As my birthday falls during the Christmas holiday period it's usual for me to receive Christmas / Birthday gifts rolled into one. This can work well, especially when I opened a parcel to find an Expedia booking reference tucked into the bow of a box of chocolates! How wonderful, a week's holiday in New …
Feeling a little jet lagged we were up at 6.00 am so we helped ourselves to complimentary cappuccinos in the hotel's Club Lounge. Sipping our drinks, we chatted with some flight crews staying in the hotel, from both American Airlines and Jet Blue. It was interesting to hear how they spent their free time between …
Continue reading Day 2. Grand Central Station, New York City
Following breakfast in Champs Gourmet Deli on Broad Street we headed towards Battery Park and onto the Ellis Island boat terminal. Tickets cost $18 each from the kiosk at Castle Clinton and include a stop at Liberty Island on the way out. There was only a short wait until the airline type security commenced at 9.00 am and …
Continue reading Day 3. Visiting Liberty and Ellis Islands, New York City
After coffee and fresh fruit in the hotel we headed to the nearby Champs Deli and enjoyed a 'two egg sandwich sunny side up'. This is essentially two fried eggs in a freshly baked sesame topped roll, it tastes delicious but is incredibly messy to eat with egg yolk oozing out constantly, lots of serviettes needed. …
Continue reading Day 4. Exploring Brooklyn, Little Italy and Chinatown
Following breakfast in Champs Deli we took the subway to the Upper East Side to ride the aerial tramway across the East River to Roosevelt Island. The tramway is actually a cable car carrying up to 110 passengers every 15 minutes and the journey is included in the Metro pass. The tramway reaches a height of …
Continue reading Day 5. Riding the Roosevelt Tramway and walking the High Line, New York City
Our guidebook indicated that a visit to Harlem's 135th Street to view the historic houses on Shrivers Row was worth seeing. The houses were indeed attractive, but to be honest there wasn't very much else to see apart from the Apollo Theatre and the Cathedral of St John the Divine, so we continued walking until …
Continue reading Day 6. Exploring Harlem and Queens, New York City
First on our list this morning was a subway ride to the Williamsburg district of Brooklyn, a hipster district centred on Bedford Avenue, and home to artists and students. There's none of the glitz of Manhattan here, instead low rise apartments and small, suburban shops along tree lined avenues. There wasn't too much for us …
Continue reading Day 7. Greenwich Village and a walk across Brooklyn Bridge
It was time to pack our belongings after breakfast and after leaving them at the Club Quarters hotel to collect later, it was off for our final day of sightseeing. We started off by walking along the waterfront in Battery Park for one last time then at 10.00 am as the Museum of American Indians opened …
