Leavin' in the rain

Our adventures in the Big Apple was coming to an end, so when we woke up on Friday, we were a bit sad to leave the cozy apartment. The weather was unsurprisingly rainy, so after dropping the house key at the dry cleaner's downstairs, we hurriedly dragged our luggage for 2 blocks again toward the park and managed to hail a cab to go to Penn Station.

I asked about baggage hold when we bought our Amtrak train tickets 2 days before, so we queued to leave 2 luggage each, to be picked up later, and rushed to B&H to try to get the pico projector. We didn't have too much trouble finding the store, and the item I was looking for was on display on the ground floor. All I needed to do was grab a jewish clerk dressed in the store's green garb (like an elf, LOL) tell him what i want, and he typed an order in the computer, like an inventory order, and asked me to wait for it at the next desk.
I went to the next desk, and while I was waiting, my order arrived on a rolling tray, and stopped right in front of clerk A, to whom I was assigned. He picked it up, scanned it and asked me to go to the next booth to pay, 10m further. I queued again, still without my purchase in hand, paid, and was told to go to another area to collect. There, I showed my receipt and finally received the item.

I was about to exit when I noticed that A. was missing as she didn't follow me, and there is no way to backup the way I came. So I had to exit the store and enter the store from the front entrance again to find her...Eventually, we were reunited and decided to have a goodbye lunch with N. on 2nd avenue and nearby 36th street. We weren't far so we managed to take an eastbound bus and met her in a fusion Japanese restaurant.

We unpacked the projector, ate some delicious cheap food, and allowed N. to return back to work. She walked us to the UN headquarters and we bid farewell.

 

We felt we had some time to visit before our train at 4:30pm so we registered for a tour. But as we waited for the tour at 2:30pm, I realized the tour lasted 1h an that would make us rush like mad to the station, where we had to pick up our luggage still. And so I asked to get reimbursed for the tickets. That lady was so unhelpful and full of herself, not allowing me to ask other tourists waiting in line if they wanted my tickets...She made me wait until past 2:30, almost 15min to get my money back and not even give my tickets to anyone...

Anyway, back tot the station, we picked up our luggage and waited for the track number to be displayed. There was no seat number on our tickets, and I could see the huge lines for the other trains, so it was a good idea to get back earlier. At least we managed to find very comfortable seats with lots of space for our legs an the suitcases in front of us.

And with announcement, the train took us away from New York....onto Washington DC Union station.

A stroll in the park and a bird's eye view

On a beautiful cloudy, not rainy morning, we woke up slowly from our slumber. I had bough some food from the corner-shop the night before so we had yoghourt, juice, and some cereal bars to start the day like healthy citizens of the world.
Then we tried to plan the day as best as we could. We had no appointment or show to go to so we just thought about strolling in Central park, take in the sights of 5th avenue, and then meet up with N. if she was still up. She was busy from the beginning of the week but seemed to be ok. She also gave me a passkey for the Mandarin oriental, to take in the view from the 30th floor and even access the swimming pool.

So first thing of the morning, a healthy walk to the park. We entered from the 81st street west entrance and decided to just aim for a southbound direction during our roaming. We first stumbled on a mini castle, which was the step exercise.

 

As we waled around the Turtle pond, we actually saw a big ugly faced turtle near the fence, about 5m form the water. It was near the path and everyone started to stop and have a look, dogs would be scared, and I filmed an insane amount of that curiosity. We also had a snack, in short, food and a show..hehehe

 

Walking southbound and trying to walk off the beaten path, we got to a muddy dead end once, but eventually we got to the fountain which for me always reminds me of that scene in the movie "One fine day" , where Michelle Pfeiffer runs with her son in tow, to his soccer match.

 

That was the scene. George Clooney was running as well but somehow, Michelle Pfeiffer's character was more vivid in memory.

 

And so I've learned it is called Bethesda Terrace.

From then on, I could remember we were not too far from the south border of the park. Along the way we met horse-riding police, joggers, musicians. And finally, we also came across the sun. Yes, we got some sun rays as we approached the end of the park, and we could finally wear our sunglasses!

 After smelling horseshit from all the carriages that line up the border of the parks for wealthy or tired tourists, we finally got some fresh air across the road, getting a nice view at the Plaza hotel, another landmark that reminds me of the movie Home Alone. And then we hit 5th avenue like paupers, gaping at display windows.

 

A. wanted to visit the MoMA, so we eventually found it. I wasn't too interested as I visited the museum shop and found nothing inspiring, so went shoe shopping instead. We set to meet 1h later, and I got to buy a pair of silver sandals (not too much like the romans), and to scout some dresses on 6th avenue. The hour flew by, and the sun was surprisingly out. 

When we met up again an hour later, it was already in the afternoon. But the Rockefeller Centre was nearby and given the fog that was clearing out sparingly, it was worth it trying to go to Top of the Rock. We managed to grab tickets at 3pm, and hurried inside to grab lunch in the basement food hall. As food disappeared quickly in our belly, I could not remember well what we had. But we definitely finished with ice cream.

As 3pm approached, we proceeded to the attraction entrance at 2:30pm as recommended. The wait was very long as we had to shuffle from one place to another, watch the history of the building in a small auditorium, to finally get into the elevator that had glowing ceiling lights in the dark. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, daylight blinded us, as well as the view.

From all directions the view was striking. And the fog was cooperative for once. And I also realized Manhattan was not that large as I could see the water on both sides. I could also zoom in to the Statue of Liberty.

Finally dizzy from the height and the rare air, we got down to buy dresses in the shop I found (Loft), and arranged to meet N. again at the Apple store. I haven't seen that store in 2003 so I was curious to see how it was. The shop is underground and a spiraling stairs through glass cube leads you to the store's main hall. We goofed around with the Ipad2, took photo and sent it through someone's email that stayed logged on.

 

As we played around, I got interested by the Optoma pico projector. But the line to pay was huge and N. said to buy it somewhere else, at B&H near Penn Station. So we left instead, playing with the elevator instead, riding it 3 times without exiting... 

As the sun had set, the lights of the city started to sparkle, and our stomachs talked to each other about their next treat.  We managed to get on the phone with T. (for Trump, LOL), and after much debating on where to meet and eat, we settled on one other NYC landmark: street food.

 This time, N recommends this famous kebab stands where she and T. use to eat. And indeed, at one corner of 6th avenue, around 7-8pm, tens of people were lining up, expecting a fine grub.

We got our turn at the Halal Guys after maybe 10-15min in line, and the food came in aluminium plate, complete with rice and spicy sauce. We grabbed one for T. as well who was still commuting, and settled nearby like everyone else, in the little park surrounding those office buildings. It was so good, so filling, and we probably didn't finish all (in our dreams..). The best part came after that, when we had to use the bathroom and N. & T. knew right away where to go:

"well, across the road, at the Hilton!"

And in we went through the revolving doors, asking each other who had the key...To be honest, it is the best way, and best practice. Maybe it was far fetched, but with all the nearby basement malls and office closed, it was the closest choice, bravo. We hung around like guests in the lobby, and tried so had not to attract any attention or suspicion!

 

After good laughs, it was time to head home and sleep...