The Big Apple - Day 2

What do you do in the city that never sleeps if you can't sleep. You get up and you walk the streets. Such an interesting place. We even tried to photo bomb Good Morning America which is filmed at the ABC studios just across the road from our hotel.

After breakfast we headed off to the Top of the Rock only to find that it was closed due to the poor visibility. Not happy!!! The attendant was very helpful and suggested ringing later to establish if and when they might open. So instead we walked to Grand Central station which is s stunning building. Next stop on our walk was Bryant Park, a beautiful small oasis on 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. It has what is reputed to be the best public restrooms in the city. We were stunned to find fresh flowers, classical music, very clean ammenities and a helpful attendants who took pride in ensuring that the facility was spotless. Not far along 42nd Street we found the Pandora shop. I may or may not have bought a couple of NYC charms!!! We then walked back to our hotel to plan out what we might do next.

We returned to the Rockefeller Centre in the afternoon after receiving info that the visibility, whilst not perfect, was at least reasonable. It was busy, and a fast lift ride to the 67 floor saw us at the first lookout. Even though it was quiet hazy we could still see the skyline and took a number of iconic photographs ourselves. We then climbed the stairs to the next floor and had another look at the skyline. It was impressive and on a clear day would be very spectacular. After completing our viewing we descended and moved out onto the streets of New York to catch the 'Hop on, Hop off' bus. We chose the downstairs air conditioned section and enjoyed 30 minutes of commentary before jumping off at Strawberry Fields in Central Park which was established to honour the memory of John Lennon who was assassinated outside his apartment block which, is directly across the road. We walked across Central Park and it's certainly an impressive area. Large shade trees, a massive lake where people row small dingys, walking tracks, roads, restaurants, open spaces, playgrounds and even a zoo, can all be found within the park. It's a beautiful place amongst an incredibly busy city.

We had a very early dinner so that we could attend an early performance of the stage show Miss Saigon. We ate at Carmelita's which is a very large Italian trattoria just off Times Square. It is a noisy busy place but the food was traditional and very good. The veal scaloppine was absolutely delicious. 

After a short walk we found ourselves seated in one of the many theatres that can be found along Broadway where we really enjoyed what was a wonderful production of Miss Saigon.