Day three


Today the tour organisers had arranged a two hour walking tour of the city. This concerned Val so she decided to let it go whilst Sandra, David and I went on it. However the Gostlings came up with a cunning and brilliant plan. Why not forgo the walking tour and take a bus tour. We jumped at the chance and fortunately the tour starts right outside our hotel. We boarded the bus and despite the temperature went and sat on the open upper deck. The bus set off through downtown Manhattan along Broadway, past Maddison Square Garden and Penn Street station. We then headed for the Empire State Building with its 102 floors and standing 1454 feet tall. We then drove along 5th Avenue passing the odd looking Flat Iron building, so named for its triangular shape resembling a flat iron. It was build in 1902 and is 307 feet high ( tall for its time) it is covered terracotta Medusa heads. The tour continued through Little Italy and China Town. We then drove along the water edge passing the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. We then headed back north passing the Stock Exchange, the Charging Bill and the World Trade Centre, catching a glimpse of the 9/11 memorial. We drove past the Meat Packing District and Chelsea. We then found ourselves back at the start so we alighted the bus. It was bitter cold and we were frozen to the marrow. Fortunately the bus stopped right outside a cafe so in we went for a hot chocolate to warm us through. 

Val loves her Pandora and we discovered a store nearby so we took a walk to it and bought herself a couple of pieces synonymous with New York. We then discovered a top line restaurant offering a cheap lunchtime meal deal which we took advantage of. The meal was delicious. We did some more shopping then returned to the hotel with just enough time to dump our stuff and go out again.

We grouped up in the lobby and set off to Radio City to see a Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes. It was absolutely brilliant. It lasted a couple of hours. We came out of the theatre and went to witness the Rockefeller Christmas tree. It was very crowded but we managed to get the obligatory photo. We then took a steady walk back to the hotel had another hot chocolate to help us thaw out then returned to our respective roomss






















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