New York Day 6 - New York City, NY
New York City, NY
Our day started a little later today which was a nice relief after such a long day yesterday. My parents and Lia left early to visit the Empire State Building but since Ro and I had alreay done this we didnt feel we needed to go again. We had pre booked their tickets to the observation deck to guarantee shorter waiting times and we had arranged to met them outside Macys at 11am. After we farewelled our parents , Ro and I spent the morning organising our bags and backing up photos. Greg decided he wasnt keen to go to the top of the Empire State building so stayed at home with us, enjoying some down time reading the paper and checking sports scores and line ups. We left home around 10.30am and decided to walk to Macys rather than catch the subway as it was a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze and minimal humidity...the best weather all week. Whilst negotiating our way along a new route we happened to stumble across PIE FACE... The pie shop from Australia. Inside was exactly like the stores at home, stocked with many different varieties of juicy meat pies. They also had sausage rolls, lamingtons and Ro's favourite, A FLAT WHITE. So we took a short detour here to stock up on some home grown favourites before heading back on our way. We found my parents and Lia waiting patiently outside Macys about 5mins past 11. Turns out that they had finished early at the Empire State building (30 mins early) and had actually texted to arrange for us to come earlier. Opps. Luckily no one was in a bad mood despite our late arrival or failed communication device. I think it helped that dad was still a little weary from his illness earlier in the week and that the ladies were super excited to go shopping. I think our timing with a Macys one day sale also put the team in a good mood.We had arranged a time to all meet back at the entrance and then we were off. My parents were saving some of their shopping budget for the outlet stores in LA so were probably doing more reserach than actual shopping, so Ro and I joined Lia and Greg to help them buy up big. First stop, watches. Lia had been eyeing off a few during the week but now it was time to get serious. Within a short period of time she had managed to narrow her selection down to one particular watch. The boys and I provided feedback on the watch face size, bling factor and how this correlated to elegance or tacky ratings, as well as the price. Shortly after, Lia was a proud owner of a new dress watch. Macy bag number 1. We had been informed by the sales assistant during our purchase that as international guests we were entitled to 10% off all purchases (except if heavily reduced). We were directed to customer service so we could obtain our unlimited voucher and then we were immediately back shopping. Next stop, fine jewellery. Lia was disappointed that she hadnt purchased a pair of diamond stud earrings when we visited Tiffanys & co but she knew that the prices they were asking were ridiculous and likely inflated due to the name. We inspected the extensive range of diamond earrings at Macys, all which were displayed with certificates of authenticity, and convinced Lia to take a closer look. Well one thing led to another and Lia was trying some on and we were discussing scenarios when she could wear them. With the support of her boys and the mantra 'what the heck, im on holidays' playing in her mind Lia bit the bullet and paired up her beautiful new watch with a pair of dazzling diamond stud earrings. We parted ways at this point, aware we had played a supporting role in some serious financial damage, and went to find a nice gift for our upcoming hosts Jerry and Mary Ellen in Upstate NY. We headed to homewares and found a beautiful platter which would be perfect when entertaining their large family. We also stumbled across a section in Macys which was selling merchandise from a recent art exhibition on 'Dogs of NYC'. Well I could have bought the whole range but thankfully luggage requirements and budgets kept me under control and we only walked away with a few small token items. The 6 of us met back up at the entrance and there were 4 bags in total, including an actual little wheely bag for Greg and Lia to more comfortably get their belongings back to oz. All this shopping had caused us to work up a serious appetite. We headed down the road and picked out a mexican themed rooftop bar near Madison Square Garden for lunch. Ro was so shattered that Madison Square Garden was still undergoing extensive renovations throughout the whole of September, preventing any shows, sports events or guided tours. I think this is why we needed to sit staring at it for most of lunch...an easy request to make my boy a tad happier. We started lunch by tucking into some cocktails and beers to quench our thirst. I later discovered mojito jugs and justified to the team that they were better value than single drinks...which wasnt a lie except i dont think we ever intended to have 4 each at lunch. Oh well..it made for interesting conversation, laughs and funny photos. After some delicious salads, chilli dogs or burritos we left our haven in the sky and re-entered NYC craziness at street level. Ro rushed back to the apartment and dropped off our shopping whilst the rest of us strolled towards the start of the highline. The highline is an abandoned West side rail line that has been rejuvenated and converted into an urban oasis. Large exapanses of beautiful gardens co exist comfortably alongside intriguing public art installations. There is the perfect balance between natural and urban lanscapes which creates a unique zone of tranquility within this bussling city. The Highline stretches over approximately 1km and was the perfect setting to stroll and work off our mexican feast whilst enjoying views of the Hudson River and the Chelsea district. Ro met us at the highline about 30 minutes after we left the rooftop bar and we then made our way along the highline down towards the meat packing district. We passed various interesting sculptures, some with even more intersting descriptions about the inspirations and themes behind their creation, as well as specifically tailored natural spaces such as the Chelsea grasslands, Woodland Flyover and the wildflower field. We managed to spot blueberries growing in NYC.. Who would have thought? We reached the end of the highline after approximately 45minutes and descended back down to street level entering the famous meat packing district. This district is famous for the old factories and warehouses which have been renovated to accommodate fancy apartments, boutique stores or la di dah bars and clubs. We had spotted a cool rooftop bar as we were strolling the highline and decided we should pay it a visit... Tick 'drinks in the meat packing district' off the list. Our parents gasped at the elevated price for drinks but still willinging joined us in a beer or mixed drink. The afternoon had flown by and we were already heading into twilight. Ro, the mums and I had a date with the Top of the Rock at 7 so we had to cut drinks short, drop the dads home and head to the Rockafellar centre. We arrived with what we thought was ample time to collect our tickets but it turns out that only applies to Australian standards. We were third in a queue and it still took over 30mins to simply pick up alreay purchased tickets. There were queues shotting off in all directions and people in uniforms simply ignoring them until all chaos broke loose. We were not only annoyed about having to wait longer than expected as well as having people slotted in front of us as they tried to re establish one line, but also by the fact that my entry ticket could have been significantly cheaper if we werent paying for several people to stand around doing nothing. We are on a budget you know. After a few deep breaths we had our tickets and we were whisked up to the Top of the Rock. We scampered past the cheesy tourist photo booth and high tailed it to the observation deck. The sun had begun to set offering us unobstructed birds eye views of central park with a pinky purple sunkist sky. We proceeded up to the very top deck and thats when the free for all began. People had almost strapped themselves to prime positions along the railing so that they could firstly get photos of the sun setting behind the Empire State Building followed by night photos with all the city lights illuminated. You could hear heated discussions everywhere and feel the odd elbow in the rib cage. I managed to find a less crowded space allowing me to progress to the railing within 10 or so minutes...a fact i wasnt going to say out loud to some people for fear of being thrown over. Lia and my mum had negotiated trading spots with a group so they each had ample time for photos and views...i scratch your back if you scratch mine kinda thing. We managed to get some nice photos but the tension, pushing and just sheer quantity of people got too much and we needed to leave. We commented on the quantity of people and how it seemed to exceed what we read was the maximum capacity and were concerned on how such a place would respond to an emergency when it appeared that streamlining people through without a sense of urgency or panic was a hard enough task. For example, we were directed to an escalator to take us to the lower level where we would catch the lift to street level. Everyone managed to smoothly board the escalator one by one with minimal gaps between each person and most importantly, little fuss however getting off the escalator was another matter altogether. The escalator finished in a small open area not designed to hold alot of people. To the right there was a revolving door which didnt have the capacity to move people out of this area quickly enough. So as you can imagine you had this small area filling up very quickly with people who are packed tightly on this moving escalator. Now commonsense would say to move off the escalator and towards the back wall so that there was at least always an area for people to step off the moving stairs so they didnt all fall over and hurt themselves. Now if that couldnt work because the area was just filling too quick and there just wasnt any available space then maybe press an emerency stop button on thr escaltor or perhaps stop using the revolving door and use the standard push to open double doors next to the slow revolving door. Well what happened was i was loudly requeting people to step away from the escalator as i had two old people directly in front of me who i felt were at risk of serious injury and eventually one of the uniformed people ran over, stopped the escalator and opened the double doors. It still stuns me how no one else before this point of actual danger had not thought to do something and that you would build an area of such high congestion with a stupid revolving door. Oi vey. All in all though it was a great experience as you cant knock the spectacular views. We walked home with a small detour to Times Square for some last minute shopping (for the mums). Tomorrow our parents were leaving us and we were checking out of the apartment so we all needed to get our luggage organised. Ro and I went downstairs and picked up some delicious thai takeaway for the crew whilst we got to work packing. We managed to offload a small amount of things to our parents which we had accumulated along the way... Thanks guys!!! After stuffing their bags, weighing and re weighing them to ensure minimal drama or cost at the airport, they were finally finished, as were we. Exhausted and a little emotional because it was almost time to say goodbye we flopped on our beds for one last time and drifted to sleep. What a week, what great memories, what an adventure.