora bead and when asked again where we came from from the guy there he extolled about his visit to Scotland to play all the key golf courses - St Andrew's, Carnoustie, Glen Eagles, Cooper Park Pitch and Put and the crazy golf at Cadonnas! When we said that he'd have to come back and play 'Trumpton Course' when Donald finishes it he said he had been playing last week with his friend when Onald had pulled up in his golf cart next anthem and started chatting to his friend who knew him well,

So, we get back to the hotel early and three of them are having some down tine while the other helps me type my ramblings as my furry paws are not good with an iPad screen!

Photos from today will appear in a while! Although, we do know that when you do the blog chronologically for the day it appears in reverse order on the blog! So, if you read this later you will have seen the photos already!

I can't believe I only have two more days to report on left! I wonder? Should I set up my own Facebook page?

Ted

Chicago? I thought it was NYC.

We're going to Chicago! But I thought we were in New York!

The choice for a Sunday night in Broadway was limited as this is one of the busy nights of the week! It was either Chicago, Billy Elliot or Priscilla! No one fancied Priscilla (sorry!) and one did not fancy Billy! So, it was Chicago!

After a very rushed dinner we queued for the theatre! We made it just in time and we really enjoyed the performance! Not the strongest of sorry lines, but a good cast and performance! The costumes were VERY interesting and certainly bet tutus and tights! Mind you there were lots of tights in Chicago - but of A slightly more risqué variety!

They all enjoyed the show although they were not 100% happy at first! As a bear I feel that I could have added to the cast and a bear dancer could have gone down a storm!

FAO Schwarz! As requested! 'A Big Moment'!

Well, Sunday CONTINUES to be movie day! What are they (HE the others shout!!) like!?!

This time it's the movie 'Big!' everyone should see it! It is great! Again, Tom Hanks (I'm a bit worried about this! If they go on holiday to a desert island or if they end up in the Vatican or The Louvre I will really worry!
Anyway, this photo was requested by an old school friend! Originally they did not know what the place was but after some research it became a must! One scene in the movie sees Tom Hanks and another cats member playing the large floor piano in this amazing toyshop - FAO Schwarz! So after being at Bloomingdales this was the next stop! Linda was a bit weary by this time but she did enjoy this visit!
We were welcomed to the shop by a man dressed as a Toy soldier...with a dodgy English accent! More of him later! We entered the shop and all I can say is that the two oldies were relieved that Kelsey is 18 as if she had been 8 then they may have left considerably poorer! (Lauren had taken a taxi back to the hotel as she was not feeling 100% and wanted a spot of quiet time! )
Anyway, we found 'The BIG Piano' and a large number of people were jumping all over it and so any chance of getting a song were slim! However, just as we arrived they cleared the piano and two of the employees took over and played the two songs from the movie and a number of other tunes to entertain the large crowd that had gathered! Andrew was desperate for a shot, but as most of the next ones to dash on to try it were under the age of 8 he decided it would be unfair to deprive a child a shot! But it was great to see! Thanks to Graham for this suggestion!

They then went and looked at the new born babies that you could adopt and then the best thing ever....a Fooseball Table (like in Friends) but BIGGER with the team players all being Barbie Dolls! A snip at only $24,999 dollars. I asked if the needed a trainer or physio but the Barbies seemed quite happy! Oh well, never mind!
On the way out I was given the opportunity to have my photo taken with the Toy Soldier doorman! When I was presented to him to hold for the photo he looked at me and exclaimed.......'Hootsman!!!' and smiled for the camera! I was just glad he didn't say anything about Susan Boyle!

From the there we made our way back to the hotel via the TCKTS booth to pick up tickets for a Broadway Show for that night! We're off to the theatre!
Graham, I hope you count this as a successful challenge!
Ted

A quiet Sunday in New York!

Sunday, a day of rest - even in New York? Nae chance!!
Today we were up a little later! Ted's do need sleep - after all we do usually hibernate for long periods.
Today was a day for the movies! They, well the two oldies, keep going on about a film...'You've got mail!' it is some rom com about .....life in New York! It starred Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan! So, they tried to get on the tour bus even though their tickets stopped at 8.33 that morning! (Typical Aberdonians!) However, no bus was on the horizon (and with the avenues running in straight lines for miles and miles it was easy to see!) and so they decided to take a taxi!
They hailed the cab and nonchalantly said to the driver, 'Can we go to Verdi Square, please!' He looked and asked again! 'Verdi Square?' Andrew said! He just looked blank! So he took out his fold out map and showed the driver! 'There!' he said pointing to the map! The driver screwed up his eyes and said he could not see it as it was so small! Anyway, he resorted to saying 74th and Broadway! S off he went! By this time was thinking.....this could be problematic! The taxi driver asked why we wanted to go there! He had never Ben asked to take ANYONE there before! (I wonder why?) so, he launched into an explanation about it was a scene from a movie....and .....so anyway, he managed to flummox a NY cabbie!
The roads were quiet at this time of morning. The cabbie said it would be after 11 Before it got busy! They were duly dropped off at Verdi Square and the taxi took off! Now, I shouldn't say but Verdi Square is not a square! It's a triangle! Two roads converge at the end of the garden and this is in one of the opening scenes of the movie! It would be simpler if you just viewed the movie!


Anyway, photo op number 1. He wanted them to walk down both sides of the garden but thought better of it as his models would have refused! So, I was drummed in to play the part! However, in his haste he got the photo just as I took a dive off the pillar! 'Cut!' as the director would have said? No, just pick me up and move on! Wait till the union here's about this.

So, off we went..still on broadway even though we are miles from Times Square! We went past a real impressive fruit stall outside a shop and carried on through the Upper West Side! Next stop....Zabars! This is a NY institution (where he might end up yet by the end of this!) that is famous the world over! (Well, so he says!) it is an importer of fine foods and cheeses from all over the world and is featured in the movie also! We arrive and head to their deli for breakfast! On a Sunday morning this is full of West Siders having their breakfast out as they get the papers, have a stroll or pick up the fine, imported foods and cheeses that separate the posh West Siders from everyone else! Linda has frozen yogurt, while the others have croissants! It is very nice! We then move to the shop and visit the almost as famous upstairs level that sells home goods! And what do they buy (I should say SHE!) a duster, some cooking items and a lunch bag! All the way to NYC and they really know how to spot the local designer goods to take home! A duster? I can just imagine that at customs!,

We leave Zabars and head on next to Riverside Park! This is where the happy ending of the film takes place! We have a stroll through the park and we are entertained by some very friendly small birds (of the feathered variety) and a very inquisitive squirrel! They suggest trying me down beside the squirrel but that is NOT in my contract!

On again and we make our way to the next movie stop! This time it is the local Starbucks! The ladies need the toilet so Andrew decided it is only fair to buy a coffee in return as he waits! This was merely an excuse for a photo op....as Kelsey waited outside to take his photo sitting in the window of the cafe as happens in the film! As he waits he strikes up a conversation with a man viewing the British Open on his iPod! 'Whose winning?' he ventures! And thus follows a conversation about the Open while they both wait for their coffee!


Photo taken it's off again to the 'main' scene they want to visit! Cafe Lalo is a very quaint cafe situated on West 83rd and features in a prominent scene in the movie! The cafe is again very popular with the locals and on a Sunday was very busy! We wait outside for a table to become free and some 20 minutes later we enter! We get a table ALMOST in the same place as Tom and Meg have in the movie and we order lunch! It is very nice and it was interesting watching the locals and visitors alike in the small cafe! How many other people were doing an unofficial 'You've got mail' tour....maybe not many! But even Lauren and Kelsey enjoyed this one!

So, the movie tour was finished and we set off once again for Central Park and I was determined to get a better photo than yesterday's pathetic effort! We had a lovely walk round 'Jackie Onassis Lake' and enjoyed some better views than yesterday! We crossed to the other side to make it once more on to Fifth Avenue and hailed a cab to take us to Bloomingdales!

This was a great outing and we look forward to visiting Cafe Lalo in the future at some point again!

Saturday Night

So what to do on a Saturday night? The girls are in their room as they are 'knackered' and so we o on a hunt to get them pizza to take back to their room! After success we go back to the hotel and check they are ok and then we head out ALONE! Three of us...all alone in the big city! He wanted it just to be the two of us..but Linda insisted in coming too!

We just wander and soon find ourselves heading downtown a little and spy a park in the middle of a square of huge towers with lots of people milling about! We go to investigate and discover a place called Bryant Square.(Actually ONLY one block away from the hotel!)  It is located directly behind NYC's main library - the one featured in The Day After Tomorrow. The square is crowded with people. There are hundreds of chairs and picnic tables dotted about in the trees surrounding the park and all across the large grass square in the middle. But it is beyond dusk by this time - but the park is lit like daytime! We look up and on top of one of the vast tower blocks is a bank of huge spotlights that are creating the artificial daylight everyone is enjoying.

People are eating, drinking, sitting reading, chatting, playing chess or surfing on their laptops. The place is buzzing and a range of restaurants at one end are doing a roaring trade. It is a sight to behold. It is very muggy, but they are determined to make the most of the heat and light.
We wander on out of the park and realise then that we are at the library! It is an imposing building and then down at the end of the block we can see the facade of Grand Central Station!
A real piece of New York life!

Art Critic Review - The Guggenheim

Ok, so late afternoon we make it to The Guggenheim! this is one of NYC's iconic attractions! The building is spectacular and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, as written about by Simon and Garfunkel! The building is like a beehive and sits in stark contrast to the buildings around it! As it rises up higher into the sky the building gets bigger and so the perspective is almost the wrong way round from your expectations!
Anyway, in we went! Lauren was keen to see the building where Kelsey was not interested whatsoever!

We got tickets, but Kelsey decided to remain at the bottom and wait for us to return! You can photograph as much as you like outside and inside on the ground floor! But no cameras were permitted  in the exhibition! I wonder why that is? To maintain the allure of the exhibits? To ensure people come long to see the range of exhibits on display without looking on line to see them? No, there is NO photography allowed as the exhibits are CRAP! The main exhibitor at the moment, I forget his name somehow, was a specialist in 'taking the piss!' (Apologies!!) Even I, a humble bear, could have produced better art works! And the humans definitely could have! The specialisms ranged from 'art in the nursery school' (large piles of cotton wool with sticks lid into it) or boulders on cushions, boulders on the floor, paintings with just rough lines or even some old strips of metal just laid on the floor! I bet if the cleaner nudged them or moved them NO ONE would be any the wiser AT ALL, these artists are just making a mockery of us all! No, I do not want to look for the hidden meanings in the symbolism! It was a boulder on a cushion on the floor, r on a pain of glass or randomly painted lines on a canvas! And the potato prints (well, they looked like that) were just a joke!

Anyway, the building is a must to see! The design concept is stunning and the whitewashed Walls, spiralling up to the spectacular roof is worth the entrance fee alone! If you go - just don't bother with the art work! And don't try to touch it or get near it as the 'guards' are very jumpy and quick to react to any poor soul who might inadvertently almost fall asleep while looking at them and get too close for comfort!
My new ambition - get an exhibition of my doodles in the Guggenheim before I die! Perhaps they should rename it the. 'Giggleheim!'

New York New York

How am I bearing up? Well, in New York you have to go with the flow! However, the humans, some of them, are beginning to wilt! Jet lag? Early mornings? Late nights? Anyway, heat and walking do not seem to be the best mix!

Early morning today....well, it was supposed to be but the two biggies slept in! So, up, ready and out as quickly as we could! We were heading first to The Empire State! The last time they did this they queued for hours at various points to get up! Well, after catching the tour bus and getting down to the drop off we got in with no bother! Sort queues, and finally ANOTHER security check....bags x-rayed AGAIN and through the metal detector! Then we were off to the lift. We were off to the 86th floor! We sped up rather quickly and after 20 minutes or so from arriving we were there. We had the view we had from The Rockefeller but this time in reverse! We had great views all round Manhattan and round the other districts of New York. The rest of the city is not nearly so heavy on the high rises! New Jersey, to the West has quite a number but Manhattan rules the waves! Skyscrapers that would tower way above the vast majority of most city skylines are dwarfed by the likes of The Rockefeller, The Chrysler and The Empire State. The combination of the old and the new side by side really add to the eclectic mix of Manhattan.

Of course you have to exit by the shop as all attractions have you do! Well, I ended up having a bit if a bear convention! All these poor bears were being held hostage in a large unit and could not freely leave! They were all tagged and were being SOLD! in this day and age? Shocking! Luckily I made it out safe and sound! They liked my kilt though! One even asked if I knew a woman called Susan Boyle?? I just shook my head and high tailed it out of the slave section!


The crowds were looking for the ideal photo op and we moved round from side to side looking for any view or highlight we had missed!
These 'attractions' are manned to the hilt by people! I think they must have at least three people in every job to ensure that there is overkill all the time! They bark instructions, commands and ask you continually where you are from! (Scotland? Not Celtic or Rangers I hope one said! Scotland? Hey Jimmy! Scotland? Do you have any haggis with you? Scotland? Susan Boyle!) But they stand and speak constantly to each other, they smile and say, 'Have a great day!' or 'do you need.....maps, tickets, bus tour tickets, a guide, someone to phone your Mother or BEAR sitter!!'
Anyway, we made it in good time and then went off on our next adventure! First order of the morning was .....breakfast! We found a little street vendor outside Macy's and we got something to eat and drink! We sat in a little garden area and enjoyed the shade! Then we were off to Macy's - just for a look! Kelsey was immediately hooked! 'Oh, this is my kind of shop!' we are going to have to go back, but I don't know what will do as they trawl through all the multiple floors of ladies fashion! Something for me to look forward too!
From there we went back to the hotel! We dropped off the souvenirs from The Empire and Lauren got changed after having spilled something on her t-shirt!
Soon we were off again! This time back on the bus...but on the Up Town tour bus! We were heading for The Natural History Museum and Central Park and then The Guggenheim!

Ok, this is not what I call fun!
We got the the museum but then went on a hunt for a deli to get some lunch! Easier said than done up town as it is residential! But we found one next to a very popular place that was out the door with a long queue so we went to the quieter of the two! But we had a nice lunch in the museum grounds and they viewed the pigeons, birds and the squirrel that came across and decided to have a nap under the bench next to us! The girls also viewed a rather odd pigeon that had a broken tail! Well, the tail is obviously integral to the birds balance and this bird continually fell over or got bullied by the others!

Anyway, off we went to the museum! Kelsey was excited....this is the museum used as the basis for the movie 'Night at the Museum.' Well, the museum was not quite as she expected in layout like the movie and the exhibits were not really like the real ones! But both girls enjoyed the different sections we saw and eventually, after a long hunt, found The Easter Island figure known as 'Dumb Dumb.' Kelsey got her picture taken next to it so was happy! I even met some distant relatives - but they were a little fierce!!

I got a few outings there but it was difficult to set up photos in the museum! Anyway, it was fun but now we were heading to Central Park!
It was very hot and the park was a real sun trap and the air was very warm there! We wandered about 'The Rambles' section and ended up a little bit away for where we were aiming! Once in the park it's a bit like being in a maze! You guess as you go along and at least we did not end up back where we started!

However, I did see the park as we went but ended up with the worst of all pictures possible from Central Park! This won't make the post card rack!

But, we crossed the park and saw a wide range of sites as went! This included the mummy who was still going to have her daily run through the park but had to push the baby as she went! These yummy mummies have to keep up appearances!
So, another busy day! We passed the houses of Yoko Ono, Bono, Mick Jagger, Madonna and Denzil Washington and NONE of them asked us in for coffee!
Never mind, there is still tomorrow!