A shot of the Manhattan skyline to start the post off…
We have packed an amazing amount of touristy things into our first week in New York, including but not limited to:
- Empire State building
- Highline
- Central Park
- Freedom Tower
- Chelsea Markets
- Union Square markets
- Statue of Liberty
- and of course, Mood Fabrics – twice!
We have averaged more than 20 kilometres of walking a day – that translates to around 27,000 steps. Some days we got to more than 30,000 steps – that’s a lot of walking!
We spent a little bit of time in Wall Street and the financial district, with the obligatory photo of the “Bull” – this is one of Archie’s photos and he does like black and white.
Not the best photo, but I liked the juxtaposition of the Flatiron Building with the Fifth Avenue Building clock. I could have done without the truck standing there…
The views:
These photographs were taken from the top of the Empire State Building. What’s interesting is that it didn’t originally have the top on it – it had a flat roof so that dirigibles could land, but the winds were too great so the idea had to be abandoned. The day we went up there was a beautiful day but the wind was really, really strong so I understand how this was a problem.
Tom and Bridgette posing in front of the skyline
The entire family – note that I was cold but it was still sunny enough for sunglasses!
The inside of the building is glorious. This is the best photograph that I managed to take though.
The sights:
We did the obligatory Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island cruise, and I have to say that the statue is a pretty amazing piece of engineering. The whole thing is covered with a thin veneer of copper folded into the shapes we see here.
And here is a little mosaic of some of Archie’s photos of the trip. You can see that although the day was glorious, there is a smoggy haze is hanging around.
Ellis Island, where the immigrants were processed back in the day, has recently been restored and is now a stunning place to visit
Central Park is a must do for visitors to NYC and we did it several times.
There are lots of quaint bridges and tunnels, which I adore
This Alice in Wonderland statue was erected by a man in memory of his wife who “loved all children” – how amazing is this? 
This is the boathouse restaurant in the park. The rowing boats can be hired. When Archie was here at this time of the year three years ago this lake was frozen.
This photo isn’t really a “sight” but I had to include it. Bridgette and I discovered the wooden escalator in Macy’s. It is so gorgeous, even the treads are wooden, and the noise it makes is wonderful.
The food:
This is just a random sample of some of the amazing displays we’ve seen. Below right is Tom in the Grand Central Station Markets, which are a must visit – as is the station itself. I will post some photos of it eventually.
The Christmas decorations:
I have a large number of photos of the Christmas trees for sale – feeling very wistful about these…
The store windows are, of course, pretty amazing – Saks Fifth Avenue
The football:
We went to see the NY Jets. When the star players run on to the field, flames light up the area
Don’t you love the inflatable jet above the players’ race? The cheerleaders were appropriately attired in their Santa suits.
Our tickets were at the very top of the stand and I do admit to a bit of knee trembling when looking down. I did get used to it, but when they let off the first lot of fireworks (which happens often) I probably leapt a foot in the air in fright, much to Archie’s amusement! The Jets won the game by a resounding margin. I was quite lucky because Tom played a couple of seasons of Gridiron and was very happy to tell me what was going on, otherwise I would have found it quite bewildering. It’s a much slower game than Australian Rules Football, but very entertaining.
The nighttime views:
We walked across the Manhattan Bridge and came across this fish made from yarn. Pretty gorgeous hey?
The Brooklyn Bridge – fabulous views of Manhattan from here.
The Lincoln Centre is where the ballet and opera occurs. Bridgette tried to get us tickets to the Nutcracker but it was sadly booked out.
Here are three of my favourite photos of the Flatiron Building, taken by Archie
We are now into our second week in New York, so there will be another post in the next few days.