Today we got up after a good sleep and had brekky at home then packaged up a box of stuff - clothes & gifts etc for the girls and grandies that we have decided to post home. We could fit it all in our suitcases but with so many flights still to go and you have to pay for the luggage as an extra on all of them, best to ship them home despite the usd $124 cost! Unfortunately after taping it to a degree that even my Dad would be proud of- found out the 2 miniatures of alcohol inside were not allowed!@#!! So.......cut it all open, took them out and re-packaged it and away it went.
Went and looked at a couple of luggage places on the way to the airport as Graemes hard shell bag had been chucked so hard in the airport, that it had cracked on 2 sides of the case along the wheels. But nothing there so decided we better get on to the Tampa airport. Linda didnt want us to leave though, so she threw herself on the floor & displaced all the bags on the stand...... we had a cuddle & all resumed fine!!!!
Said fond goodbyes to 2 lovely, hilarious, witty, kind & hospitable hosts then through to airside. Delta had no delay this time - yay. Flight was good, only 2 hrs 15 mins and we had the comfort + seats again which have a massive amount of legroom. We had to fly around another way getting into NY La Guardia airport as there was a massive wind gust the pilot said. Met a lady off another flight later who said they went straight through it and it was terrifying.
Now have the hang of the Super Shuttle service which we have booked all our flights through, so checked in online & while waiting for the pick up listened to a security guard outside whose job it is to keep the traffic moving at drop off & pick up. A woman there told me he used to be a drill sergeant and man you could tell! It was funny listening to him bellowing at cars and horns honking everywhere! Welcome to NYC lol. The shuttle driver from Egypt had a love affair with speed & his brakes, so we all needed a chiropractor by the time we got to our hotel!
Rapt with the quaint hotel on 346th & 46th St - the French Quarters guest apartments are well preserved architecturally, just a small hotel but it is on 'restaurant row' & about 3 mins walk from times square. We checked in & went straight out for a beer & some dinner. Found what will become our 'local' just across the road. The house of brews is so like the bar in the tv show 'Cheers' ! It has a long bar that everyone sits up at and it has every beer youve heard of and not heard of! We tried a couple of new ones - so nice and they offer you tastings before you buy which is great. We decided to get dinner there and enjoyed delicious bar food and the barmaid said we should try their special dessert of "Lightly battered and fried oreo cookies. OMG! Danni Collis you would love them. The chocolate gets all gooey inside & they serve it with light cream & berry fruits.
Rolled on home across the street and fell into bed.
Day 21-
Had a great nights sleep after all the travel yesterday, and had a lovely continental brekky that comes with the room. We are really lucky as we have scored a room that looks out over the street & all the old architecture and the street is tree lined. Noise wasnt bad either, despite the receptionist telling us they had No quiet rooms!! Earplugs are awesome. Lucky too with the weather as it is a lovely day & No Humidity!! About 17C today, so very similar to what we are used to.
Went to the subway & a random guy helped us sort buying a card & loading it. Everyone says its best to get the 1 week unlimited for $32 as a trip is $3 a pop, so best to get the week one. Subway is easy to master, its all in colours/letters. We get down underground to wait & a big black guy came running down the steps with his arms out like he is pretending to be a plane, and starts yelling and chasing two asian girls who were also waiting for the train! Luckily he disappeared pretty quick when they moved and the train arrived. Then a women with a plastic bag wrapped around her hands in the train, comes along & says she will sing for everyone & bless them etc etc, for whatever people would give her. People just looked away but to be fair her voice was pretty good. Enough crazies for the day!!
Off the train & we walked to the 9/11 memorial which still has quite a bit of construction going on around it. The two memorials are massive and a credit to those who designed them. The 2nd one seemed to have all the rescue crews who perished on it, all very sombering. Something nice they do there, is on any of the victims birthdays, a white rose is placed on their name :-(
We wandered into the new white architectually designed, massive building which turned out to be full of designer shops. Stopped & had a drink & a warmed peanut butter cookie, then worked out the trains to go to Staten Island, we have walked a lot of it between subway stations as we enjoyed wandering. Caught the ferry which runs every half an hour there and back and is free. The first ferry had an outdoor viewong area- it was windy as hell but great viewpoint to set our eyes on the Statue of Liberty for the first time and she didnt disappoint. Once we got over and off, we joined the rushing crowd to the return ferry, where you have a 1 min window to make it through the terminal to it and we made it fine.
Back on land we walked for ages & took in all the wonderful old buildings, the honking cars, sirens & people who have been really helpful & friendly. Wandered through Soho - a lot of designer & upmarket shops there once you get past the sleezy bit on the main highway road, then we stopped at a very traditional pizza shop & bought a big slice of pizza for $3.50. It was bellisimo!
Back to the subway, having data on your phone is really a must as a tourist, google maps gets you everywhere, so we are glad we bought a USA sim card and prepaid plan.
Back to Times Square with no crazies and went to a luggage shop to look again for a suitcase as Graeme doesnt think his will last many more flights. Found a samsonite one with the big clips instead of a zip for more security and managed to get the guy to come down $50- score! Think I will offer one of the many homeless in NY the old one if they want it, cos it will last for a bit yet on the streets.
We went back to the house of brews & thirstily skulled a couple of beers, went for a wander around the surrounding streets then came back to catch up on photos etc. An adventurous day for sure! The wifi here at our hotel is really variable and slow, so will add the photos later on when we reach somewhere faster.
2 comments:
Miss you already! Great fun with you both!
New York sounds great - daunting at first, but great! So colourful, and probably so different from Florida. The dogs are fine, very happy thank you. Its just after 8am here and they haven't got out of their bed yet!
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