DAY 2 NYC
Awake in the Pennsylvania Hotel, Manhattan and It was my 40th birthday!! Receive gift from Grumpy in the shape of a new gold band, and before long we are heading downtown on a City Tours bus, to enjoy breakfast at a typical New York diner. I just resisted the temptation to yell Hold the mayo!! but as I was having a fried egg burger, that would have been totally inappropriate!
After brekkie and a visit to Union Street Virgin Megastore, we begin the hunt for the Will And Grace building. This was originally brought to our attention by reading Aerialjasmines NYC trip report, and as I am obsessed with the show, it had to be done! A tiff or three, sore feet and risking a lynching from a New Yorker (Oh I dont watch THAT show!!!) later, we find the building with the golden cherub on it, and blissfully imagining Grace Adler and more importantly, Karen, at work behind it, I pose for a couple of snaps in front of it, before we take the metro down to Battery Park.
I had pre-booked tickets to the Statue Of Liberty back home, and stupidly thought this meant we wouldnt have to queue. An hour and a half later, we had reached the boat to take us over to Liberty Island. Whilst we waited I had a nice chat with a guy from Boston, whilst Grumpy went to buy me a card with my name written in Chinese and Japanese from a lady peddling her wares. After many security checks, we board the boat across to Liberty Island. I have seen the statue before, but it is so iconic you have to take photos of it. When I first visited NYC in 1997, you were able to climb up to the crown, now you can only go up to a certain level-just as well, as there is no lift working, so we have to climb about 156 steps up before we get a chance to see Manhattan in all its glory. I was determined to do this as it had taken us so long to get up there. A tip: If you are not fussed about actually setting foot on the island itself, and you only have a limited time in the City, book a cruise to take you around the statue, we had really wasted most of the day just standing around. I totally appreciate they have to have security checks, but the whole system could be better organised. We have a couple of nice, professional photos taken standing below the statue, get a drink then leap on the boat back.
We rush to the half price ticket booth on 42nd Street, and luckily there is no queue (unlike Saturday night when the queue snaked around the block) and pay $50 each for The Colour Purple. Just time to get a few DVDs in Virgin Megastore, then eat in Planet Hollywood. For all you foodies, we had bog standard burgers, but jolly nice they were!
Broadway theatres do not have lobbies to hang around in, so it was quite odd to join the very long queue around the block with about 15 minutes before the curtain came up, I didnt think we would make it, but we were in our seats for the start of The Colour Purple. This has always been one of my favourite films, and the only film that has almost made me cry. The production stayed close to the story, but as it was a musical, most of it was narrated through song. The lead role of Celie went to Fantasia Burino, who won American Idol a couple of years ago. She has a stunning voice, but has to work on her diction when shes not singing. I loved the show and joined the standing ovation at the end. It has always been an ambition to see a Broadway show, and I was doing it on my 40th. Happy days!
With it being Sunday, when we come out, Times Square is subdued. Plenty of people around, but nothing like the madness we experienced the previous evening. We walk back to our hotel and collapse at about midnight, tired but very happy! For all of those who may be wondering how a trip to NYC is related to Disney well, that answer lies in day 3, coming very soon.
Awake in the Pennsylvania Hotel, Manhattan and It was my 40th birthday!! Receive gift from Grumpy in the shape of a new gold band, and before long we are heading downtown on a City Tours bus, to enjoy breakfast at a typical New York diner. I just resisted the temptation to yell Hold the mayo!! but as I was having a fried egg burger, that would have been totally inappropriate!
After brekkie and a visit to Union Street Virgin Megastore, we begin the hunt for the Will And Grace building. This was originally brought to our attention by reading Aerialjasmines NYC trip report, and as I am obsessed with the show, it had to be done! A tiff or three, sore feet and risking a lynching from a New Yorker (Oh I dont watch THAT show!!!) later, we find the building with the golden cherub on it, and blissfully imagining Grace Adler and more importantly, Karen, at work behind it, I pose for a couple of snaps in front of it, before we take the metro down to Battery Park.
I had pre-booked tickets to the Statue Of Liberty back home, and stupidly thought this meant we wouldnt have to queue. An hour and a half later, we had reached the boat to take us over to Liberty Island. Whilst we waited I had a nice chat with a guy from Boston, whilst Grumpy went to buy me a card with my name written in Chinese and Japanese from a lady peddling her wares. After many security checks, we board the boat across to Liberty Island. I have seen the statue before, but it is so iconic you have to take photos of it. When I first visited NYC in 1997, you were able to climb up to the crown, now you can only go up to a certain level-just as well, as there is no lift working, so we have to climb about 156 steps up before we get a chance to see Manhattan in all its glory. I was determined to do this as it had taken us so long to get up there. A tip: If you are not fussed about actually setting foot on the island itself, and you only have a limited time in the City, book a cruise to take you around the statue, we had really wasted most of the day just standing around. I totally appreciate they have to have security checks, but the whole system could be better organised. We have a couple of nice, professional photos taken standing below the statue, get a drink then leap on the boat back.
We rush to the half price ticket booth on 42nd Street, and luckily there is no queue (unlike Saturday night when the queue snaked around the block) and pay $50 each for The Colour Purple. Just time to get a few DVDs in Virgin Megastore, then eat in Planet Hollywood. For all you foodies, we had bog standard burgers, but jolly nice they were!
Broadway theatres do not have lobbies to hang around in, so it was quite odd to join the very long queue around the block with about 15 minutes before the curtain came up, I didnt think we would make it, but we were in our seats for the start of The Colour Purple. This has always been one of my favourite films, and the only film that has almost made me cry. The production stayed close to the story, but as it was a musical, most of it was narrated through song. The lead role of Celie went to Fantasia Burino, who won American Idol a couple of years ago. She has a stunning voice, but has to work on her diction when shes not singing. I loved the show and joined the standing ovation at the end. It has always been an ambition to see a Broadway show, and I was doing it on my 40th. Happy days!
With it being Sunday, when we come out, Times Square is subdued. Plenty of people around, but nothing like the madness we experienced the previous evening. We walk back to our hotel and collapse at about midnight, tired but very happy! For all of those who may be wondering how a trip to NYC is related to Disney well, that answer lies in day 3, coming very soon.
