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We woke up early. 5AM for me and 5:30AM for Renée. I wrote up my diary and we relaxed for a while. We left at 8:25AM and headed to Kosher Deluxe. We both had eggs and 'hash browns' with a bagel and tea / coffee. It was ok but nothing special. Their version of hash browns were nothing like the ones I am used to.
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Kosher Deluxe. | Breakfast at Kosher Deluxe. |
At 9AM we caught a Number 32 bus to the Empire State Building. We entered at 9:20AM. The queues were not too long and we decided to go all the way for the top. Before long we were heading up the express lift to 80th floor then another lift to the 86th floor. Up here is was really busy. Despite that we got some great views albeit a little hazy. After plenty of photos including some panoramas and a good look around we took a service lift to the 102nd floor. Here it was a little better and not so crowded. I took morephotos up here before we headed back down through a tacky gift shop. All was pretty much as expected. We left at 10:30AM.
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In the queue. | Entering the express lifts. | First views on the viewing balcony on the 86th floor. |
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360 degree panorama of Manhattan from the 86th floor. Compare with a similar panorama taken in March 2004. | Two shots of Renée with Lower Manhattan in the background. |
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Lower Manhattan with the new Freedom Tower dominating the sky line. Statue of Liberty visible in background. | Liberty and Ellis Islands. | Freedom Tower. | Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. | Looking up at the spire, towards 102nd floor. |
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Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. | Looking towards Central Park. | Looking North-Northwestwards towards Times Square. Hudson River in the background. | Looking over the East River at Queens with Newtown Creek on the right. | Chrysler Tower. | Looking East-Northeastwards across Manhattan. The MetLife building is where Grand Central is. East River in the background. |
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Madison Square Park to the South-Southeast. | Looking to the Southwest near the Avenue of the Americas / West 29th Street Junction, playing with my zoom. | Returning to the lifts and heading to the 102nd floor. | The 102nd floor is a small windowed viewing gallery. |
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Another 360 degree panorama from the 102nd floor. | Up here the view of Central Park is much better with the Great Lawn northwards visible. | Looking towards 300 Central Park West (90th-91st Street). | Another view inside the gallery back towards the lift. | Looking towards 1501 Broadway (Paramount Building) at Times Square. |
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The Metallic looking tower is the Gemalogical Instute of America and just along 46th Street from the hotel. | The tower with the spire is the Bank of America Tower, next to Bryant Park. | A wider, more panoramic view towards Central Park. | Renée and Mike on 102nd floor. | Mike in action with his camera. |
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Going down the escalator to the ground floor. | Looking around the entrance foyer. |
After leaving the Empire State Building we walked up 5th Avenue, looking in the shops on the way. It was mostly expensive tat but a there were few good items. We stopped paused at the hotel for 20 minutes around midday before resuming. We were thinking about some lunch but we quickly rejected the café next to the hotel. However I couldn't resist a hot dog from a kosher hot dog stand round the corner. It was small but delicious. We kept looking for shops and cafés as we continued to walk towards Central Park.
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One of many gift shops on 5th Avenue. | A typical 5th Avenue view. | A Sparrow and a Tulip display by the New York Public Library between 40th and 42nd Streets. |
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New York Public Library panorama. | St. Patrick's Cathedral from near 50th Street. | Looking around the Rockerfeller Center. |
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Rockerfeller Plaza. |
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Trump Tower. | Looking inside the Trump Tower. | The Solow Building, some of the most expensive rental apartments in New York. |
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Looking to Grand Army Plaza and the corner of Central Park. | Next door is the Savoy Plaza with an interesting entrance to an underground Apple Store. |
It was a hot day today (about 28C) and I started to overheat and get very sore. We made it to the corner of Central Park rather quicker than I expected. Eventually after more misses we ended up at 'Café' at 1:25PM. 2 toasted bagels for me and a burrito for Renée and plenty of water saw us ok again.
At 2pm we left the cafe and headed for the horses and carts. We started off on the short ride but Rénee decided at the point where the routes split that the extended ride as far as strawberry fields was worth it. It was a nice relaxing trundle around the park.
This Wikipedia page was useful in identifying the sculptures in Central Park.
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Arriving at the horse and carts at the Southeastern corner of Central Park. | Getting cosy on the cart. | Another horse and cart nearby. | Setting off along West 59th Street to the park entrance. | Simón Bolívar and José Martí Monuments near the 6th Avenue entrance to the park. |
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The entrance to Center Drive. | Trotting along Center Drive. Renée and Mike enjoying the ride. | The conductor pointing out sights along the way. | Mike on the cart. |
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Looking Eastwards towards the zoo. | Central Park Chess and Chequers Visitor Centre and Carousel. | The San Remo towers dominate the local skyline. | The Christopher Columbus statue. |
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William Shakespeare statue. | Blossom. | The Balto Statue. | Taking pictures as another hotrse and cart slowly overtakes us on the East Drive. |
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The Pilgrim Fathers Monument. | The Bethesda Fountain with 'The Lake' beyond. | A view South along the Mall from Terrace Drive. | The Falconer sculpture. | The Cherry Hill Fountain. |
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Looking across 'The Lake' from the Cherry Hill Fountain. | Parking up at the 72nd Street traverse for 5 minutes to visit the Strawberry Fields memorial we could see the block John Lennon lived in and a nice wooden trellis. | The Strawberry Fields John Lennon memorial. | Another view of the San Remo towers. | Another horse and cart near by. |
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Lots of sunbathers enjoying the first hot week of the year. | At the end of the ride the conductor parked up near where we started and kindly took pictures of us in the cart before we paid up and departed. |
At 3:15PM after the horse ride we got on a Number 4 bus and went to 50th Street. Then we walked East to Parkway where we found the Waldorf Astoria. We walked through it to Lexington Avenue. What a very posh place that was. Then we went South down Lexington Avenue to Ashley's Fine Food near 48th Street at 3:35PM. Renée had some New York Cheesecake and I had a Candy Brownie. I tried to brew a tea but it was a disaster and I abandoned it. I also grabbed a double lime lolly which was nice and refreshing.
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St. Bartholemew's Church and the gloriously gothic tower of the Roosevelt Institute behind it. | Park Avenue tulips. | The Waldorf Astoria hotel (Park Avenue entrance). | Renée and Mike enjoying refreshments in Ashley's Fine Food. |
Then we returned to the hotel for 4:15PM to rest for a bit.
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Park Avenue goes right inside the Helmsley Building at 46th Street. | The Waldorf Astoria hotel (Park Avenue entrance). |
We hatched tomorrow's plan - Metro Café for breakfast, then catch a bus to Bloomingdales, have lunch somewhere, then to the Museum of Metropolitan Art in the afternoon when it would be hot again.Then we left at 6:35PM to meet up with a relative who lives in New York, Alison, for dinner. The Number 32 bus took us straight up Madison Avenue to 50th Street. We were going to catch a Number 50 bus but it was gridlocked so we walked along 52nd Street. We found Hide Chan Ramen restaurant close to 2nd Avenue at 7PM but the menu was nothing like the website (which they claimed to be fake) and was pretty inedible to me. We waited outside for Alison. She eventually arrived at last after an eternal wait at 7:25PM. After some discussion we hopped on the Number 15 bus to 33rd Street then walked to 31st Street / Lexington Avenue when Vezzo pizzeria was and entered at 7:55PM. We ordered a large 'Shroomtown' pizza, half without cheese. It was delicious but very thin and not very filling. I had chocolate ice cream for dessert. Renée had a few spoonfuls too. After plenty of chitchat we left at 9PM and said goodnight to Alison. We walked along 31st Street to Madison Avenue and caught the Number 32 bus back to 46th Street. We were back at the hotel at 9:15PM and going to sleep totally exhausted by 10PM.
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