Day 13 - Thurdsay

Today was the last day of the holiday. I did my best to get up early-ish, in an attempt to help the jet lag when we get home. I went out for a short run again, around the south edge of Manhattan.

Kathryn and Simon having a lie in

It was still really cold. There wasn't as many runners out compared to earlier in the week.

Brooklyn Bridge

View over to Brooklyn

Freedom tower

Path along side of Hudson River

Path along riverside

We spent quite a lot of time packing our suitcases. We were only just able to get everything inside, and a few items were going to be have to taken as hand luggage on the flight. We'll have to get some bigger suitcases for next time. Being considerate guests, we made sure we cleaned and tidied everywhere.

We went out for a nice lunch at the pizza place.

Pizza for lunch

There wasn't really much time left, our flight was at 6pm so we left about 2pm for the airport. We said goodbye to Simon and thanked him for looking after us. We took the fairly lengthy subway out to JFK airport.

Subway stop at the airport

Ticket barriers on to AirTrain

We didn't have too long to wait. We got through security pretty quickly. We sat and tried our best to make a coffee last as long as possible. We bought our usual tequila from duty free.

Boarding the flight home

Final view of New York as we gain altitude on the flight home

Day 12 - Wednesday

Today was the last full day in New York for this holiday. The weather forecast was certainly right, the sun was shiny, it was quite breezy and the temperature in the wind was very cold.

View of Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan Bridge

Pedestrian part of Manhattan Bridge

I went out for a run first thing. I brought with me some winter running gear so I had the necessary stuff to go out. The doorman said I was "stupid"  as I left. I did a little bit more than last time. Being on Strava, on the last run over the bridge I could view similar runs on that day and saw you could loop over the two bridges. Although it was about 8am this time, there was still virtually no-one about. I managed to get a few photos before my phone got so cold that it turned off!




I stopped by to grab some coffees on the way back. We didn't do much with the rest of the morning. We started to pack and tidy a little bit. We then had a couple things planned for our last day, to go to The Plaza Hotel for afternoon tea and also see a Broadway show.

Our reservation for afternoon tea was at 3:30pm, this would double as our dinner. It didn't take long to get to The Plaza. The afternoon tea was in a restaurant in the middle of the hotel. The room was called the The Palm Court, you can see why! The food was great, we had to move tables at the beginning but other than that it was a really good experience. The tea was very nice, and the cakes too!

The Palm Court at The Plaza hotel

Afternoon tea

Ceiling of The Palm Court

We finished about 5pm, so had an hour to spare before the broadway show. We walked back down 5th Avenue again, popping in and out of a couple of shops along the way. This included the Rockafella Center again. Before making the final walk across a few avenues to get to the Theatre District and Broadway.

We got to the theatre at 6:15pm, doors were 6:30pm, and we did have to wait for a while before we were let in. I could see why, as the theatre was tiny, and not really much space to wonder about before the show. We were seeing The Book of Mormon. Me and Kathryn are big South Park fans, and it just so happens that the musical, written by the creators of South Park, is also best show this century (apparently).

Waiting outside the theatre

We were really tightly packed in the small theatre, and once the show started it did get quite hot. However, the show was amazing and we really enjoyed it. Very funny. Afterwards, we just had a short walk back through Times Square to the subway.

View of the stage

Walking back through Times Square

Day 11 - Tuesday

We have had another amazing day today. We had another slow morning. Kathryn had some work to do and I had some reading too. I had noticed that the United Nations Headquarters was on the tourist brochures and had a look online. I noticed you could book tours, and we were interested in doing something indoors as it was cold and wet outside.

I booked the tour for 12:30pm. We needed to be there an hour early, to get through security, and so we left at about 11am. Thankfully it wasn't too wet, but it was cold. We got the subway straight to Grand Central station. The UN was built on the East River in the late 1940s after the Second World War. So we just had to walk a couple blocks to the river. The large 39 storey Secretariat Building was easy to spot from the street and so we just walked towards that.

Following the Secretariat Building

Headquarters of the United Nations

We found the entrance, but had to wait for about 20 minutes in the cold whilst we got a visitor pass to enter the headquarters. Security was quick to get through, there was no-one there basically. It was about 12:15pm by the time we were at the tour guide desk, so it was just a short wait.

Waiting outside for a visitor pass

General Assembly building

Lobby inside the General Assembly building

We were called for the tour at 12:30pm. We had a really nice guy from Egypt who did the tour. It lasted about 45 minutes and he was really insightful and knew pretty much everything about the history of the UN. We got the see the Security Counsel chambers and the General Assembly room.

Security Counsel Chamber

Security Counsel Chamber, showing muriel donated by Norway.

General Assembly

General Assembly

At the end of the tour, I had read that there was a special post office that we visited. The UN headquarters is actually under the jurisdiction of the UN and not the US. Therefore they have there own postal service and issue their own stamps.

Post Office inside General Assembly building

After a few photos outside, and getting to see a touch of snow in the air. We headed back to the subway and back to the Financial District. We went back to the Hole in the Wall for a late lunch. We had coffee and scrambled eggs on toast. We then went back to the apartment, Kathryn finished up her work and I had a quick snooze.

View outside

Passing through Grand Central Station

We then went out for pre-drinks before dinner. We went back to Manhatta, this time before sunset. We were treated to the most spectacular sunset. The forecast was for clear skies and falling temperatures. But what we saw was the cloud clearing and a dramatic sunset across the bay to the South of Manhattan.

Spectacular views of the sunset

Closer shot of sunset

View uptown

Uptown view of Brooklyn Bridge

Manhatta restaurant, we'll probably dine here next time visit

Cocktail

We sat in a booth and had some drinks, before leaving for the Mexican resteraunt we went to the other day. Thankfully, it was really cold when we left, but it was only a short walk back to the apartment to finish the day.

Dinner

A cold walk home 

Day 10 - Monday

Today was potentially the last day of good weather we would have. Certainly it was getting colder after today.

Weather forecast for Tuesday

We had a slow start, after a very busy day yesterday. I had some work to do, and after I'd finished that, we headed to the Central Park Zoo. It was a short subway ride uptown. We had been last year and it is a very nice small zoo. Nothing too exotic, but certainly worth a visit and not too expensive.

Walk to Central Park

It was Veteran's Day today in the US, so a bank holiday basically. It did mean it was a little busier than usual for a weekday.

Main Sea Lion tank in the middle of the zoo

We saw the Red Panda today

New York skyline from the Zoo

Once we finished, we walked down 5th Avenue, and picked up the subway at Rockafella Center. We tried to get a view of the big Christmas tree which was delivered this weekend. However, unfortunately there was just scaffolding around it whilst they decorate it. We then rode the subway back to the World Trade Center, so we could visit the food market.

Christmas tree not quite ready yet

Icon Radio City at Rockafella Center

Newstand in the subway

Before dinner, we popped over to a bar which is on the 60th floor of a nearby skyscraper called Manhatta. We sat at the bar and had a couple drinks, admiring the New York skyline. We stayed for a couple of hours before heading back for dinner and then bed.

Bar, the skyline can be seen just behind

Uptown view from the window

Uptown view over to the East River

Downtown view of Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange

Downtown view of the Statue of Liberty