We started out late again. We seem to be sleeping in later and later and getting up later and later. We’ll be back on Aussie time quicker than we thought (without leaving the US) at this rate. We grabbed a cup of cwarfee around the corner as we made our way to the Flatiron building. Such an amazing piece of architecture - completely surrounded by scaffolding. It’s like when your favourite ride at Disneyland is closed for the day. Maybe it just means you have to come back. So we wandered on.
We dropped in to Dominique Ansel’s Workshop, a bakery that a blogger recommended. Meh, it wasn’t all that. We went halves in a fancy ham and cheese croissant which wasn’t bad, and then some other thing, that had cheese. I just looked at their menu, it was a ‘crispy molten Comte Gougere’ (but you need to add some fancy accents to the ‘e’s). Comte, mozzarella and a dash of Worcestershire sauce it says. I don’t recommend it.
We left there and looked at lots of buildings and businesses as we went along our way. We stopped outside the Empire State Building, so iconic. And so very tall. We continued along 5th Avenue for a while and made it to the New York Public Library. This is a good place to visit. The iconic rereading room is closed for viewing, serious studiers only, but we got to peer through the doorway with a dozen other people. I should have worn a back pack and pretended to be a mature age student. We had a look around the inside of the building and the information lady told us to go and visit Winnie the Pooh on level 1 (everyone thinks we’re British). But hey, who’s going to knock back a visit with Pooh Bear. Sure enough, there was Winnie, Piglet, Tigger, Roo, and Eeyore. Seemingly the original stuffed animals that inspired the book.
In the same room were first edition Shakespeares, the first King James Bible, lots of other original religious texts, and then the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Interesting to look at (all of them) but mostly hard to read. The first lot, because it was in ink in Ye Olde English, and the two American documents were very, very faded. But, always impressive when looking at the originals of any document. We dropped in to the library gift shop on the way out, specifically to purchase a mug with a Fran Lebowitz quote – it’s a long story, but it was a nod to a documentary about Fran and NYC.
Next stop was Grand Central Station. Another amazing building. Opened in 1913, it has the famous main concourse seen in so many movies and TV shows, with lots of tunnels and ‘passages’ leading from it to the various platforms or street exits. It’s a bloody big place. I saw a photo once of light streaming in through the massive windows in the main concourse, but now that there are so many skyscrapers around it, the sun doesn’t quite make it in anymore.
The oyster bar was right near the whispering wall and we headed in for lunch. They had a great seafood menu, mostly filled with…. oysters! We had chosen an appetiser but then the list of oysters was too long. Oysters from here and there, and you buy them individually. We asked the waiter for a suggestion and he brought us one oyster each, from four different areas - two from the north, and two from the south. We learnt that oysters from the north are creamier. We learnt that we like creamy oysters. The aforementioned appetiser was roasted bluepoint oysters with pineapple bourbon butter and crispy onions. It was all pretty good. It’s worth stopping in if you just happen to be in the area.
We headed home after that as we needed to get changed and ready for our triple mission around Times Square. We’re using the subway like locals now. You’d think we were locals really because I can say “cwarfee”. Our room was in the middle of a maid moment and so we headed to the Hotel’s bar for a drink. The waiter very excitedly told us the history of the room we were in. It was a part of the restaurant and seemingly it was where Janis and a few other musos sat writing quite often. And the Sid and Nancy room was directly above us. They’ve redone the floor though so that the room doesn’t really exist as such anymore.
Back into the subway and we made it to the Rockefeller Centre. Oh, just before that was the Radio City Music Hall. We could have gone to see Barry Manilow, but we didn’t. Next thing, we’re walking down hallways with flashing coloured lights on the way to the elevator that would take us to the ‘Top of the Rock’ observation deck. I did a bit of research on which observation deck to go to. There are two new ones, ‘The Edge’ and ‘Summit One Vanderbilt’. Both of these are new and shiny with glass floors and ledges off the building. Not for me. I’m good in a helicopter, but not on an observation deck that goes higher than choppers do. There’s also the deck on the Empire State Building. That would be great, but then you can’t see the Empire State Building. So, we went to the Rock.
This beautiful 1930s Art Deco building has its observation deck on the 70th (and 71st and 72nd) floor(s). The elevator ride up wasn’t much - we’re now used to the ones with glass fronts (because we’ve done that three times now this trip). They have a laser light holographic type show on the ceiling on the way up. I saw the Beatles flash up once so I’m not really sure what that’s all about. We popped out on the 70th and looked out some windows, winding around to the escalator. I was ok, nice view, and then I saw what the escalator led to. Here was the outdoor observation deck - with glass panels like a pool fence - and so all I saw when I could see over the escalator rise was almost every building in NYC in front of me. I didn’t see the glass panels in that moment.
There were glass panels. I didn’t go very close to the glass panels. We walked around a bit, with me being pretty close to the brick walls. Mark went over to take the city shot photos. I just looked. We went up to the next level - which didn’t have glass panels. It was just a wall that you could lean on, to look out and admire the view. I stood in the very middle and was convinced I was about to fall off. So I nonchalantly clung to a security barrier, right next to the security guard and asked a million questions about NY while Mark walked around and admired the view.
But really, what an iconic view. The Empire State was directly across from us, and Manhattan was laid out behind that. The Hudson over to the right, and Central Park behind us. And there are some high, high buildings.
We went for a bit of a walk after the quick elevator ride back to safe ground. The Rockerfeller Centre has a skating rink as part of it’s landscape. Normally it’s for iceskating, but this being spring and all, everyone was rollerblading. There were also some pretty fountains, but as I went to take a photo of them, a grubby guy sat down and started to pick all the coins out of it, so I didn’t take a photo.
It was only a five minute walk to where we were having dinner before our big Broadway show. The M. Social Hotel and their Beasts and Butterflies restaurant looks straight down Times Square, so it was the place to go and have a drink and a look. Again, NYC do the best cocktails ever, and we sat in an open rooftop bar looking down, sipping cocktails and watching the world rush by. We shared a little charcuterie and a cheesecake, and it’s a case of … you go to this place for the view and the cocktails and not necessarily the food. Don’t book a table to eat inside, just sit out on the open air bar and eat there.
Next, we walked around the corner to the August Wilson Theatre to see Lea Michele in Funny Girl. It’s bloody expensive to book theatre tickets for any Broadway shows, so unless it’s something you really, really want to see – go with the ticket lottery and see what you get (download an app called TixToday for some great specials as well).
The show itself was pretty ho-hum, we’ve seen much better – but like seeing Delta Goodrem in Cats, that one song was worth it all. I’m sure she was born to sing ‘Rain on my Parade’ and boy did she do it justice. Twice. She got a standing ovation twice which was well deserved. Before the show, we decided to grab a drink, but you can only purchase drinks in a ‘limited edition commemorative cup’. So we have two of those now. Oh, and if you go to the theatre and plan on hitting the ladies room during interval, race out. This one had a line around the entire foyer while all the ladies waited to get in. I made it back just in time, and spent most of the time in line chatting to a lovely lady from LA who tried to talk me into going to the La Brea tar pits while we were there. Seriously though, who has time for tar pits when you have five days at Disneyland booked!
After the show we walked back through Times Square, and yes, it’s all that and more. Best described as an assault on the senses, I don’t think there were any New Yorkers there, only tourists. Lights and digital screens everywhere almost did my brain in. And people were partying hard. So we walked through and out the other end to grab an Uber home. You have to do it, it’s iconic, but we didn’t feel we needed to do much more than walk through.
When we got home (yes, the Chelsea is now officially my home) we found that the maid had turned aircon down to almost freezing. After so many days walking, the marble floors were better than an ice pack for my poor tired feet.
Check out the photos here!
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