New York Visit (Tuesday)

Tuesday morning arrived far too soon (some kind of delayed jet-lag?) bringing with it a lot of rain. (Although, perhaps the weather channels over-reacted just a little bit because it was like a normal Winter's day in England really!! Not half as bad as we were expecting!) Anyway, as it was raining we decided to make it an "inside" day so we were off early on foot to the American Museum of Natural History. We called for the obligatory bagel with cream cheese at a place on Amsterdam Avenue and made our way over. Even with our New York Pass www.newyorkpass.com we encountered security checks and then a queue for admission (much smaller than the queue for general admission) Then it was off around the museum. We did find the floor plan a little confusing in that there is not a route to follow and often a display finishes with a dead end! However, the displays are stunning and the models amazing. In particular the Ocean and Dinosaur exhibits were wonderful. We didn't nearly see everything that we would have liked to and could have easily spent the day there but time meant we had to move on. Next stop was a quick walk along the West 81st Street transverse road through Central Park which then becomes the West 79th Street transverse road. Anyway, we hit 5th Avenue, past the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and up to the Guggenheim. A feast of art awaited us, much of it by Russian artists as this was the specific collection on display currently. As equally interesting as the artwork was the structure of the building, an innovative spiral shape that basically gives the gallery a lot of wall space. Again, a more leisurely pace would have been preferable but we were beginning to realise that we were never going to see everything unless we kept moving! From there, a 101 bus took us straight down Lexington Avenue to 50th Street and Bloomingdales. (We were not visiting there today but it was handy to know where it was.) We wandered down to 42nd Street and the Grand Central Terminal. Again, you can't fail to be impressed by the architecture and the amazing restoration work that had taken place in recent times (thank you Discovery channel for the program I saw prior to visiting) Suddenly it was 4pm and we realised lunch had escaped us, however, luckily we found a lunchtime special in Coke and Pizzas on 42nd Street. I say lucky because they served us and then promptly removed the sign as the offer had finished, or should have, a couple of hours earlier. Refuelled, we headed to the Empire State Building for our first of 3 visits. We had a go on the "New York Skyride" an interactive, moving show in a kind of simulator, all narrated by Kevin Bacon giving us a guided tour of NYC from the air. Had the weather been better, we would have gone up the Empire State Building then) However we then walked along 33rd Street to Madison Square Garden (www.thegarden.com) to collect 2 tickets for the Thursday night Ice Hockey match between the NY rangers and the NY Islanders. My wife had the good fortune to secure tickets from a season pass holder who was unable to attend (thanks Fred) On collecting the tickets we had a quick celebratory beer before heading back to the hotel. Dinner that evening consisted of the biggest sandwich ever, with salad and fries and a few beers in the Westside Brewing Company on the NW corner of 76th and Amsterdam. This was accompanied by a quick lesson in Ice Hockey from my wife in readiness for the match on Thursday...