Day 23
All this travelling requires a sleep in once and awhile, and that’s exactly what we did today. I tried some meatloaf at the cafe down the street, however it wasn't as good as mum makes it. Louise was on safer ground with her pancakes and maple syrup. Well, whilst we are in America we should at least try to eat traditional American food.
We caught the train to the Upper East Side, still on the green line to 77nd Street, and walked a couple of blocks west to 5th Avenue. Sometimes, most of the time, you will come out of the subway and won't know, which direction you are facing. Louise marveled at my boy scout skills (actually she thinks I'm full of it); with the sun on our left before midday, then west must be on the right, and the direction of Central Park. Actually, I had a fifty fifty chance (BS baffles brains).
We caught the train to the Upper East Side, still on the green line to 77nd Street, and walked a couple of blocks west to 5th Avenue. Sometimes, most of the time, you will come out of the subway and won't know, which direction you are facing. Louise marveled at my boy scout skills (actually she thinks I'm full of it); with the sun on our left before midday, then west must be on the right, and the direction of Central Park. Actually, I had a fifty fifty chance (BS baffles brains).
Fifth Avenue on Central Park is really, really nice, that’s why it’s really, really expensive. A fifth Avenue apartment will set up back millions of dollars. If you are the ‘arty’ type you can visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art here, but after visiting the Louvre last year I'm all 'arted out'.
Walking into Central Park is a refreshing experience. Suddenly, the noise, and traffic seem far away, even though we were in the middle of this metropolis. We pass under the Greywacke Arch (pictured right) to the Great Lawn, a 13 acre oval of green lawn (pictured top right). They have free concerts here in summer.
At the Southern end of the Great Lawn is Belvedere lake, and behind it the famous Belvedere Castle (pictured above).There are good views from the top (pictured below), but we couldn't go inside because it was closed on Monday.
We kept walking (slowly – Logan women don’t do the heat) west, across the park, to the American Museum of Natural History. We couldn’t enter by the front entrance because they were filming the feature film, Night in the Museum 2. The museum has a large number of exhibits including: Dinosaurs and Fossils, Mammals, Hall of Asian Peoples, Hall of African Peoples, Meteorites, Minerals, and Gems, Northwest Coast Indians, Human Biology and Evolution, and Ocean Life, which included this big whale (pictured below). I think kids (like Paige) would love it here, but perhaps we’re too old now to get the most out of this museum.
The real action was going on out the front. After watching for awhile you realize how many people are required to make a film. I guess that’s why the credits are so long. Every car parked on the street had an extra in it, and so was everybody in front of the museum, and there were some very busy production people trying to move bystanders (like us) out of the shot. Now, in a year’s time when the film comes out, remember Louise and Steve were there in the scene when the truck drives out with a Natural History Museum shipping container on it. We were about to leave when we heard that Ben Stiller was on the set.
Firstly, I must say being Paparazzi is hard work; it's long periods of waiting around, sometimes in tough conditions, like in the heat today, and it’s a lot of pressure, because there’s not much time to take that photograph. But, it's all worth it, when you get the money shot. This is Ben Stiller, the star of the film (pictured below).
There is a subway conveniently located at 81st street, on the north east corner of the museum, and we took the blue line to 23rd Street and eighth in the suburb of Chelsea. A recruitment advertisement for the NYPD in the carriage stated that there has been a 75% reduction in crime in the last 15 years, which is not surprising because there cops and security guards everywhere, and as a result, we have never felt unsafe anywhere in the city.
Chelsea is a primarily a residential area, filled with lots of creative types; writers, photographers, painters and hence, plenty of art galleries. We went to the Half King Bar and Restaurant (pictured above), at 23rd and 10th, which is partly owned by one my favorite authors Sebastian Junger (Perfect Storm). It has a great pub feel, with indoor and outdoor areas, including a rear garden courtyard and most importantly, Guinness on tap, or draft, as they call it in America. We didn’t have much time in Chelsea, because it was now past 4pm, and the much dreaded peak hour in New York was approaching.
With images of being squashed like a sardine in a train carriage we hurriedly made our way to the subway, and escaped up the blue line to 53rd Street and Lexington, by way of Queens (I blame Louise). Exiting the subway at 4.45pm we experienced a “running of the bulls” moment, as hordes of people flooded down the stairs. We had made it just in time, and if that is anything to go by, then my travel tip is you must, I repeat must, avoid the subway during peak hour.
I like America because there is such a variety of food and drink that we don’t get in Australia. Remember Tab? Here is Louise enjoying one (pictured below). I just think she enjoys anything from the eighties.
We decided to venture out to the Empire State Building, with the idea that nobody would go up at 10pm. The Skyride, the virtual ride, through New York City was jerky, fairly unpleasant, and in our opinion not worth the extra money. Even at this late hour there is a wait for the elevators, and it is still fairly crowded on the observatory deck. The city of New York at night is a beautiful sight to behold from up high (pictured below - if Louise looks tense the wind was blowing pretty hard up there).
However, in any contest between the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Centre, the 'Top of the Rock' wins hansds down, for the following reasons; it's not crowded, has a wider and more luxurious observatory deck with three tiers, clear barriers not metal, better views of Central Park, friendlier and more professional staff, and most importantly a timed ticketing system, virtually eliminating lines.
