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27/12/12 (Thursday)
Happy Birthday Grandad
It was still raining and windy but this morning we headed out and caught the double decker bus again, this time down to see the 9/11 Memorial and the new buildings they are building down at the sight of the World Trade Centre Twin Towers. There were 5 buildings destroyed on the sight including a church. They are rebuilding 4 towers on the block with the 9/11 Memorial Fountains in the middle of them all in the exact places where the original twin towers stood. The memorial is two large water fall type fountains and have the names of all who lost their lives engraved around the top of the fountains. They have only commenced rebuilding 2 towers at this stage 1 & 4. 1 is known as Freedom Tower and it's almost finished and 4 is about ½ way. The others are waiting for the economy to improve. The queue to get in was amazing and the security was unbelievable. We had to show our tickets 4 times at different check points. The tickets are free but the number of people who visit is incredible so they have to control the number of people on the site. After that we went shopping (again) then did a double decker bus tour of Brooklyn (included in our bus pass) and saw some places we saw last night (but during the day) but lots of other places also. We've pretty much covered Brooklyn now and crossed over there by tunnel, Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. The weather started clearing so we decided to go to the top of the Empire State Building (included in our bus pass). What an experience that was. It took us 3 hours from the start of the queue until we got to see the view and we only went to the 86th floor lookout. It was daylight when we started but definitely night time by the time we got to see New York. The view was great but definitely not worth the wait! Top of the Rock is a better view and not such a big queue BUT we can say we've been up the Empire State Building. We grabbed something to eat then caught a taxi home to the warmth of our apartment.
28/12/12 (Friday)
This morning we went on a cruise up the Hudson River (included in our bus pass) and it was fantastic. It's a bit breezy again today but the water wasn't too rough. The guy giving the commentary along the way was great and told us heaps. We got up really close to the Statue of Liberty which was great. Unfortunately we can't get over to the statue as it is still closed after cyclone Sandy. After the cruise we had lunch in our apartment then went shopping (yes again) in SoHo and Danielle was excited to get to the DASH Store (owned by the Kardashiens). We also went to the South End Seaport but unfortunately not a lot has reopened yet after cyclone Sandy. We should have thought about it and realized, but the bus guide didn't say anything either grrrrrr!!! Never mind we had a look around the area then went and learnt how to use the subway rather than have to wait for a bus! The subway was a bit confusing to start with and there isn't anyone around any of the stations that you can talk to, but we found some friendly New Yorkers (not many of them around!) who helped us out. You basically just have to work out which line you need and follow the signs! We got back Uptown and had some dinner before going to our Broadway Show "Annie" the musical. It was a great show. Anthony Wharlow was the lead actor and did a great job! We really had another great day and ticked a couple more things off the bucket list.
29/12/12 (Saturday)
This morning is really cold but not windy so it is bearable. We caught the subway down to Canal Street and walked through the shopping area of China Town. It is much cheaper than uptown. It is so much like the shopping in China though. Just cleaner and not as crowded. Everyone trying to sell you "Guccu - genuine Guccu" but you have to go to a car boot or a room in a back alley to buy them - yes really genuine!!!! So funny though. We didn't want any genuine Rollex or Guccu so just wandered and bought a few souveniers etc which are so much cheaper down there compared to uptown. We also walked around Little Italy a bit then caught the subway back to Time Square. They have been predicting snow for today to start falling around lunch time. Well at 12 noon exactly the snow started falling! We caught a bus out to the Woodbury Common Premium Outlet Mall (also included in our bus pass). It was a 1 hour bus trip there and it took us through New Jersey and further north up to Central Valley. It was nice to sit back and relax, driving along looking at the scenery as the snow fell and got heavier and heavier. By the time we got to Central Valley the snow was already a foot deep on the ground. The snow flakes were huge and they just kept falling from the sky the entire time we were there. It's funny because even though it was -2oC it wasn't really all that cold. We hardly even put our gloves on while we walked around (it's an outdoor mall) It was really pretty though and we enjoyed it. The shops were great too! We caught the 7pm bus back to New York City which dropped us at the Port Bus Terminal around 8pm. (It isn't far from where we are staying) The snow is still falling lightly but melting as it hits the ground. It's obviously been like that all afternoon as the roads are all wet but no snow build up. It's colder in NYC than it was walking through the snow all afternoon but our apartment was lovely and warm to come home to. Because we are home a bit earlier tonight, we managed to catch up with Noel, Liz Alyssa and Granny & Grandad on skype at our house and also with Nan & Poppie on the phone before falling into bed exhausted after yet another busy day in NYC.
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