On the morning of the 14th we woke up at the
normal time and headed out for our next adventure. As we had packed so much
into our first few days we kind of felt like we had done everything but we were
in New York and it always has more to offer.
Earlier in the week we had been offered a Boat Trip and as
no Holiday is complete without going on a Boat that was very high on today’s
agenda. We also had a few other things to find so once again we headed
Downtown.
Our first stop was for breakfast and after unsuccessfully
trying one or 2 places we decided to try Applebee’s. Hindsight is a wonderful thing; if I lived
this day over again then I’d go somewhere else.
Next on the list was The Ghostbusters firehouse, the Hook
and Ladder. We had already looked this up
on the map and were convinced we’d walked past it a few days earlier but it had
not jumped out at us so we set out to find it.
We knew from the Map it was in Tribecca so off we set.
Our new trick of Starbucks Navigation came into play a few
times (if you have a smart phone stand outside Starbuck and use the free WIFI
to view your maps). Eventually we found
it. Well, we found the location. The maps were telling us we were right by it
but we could not see it. We ended up
walking all the way around the block and back to the original spot before we
noticed a sign outside the boarded up building telling us that Hook and Ladder
was undergoing maintenance. Someone had
very kindly drawn some Ghostbusters type logo’s on the pavement for us though
so at least we could say we’d been there.
We knew that our boat trip was still on the agenda and we
realised that we were still a good distance away from South Quay so we decided
to brave the Subway rather than try to walk again. First we needed to find the right station.
We walked for a little while and on the way we found some
more of the notifications for parking restrictions. This time it was for filming of The
Blacklist. This was exciting news for 2
reasons, first because we had been fans of The Blacklist since the very first
episode and secondly the filming was due to take place the following
morning.
After this little flurry of excitement we found our Subway
station and eventually (after trying to work out the ticket machines and train
routes) we made our way to South Quay to get our boat tickets.
The boat trip was brilliant; it took us from the Quay up the
Hudson River and past the Statue of Liberty, I have never really seen the
Status of Liberty properly, even when I did the helicopter trip many (many) years
ago I didn’t see it as well as we saw it today.
We stopped for a decent photo session before heading uptown. The views of Manhattan were spectacular and
the commentary gave us some real insight into how New York has changed over the
years. They even pointed out the part of
the Hudson where the Pilot had landed his plane in the River. The only real problem was that it was so
cold. We decided that we would get off
the boat at the 911 memorial rather than go all the way back to South Quay.
After another look around we headed uptown again for
something to eat in Chinatown before heading back to the Subway. That was the plan anyway. We took so many little twists and turns
through Chinatown that we didn’t really know where we were heading as we
wandered uptown. We found ourselves by
the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge. We
had to take a moment to enjoy the spectacular image but we then decided that we
needed to carry on and get our bearings again so we kept heading uptown until
the streets started to have numbers instead of names. Eventually we reached 2nd Avenue
and decided it was time for a beer or two.
Strange things happen in New York City.
As we sat enjoying our drinks we noticed that it was getting very busy
outside. There were Lorries pulling up
opposite and people started to mingle just a few feet from the door to the bar
and trolleys carrying equipment we dragged into view. It turns out that we were watching a film
crew setting up for a shooting of the TV drama Madam Secretary.
Feeling fully refreshed we braved the Subway and headed
uptown again, this time we decided to exit the subterranean transport link at
Times Square as we had a little time to kill before our appointment at the Top
of the Rock.
One thing you learn on a visit to The Big Apple is that some
New Yorkers can make being rude into an art form. They obviously have a great deal of
experience in doing this and can seamlessly integrate this into their working
life. I’d say that this unique skill
must be a requirement if you wish to apply for a security position at the
Rockefeller Centre. The views are
spectacular and it is well worth a visit but I came away feeling like a naughty
child because I had not fully understood that we did not need to put our coats
into the tray for the X-Ray machine or for wanting to stand in a certain place
to get a picture of the Empire State Building.
The Morning of the 15th saw us preparing for our
Journey home. We were happy that we had
crossed so many things of our list but there was still time for a few more so
after we had packed our cases we headed out on the search for breakfast and for
another Movie landmark that we had both spotted on the way back from the
Airport after our Niagara visit.
Instead of heading downtown, this morning we were heading
east. After a quick photo of
Bloomingdales we reached our target, East 60th street, and the
setting of one of my favourite Chick Flicks, Serendipity. The shop is called Serendipity III and sadly
we were too early to see it during opening hours but I was happy with a
photograph.
As we had still not managed to get breakfast we decided to
just pop into a Deli for something quick that we could eat on the go while we
made our way to the next location on our list.
I think we must have hit the jackpot as we were faced with so much
choice. We opted for a bagel and if we
had known how big they were going to be then we may have decided to share
one. This would have been a mistake as
they were just too delicious to leave.
After a little bit of Starbucks navigation we found our way
to the Subway station and headed to our next adventure. Next stop was Tribecca where we hoped to find
the spot where they were doing the filming for The Blacklist. We had covered so much ground on the previous
day that neither of us could remember exactly where we had seen the signs but
as we approached yet another Starbucks we saw that some of the pavement have
been blocked off and there were people stood around with camera equipment. At first it looked like they were packing
everything away but it turned out that they were just making adjustments so we
decided to hang around for a little while to see if anything happened. We decided to try to see if we could see any
better from the other side of the road and it became apparent that they were
filming inside a little bistro. We could
see a waiter stood in the window dressed in Black and White and sat at the
table was what appeared to be the female lead but we could not see her face
well enough to say for sure.
My wife started to get a little nervous about being there as
the crew kept glancing over and she was certain we were going to be asked to
move so we switched back to the other side of the road where we stayed for a
few minutes just watching. We were just
about to leave when my wife pointed excitedly at a guy in a hat that was
walking towards the building. At first I
wondered what I was looking for then I spotted James Spader walking towards the
Bistro door, raising his hat in the trademark Raymond Reddington style. These brief few seconds managed to add the
final topping to an already amazing New York City experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment