Tony and Julie and route 66

First Day

Saturday morning. We were awake and buzzing at 3.30 am. It was a long wait till breakfast at 7.30am!!

After breakfast we strolled up to Grand Central Terminal and then to the Empire State building. We rode to the top, Tony making much of a slight limp to get us past the queues! On the top 88 floors- visibility was hampered by low clouds, and then the heavens opened. There was a handy audio guide and we could se out of the covered observation deck over the cityscape. The Empire state building was built in a year and a quarter in 1931.

After that experience we hit an Irish bar near Macy’s and then went into the worlds largest store. We then ate a hot dog from a street vendor and strolled back for a rest before going to Greenwich Village for dinner.

We found an amazing Italian restaurant in ‘the west village, small, vine covered. We sat in a table overlooking the street. The windows were would right open, almost alfresco dining. Beautiful food and delightful waiter. Outside was a street theatre production, with a transvestite playing an Isadora Duncan type character. Wonderful. After dinner, we strolled through the village, buying some interesting pictures and talking to the artist. People here are friendly and so keen to talk and pass comments. We feel very safe in the streets and the streets are tidy and clean. We walked back towards the subway to get back to our hotel and on the way passed St Vincent’s Hospital; a key player in the 9/11 disaster. Across the road there is the only memorial to that terrible day, it is a wall of self drawn tills, hung by ordinary people. You can find details at http://tilesforamerica.com/

posted by Travellers @ 11:26 pm