New York New York

Getting to the big apple

Yay! We made it. Just grateful to be here in one piece after a hair-raising taxi ride from the airport to our hotel at Wall Street in the Financial District. Fortunately Jan's plane got in from Amsterdam an hour before mine from London, so she had waited for me at the airport and we shared the cab.
Alone, I probably would've been terrified and sobbing in the back as we careered at breakneck speed through the streets of New York, only narrowly avoiding accidents with other vehicles and pedestrians by the grace of God.
Our crazy turbaned Sikh driver even bumped a couple of cars then yelled abuse at the other driver.For this joyride we paid $70. A small price to pay for our lives.

Pam and Jan outside the Wall Street Inn

This outdoor eating area is right at the back of our hotel

Jan not up for a photo

A great Irish bar in NY

The Wall Street Inn is lovely. The lady on the front desk was very friendly and directed us to have a calming cuppa provided free in the annexe by the desk (which doubles as the breakfast room)
After getting settled in our room, we were met by Pamela who'd come in by subway from Forest Hills to have dinner with us. We went to a nearby pub called the Dubliner and had burgers and drinks. We must be getting old....we all found the noise level in the bar quite overpowering, so we headed back to our hotel where we could hear ourselves speak for a good catch up chat.
Zach and Garreth dropped some things off at our room that evening as they don't check in until Thursday. It was great to see Gaz after so long away. He said they all enjoyed their time at Disneyland and Bronte is brimming with stories about it all.

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Jan and I really crashed out after everyone left and slept like logs surprisingly  undisturbed by the city noise. By the time we got to sleep it would've been after 3am Amsterdam time so we were very tired!

In the morning we made plans for our day before the others were due to arrive at 2 pm. We'd had a look at the subway map helpfully provded by the hotel and it seemed straightforward enough to catch a subway  at nearby Bowling Green station uptown to Fifth Avenue.

Jan and Barb loose in New York city

I wanted to go to FAO Swartz (the famous toy store) and also to Bloomingdales or Macy's to get something for Jess, who is back home in Australia and very sad to be missing out on her cousin's wedding and being over here with all the rest of the family.
We arrived at 9am and discovered that most of the stores don't open until 10am. We walked around looking in all the store windows and finally found Tiffany's. Right beside Tiffany's is the Trump tower.The sign outside said it was open to the public and we could see people inside in a Starbucks cafe. In we went. It is as palatial and ostentatious as you would imagine anything owned by Donald Trump would be. All marble, gold and glass  and even Donal Trump tourist souvenirs on sale in the foyer.
We ordered cappuccino (for me) and a caramel crunch frappe (for Jan). Jan's fappe came complete with lashings of cream and swirls of caramel sauce. It looked like a zillion calories disguised as a drink.It was delicious though.



Tiffanys & Co beside the Trump Tower

Inside the Trump tower

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After consuming our drinks it was finally time to go to the toy store. I was as excited as some of the kids lining up to go in. It was truly wondrous inside! SOOOO many toys! Stuffed animals of every shape and size, Dolls galore. More lego than I've ever seen outside an actual Legoland and all the latest and greatest kids toys being demonstrated and played with by both the kids and the staff. It must be a dream job! I would love to work there.
Jan and I spent ages just looking around goggle-eyed like a pair of big kids. It was great.....and a must see if you visit New York and have a child inside you bursting to get out (and no I don't mean pregnant!)
We came out smiling, armed with a few purchases. We headed down to Bloomingdales and were very fortunate to find a lovely girl called Lindsey to help us in the perfume department. This lovely lass could not have been more helpful and actually went all over the floor of the department with us to help us make selections and make sure we got the maximum free gifts with purchase.

By this time it was getting close to lunch time, so we headed back on the subway downtown to Wall Street  so we'd be there to greet the others when they arrived.

Jan at the markets outside Bowling Green station