Times Square

We didn't plan on visiting Time Square, but we were in the area so decided to swing by.

We are staying Chelsea which is away from the major tourist areas, it's busy and lively, but there aren't hordes of people everywhere. In fact there haven't been large crowds anywhere we've visited . . . . except Times Square



From the steps of the TKTS booth


Can you spot the Naked Cowboy? Busy day for him (it was really hot - he would have been sticky!!)

Pizza

You can't visit New York and not have a slice of pizza, and one slice is definitely enough!! So big and so greasy!

Pizza from Ray's Famous Pizza:

Museum of Modern Art

It was baking hot so we decided to escape the heat with an indoor activity.

On arrival at MoMA only 10 minutes after it opened the queue was way down the block. I whipped out my phone and ordered tickets online, rocked up to the Will Call (pre-order) counted and voila! we are in the door in under 15 mins! And all this from the foyer - no waiting outside in the heat! Brilliant!

For modern art I thought MoMA had a pretty good collection - obviously there was plenty from the wtf category, but the top two floors were packed with works from big name artists and there was some great photography exhibits too.

From the wtf category:

Gloss white lacquer, spayed for 2 minutes at 40lp pressure directly on the floor (1968)


Some more creative items:
Comic strip without the words



Portrait - over time



Frames from Vertigo, Hitchcock



Andy Warhol



These little messages were all over the gallery - it was fun trying to spot them



We made our own art - Reid in a Staircase!

Basketball - USA v France

We went to Madison Square Garden to watch the USA v France basketball game.

USA won by miles and there was some entertaining game play - having only 25 seconds to score after the ball is turned over does it make it more exciting. But - the between play entertainment was amazing!! There were chair leaders/dancers, little kids doing gymnastics, dudes on trampolines - at times with skis on!! - plus, kiss cam, some sort of pin the tail on the donkey type game, a dance competition with people from the audience, and guess the player from their silhouette! Even when there is a time out they have entertainment!!








I missed the photo, but Eva Longoria and Tony Parker were also on kiss cam!




You can kinda see the guy has a snowboard on!


The whole entertainment team!

New York, day 2

On day 2 we headed down to ground zero. Even now, nearly 9 years later, there isn't much to see except a big construction site



The memorial centre is good though, but very overwhelming!! They have boxes of tissues placed discretely around - good idea! The wall of missing persons posters really shows the sorrow and desperation of those left behind. The memorial perfectly captured the emotions from the day - confusion, panic, fear, anxiety for loved ones, and sadness.

On the outside wall of the building is a memorial to the fire fighters



After ground zero we went to Century 21 - a huge, discount, outlet store. There was so much stuff there, a bit too much to sift through. We didn't say very long, I bought socks! Across the road is a another huge store - J&R Electronics. We walked into the computer section - didn't realise the store was a whole block split into different shops - each shop was a different section of J&R!!! HUGE!

Next stop, Wall Street. Not much activity on a Saturday


Stock Exchange

Then we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge


Lower East Side from the Brooklyn Bridge

New York, day 1

First stop, the High Line. It's an old elevated railway line turned into park. The first phase has been constructed so far.




From the High Line - our first view of Lady Liberty




















I liked the fire exit on this building, oh, plus the Empire State building in the background



Me relaxing on the High Line with a lemonade




Geez, you can't do anything in NYC these days!




Dudes playing jazz in Washington Square park




Really narrow buildings




Lunch - not oversized or greasy!




New York must be the city of cup cakes!! Here are some. Magnolia cupcakes was packed - didn't go in. These cupcakes are in the Chelsea Market




Limelight shopping mall - once a church, then a club, now a shopping centre

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Auckland airport

We arrived in Auckland at 11.25am.

A lady took Reid's suitcase by mistake - to be fair, hers did look exactly like ours, but hers was a bit larger and ours has a bright yellow tie on the top.

The baggage people found her mobile number and left her a pleasant voicemail, followed by a second more terse voicemail. Within about 20mins we had $18 worth of complimentary refreshment vouchers and Reid's bag returned. The lady came huffing back very distressed about taking the wrong bag!! Whoops!

For a flight to the US you have to be at the gate an hour and a half before take off so we decided to check in and wait at the airport.

Here is Reid at our nest:





See bottle of vino and large fries. They were followed by rashuns and a chocolate bar

It's now 4.10, we've been through the second security screening check point and are waiting in the departure lounge! Only 1 hour to go!

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