New York Visit (Thursday)

Thursday was our last day with our NY Pass and therefore we wanted to get as much out of it as we could. We headed straight for the subway and took the uptown 2 train to the Pelham Parkway in the Bronx. After some confusion as to which way to walk, we headed under the Bronx River Parkway and into the Bronx Zoo. This is a sprawling zoo which disguises well the fact that it is situated in the middle of a vast conurbation. Our highlight here was 2 Tiger "Enrichment Sessions" This involved zookeepers showing us the work they do with the tigers to keep them happy and healthy. As cat lovers, this was a treat for us! 3 hours passed far too quickly and we had to head south. From Pelham Parkway, we took a 2 train to E180th Street and changed onto a 5 train and rode as far as Lexington Avenue and 59th. Here we had a quick snack at a Subway (sandwich shop, not train station!) and then went to Bloomingdales. There was no way we were ever going to see all of the shop but we saw a good selection of departments and used our NY Pass for an 11% discount. My wife purchased a rather fetching hat and scarf and a free gift which was a black tote bag. For my souvenir, I asked the lovely lady in the cloakroom for some "Little Brown Bags" and came out with 4!!!From "Bloomies" we walked along the bottom of Central Park to Columbus Circle and caught the subway home. We ate at the "Manhattan Diner" on the north east corner of 77th and Broadway which has (thankfully) very quick service and we ate a bacon cheeseburger each with all the trimmings. We had to eat quickly so we could catch the subway to Penn Station and Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers vs Islanders game (Thanks again for the tickets Fred!). The seats were amazing, 7 rows back. The Rangers won 3-1 and we bought a Rangers Puck! After the game, we got one last use out of the NY Pass by going back up the Empire State Building for a night time view (Which is just as impressive as in the daytime) We bought a souvenir Christmas decoration from the shop on the 86th floor before descending to street level and making our way back to the hotel.