After Drew's last post it's no secret that I was dying to get back to New York after the disaster of our first visit. Thankfully this visit has given me new memories and lots of things to add to my 'Things I love about New York' list. Yet again, we took advantage of a Hop On Hop Off bus system which is a great way to see a city. One thing that just amazed me, was the amount of art in NY. It doesn't matter where you are, there is always something to see. Walls, doorways, electronic billboards that are constantly changing, statues in parks and on street corners...I could just walk around all day looking at stuff. It's one giant art gallery.
One thing I was hoping to do in New York, was visit the 9/11 memorial but unfortunately we didn't get the chance. The site is so busy with tourists that you actually have to get tickets that give you an allocated time slot to come back and visit. In the end it was just too hard to organise and make it fit in with the rest of our plans which was disappointing.
While we were on our tour bus, the guide pointed out this fence. Immediately after the twin towers fell, friends and family members of missing people, stuck notes and posters on the fence asking for information about their loved ones. Over time, these pieces of paper were replaced with tiles and are now a permanent fixture in the neighbourhood.
We took the kids to visit F.A.O. Schwarz, the famous NY toy store. We could have spent all day in there! They had staff giving demonstrations of new and amazing toys and games and the way things were displayed went above and beyond simply placing items on a shelf. The baby doll department was made to look like a maternity ward nursery, complete with Midwife ready to hand over the newborns to their 'mothers'. If anyone has ever seen the movie BIG with Tom Hanks...you'll recognise the famous floor piano. The kids loved it and I wanted to take my shoes off and have a turn too! Max was in love with the Lego department, the stock variety and quantity exceeded what we'd seen at Legoland. Jemima couldn't get over the size of all the stuffed animals and was pretty disappointed to find out she couldn't take home a 5 foot long Puppy. It's also the only place in the world you can design and make your own genuine Muppet!
While we were planning our trip, we all had things on our list that we wanted to do. One of mine was to go to Tiffany's on 5th Avenue and buy something. I didn't care what it was, I would have been happy with a keyring. (Mind you I soon discovered that wasn't exactly a cheap option either) Lucky for me it's Mothers' Day next Sunday. Squee!
No trip to New York is complete without a visit to Central Park. It's absolutely beautiful and so unbelievable that it's surrounded by skyscrapers in the middle of a city as busy as New York. I could have spent all day just wandering around or finding a spot to just lie back and watch the world go by. Conservatory Pond had sailboats for hire and after seeing the movie Stuart Little, it was hard to resist having a turn. Lovely way to spend half an hour. After lunch we visited the famous Alice in Wonderland statue and Jemima lost a tooth! The last thing we did before we left, was have a carriage ride through part of the park. Not a cheap way to spend 20 minutes but at least we can say we did it.
One of Jemima's favourite shows on Foxtel, is Cake Boss and when she discovered that Carlo's Bakery was just across the Hudson river in Hoboken, New Jersey...she had to have it on her list of places to visit. Luckily it was fairly easy to get to on the PATH train and it only took about 20 minutes to get across to the other side. Carlo's is a very busy place and we had to queue out on the street for a while before we could get inside and then we had to wait another 30 minutes or so before it was our turn to be served. It was worth the wait to see the look on Mima's face and the cakes we bought were absolutely delicious!
There is so much of New York City that we didn't get to see, in fact we didn't even scratch the surface. Luckily I'm planning to come back in 6 years time with some girlfriends to celebrate three 50th birthdays and one 40th. I can't wait!
One thing I was hoping to do in New York, was visit the 9/11 memorial but unfortunately we didn't get the chance. The site is so busy with tourists that you actually have to get tickets that give you an allocated time slot to come back and visit. In the end it was just too hard to organise and make it fit in with the rest of our plans which was disappointing.
While we were on our tour bus, the guide pointed out this fence. Immediately after the twin towers fell, friends and family members of missing people, stuck notes and posters on the fence asking for information about their loved ones. Over time, these pieces of paper were replaced with tiles and are now a permanent fixture in the neighbourhood.
We took the kids to visit F.A.O. Schwarz, the famous NY toy store. We could have spent all day in there! They had staff giving demonstrations of new and amazing toys and games and the way things were displayed went above and beyond simply placing items on a shelf. The baby doll department was made to look like a maternity ward nursery, complete with Midwife ready to hand over the newborns to their 'mothers'. If anyone has ever seen the movie BIG with Tom Hanks...you'll recognise the famous floor piano. The kids loved it and I wanted to take my shoes off and have a turn too! Max was in love with the Lego department, the stock variety and quantity exceeded what we'd seen at Legoland. Jemima couldn't get over the size of all the stuffed animals and was pretty disappointed to find out she couldn't take home a 5 foot long Puppy. It's also the only place in the world you can design and make your own genuine Muppet!
While we were planning our trip, we all had things on our list that we wanted to do. One of mine was to go to Tiffany's on 5th Avenue and buy something. I didn't care what it was, I would have been happy with a keyring. (Mind you I soon discovered that wasn't exactly a cheap option either) Lucky for me it's Mothers' Day next Sunday. Squee!
No trip to New York is complete without a visit to Central Park. It's absolutely beautiful and so unbelievable that it's surrounded by skyscrapers in the middle of a city as busy as New York. I could have spent all day just wandering around or finding a spot to just lie back and watch the world go by. Conservatory Pond had sailboats for hire and after seeing the movie Stuart Little, it was hard to resist having a turn. Lovely way to spend half an hour. After lunch we visited the famous Alice in Wonderland statue and Jemima lost a tooth! The last thing we did before we left, was have a carriage ride through part of the park. Not a cheap way to spend 20 minutes but at least we can say we did it.
One of Jemima's favourite shows on Foxtel, is Cake Boss and when she discovered that Carlo's Bakery was just across the Hudson river in Hoboken, New Jersey...she had to have it on her list of places to visit. Luckily it was fairly easy to get to on the PATH train and it only took about 20 minutes to get across to the other side. Carlo's is a very busy place and we had to queue out on the street for a while before we could get inside and then we had to wait another 30 minutes or so before it was our turn to be served. It was worth the wait to see the look on Mima's face and the cakes we bought were absolutely delicious!
There is so much of New York City that we didn't get to see, in fact we didn't even scratch the surface. Luckily I'm planning to come back in 6 years time with some girlfriends to celebrate three 50th birthdays and one 40th. I can't wait!
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