Our first full day in NYC.
It wasn’t as cold today – it started out at about 10°C and got all the way up to about 13°C before the mercury started its descent once again.
Unfortunately it rained again, which makes it seem colder, and definitely makes it just a little bit more complicated.
Last year when we were staying at an AirBnB in Brooklyn NYC, the guy who owned the space put some basics into the refrigerator to get us started – juice, milk, bagels, butter.
No such luck this time – the refrigerator was empty 🙁
So we started the day today looking for some staples – milk, bagels, jam, cereal. We went to the local Family Dollar (like a 7-Eleven) and got milk, jam and raisin bran … but no bagels.
We stopped at the local Clementine Bakery and no bagels there either.
We finally found some at a little deli (that we actually thought was called Brooklyn Brewery) … so we were all set for breakfast.
Breakfast done, dishes done, MBW had made herself beautiful, and a selection of jumpers, gloves, scarves and jackets stuffed into the backpack, we set off on our adventure.
The architecture in Brooklyn is quite different from Australia. Very few people have a stand-alone house – everyone lives in an apartment.
We hopped onto the subway at our local station – Classon Street – and played subway ninjas again.
Our line is an “around Brooklyn” line, so if you want to go anywhere else – Manhattan for example – you need to change trains somewhere.
We did the old swaparoo at Court Square subway station – which ironically was above ground – and took the 7 train all the way to Grand Central Terminal.
And it impressed us as much as it did last time we were in NYC!
Now there are a couple of funny stories here.
Firstly, when we were on the 7 train heading into Grand Central Station, there was a young guy dressed in a Santa suit.
When we got into GSC, there were a number of people dressed in Santa suits. It turns out that Santacon was in town today.
Nope, I don’t get it either.
But if you look closely at the top picture of GSC above, you will see a number of people dressed in red – the Santas.
The second funny story relates to MBW and her iPhone which has decided that she can no longer access the App Store. It happens that there is an Apple store INSIDE Grand Central Station so we went for technical support there.
Clearly the problem has something to do with an Australian iPhone, a USA SIM card …
The Apple guy tried lots and lots of things – all unsuccessful – and just before handing it back defeated, he suggested turning the phone off and on again.
Which he did.
Which reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon by Scott Adams …
Enough said, but the problem is now solved.
The guy who helped us said that he isn’t smart enough to be an Apple “Genius”, but he will always be a genius to MBW.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the city and enjoying the sites.
We bumped into a lady from the UK yesterday who was in NYC on a work trip, and was asking whether she should do the Empire State Building or the Rockefeller Building. We said go the Rock!
In reality, anywhere she went was going to have the same problem, but the Top of the Rock was shrouded in cloud for most of the day, so the viewing would have been disappointing.
We got to the Rockefeller Building and found the famous tree …
… which we understand has about 5 miles (8 km) of lights on it, and we found the skating rink.
There must have been thousands of people watching the 10 or so people ice skating on the rink, and then this kid did a face plant.
I mean, if you are going to do a face plant while ice skating, you might as well do it in front of several thousand people!
We did the subway ninja thing again and got to Times Square, which can keep you interested for hours.
There was a whole lot of Santa going on in Times Square today too.
After that we headed up to Columbus Circle to get ready for another walking tour planned for today – markets and Christmas lights.
Columbus Circle is at the South West corner of Central Park.
We saw lots of excellent light displays. It gets dark at 4.30pm here, so we get to see the lights nice and early.
Our favourite was probably Saks 5th Avenue. All set to music.
Honestly, it felt like the whole world was out looking at lights tonight.
And the NYPD were out in force keeping the people and the traffic moving.
We also saw some cars all lit up …
… and a truck …
We finished the tour at Bryant Park, where there is another ice skating ring for the great unwashed (ie those who can’ afford to skate at the Rockefeller Building).
And then back to Brooklyn for dinner.
A great day in NYC!
Almost 22,000 steps so the feet an legs are feeling a little weary. But a good weary 🙂
Tomorrow we have a another walking tour called a “Harlem Gospel Experience”. Should be fun!
NYC at Christmas is a magical place to be.
Here is Michael Bublé singing It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (Michael Bublé).
Ciao
#G&KTAKEUSA2019