I have not had a chance to blog much over the holidays. Too much eating and enjoying family. I am going to do a couple of blog posts on our holidays in the USA.
We spent two days in New York City! It was our first time to the “Big Apple” and we were all amazed at this wonderful metropolis. It lived up to all of my expectations and it is truly an iconic world city that everyone should visit in their lives.
We are shown above freezing in Times Square. The weather was extremely cold and unfortunately, our bag with much of our winter clothes was taken by another passenger on the bus by mistake. We took a bus from Allentown, PA where we were staying to Port Authority. Despite the freezing temperatures, we really enjoyed ourselves.
I was fascinated by the five boroughs and didn’t realize how big the city really was. Brooklyn alone is over 2.5 million people and the boroughs account for close to 8.5 million people. We stayed in Manhattan near Broadway and Fifth Avenue so we really got a flavor of the place. We found an excellent Thai Restaurant called The Pongsri which had the best Thai food I have ever had. We loved it so much we ate their three times.
New York is also home to the world’s greatest theater district, Broadway. We saw Elf and Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark. I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the sets, costumes, acting, singing, dancing, and live music. Absolutely breath-taking! I could go to a play everyday, although at $60 per ticket minimum, it is a bit pricey. Totally worth it however and with the amount that goes into a performance, I can see why the best theater in the world costs that much. The quality of the actors was something to watch. They never missed a line, and such voices and stage presence!
There were so many iconic places featured in movies, television, history, and literature, ranging from the skating rink at 30 Rock, to the UN building, to the Flat Iron Building, and Greenwich Village, the East River, etc. We took an open air bus tour around the island and learned a lot. We also of course, did some shopping on Fifth Avenue. A fatal stop at American Girl, which is a store that induces a frenzy in little girls! Ocean had to find the 1974 edition, “Julie” that looked just like her and she bought a winter outfit for her as well as a dog. I was laughing so hard that little girls could take their dolls to the “hair salon” for a professional styling for $10. They also had a doll cafe and hospital. What a racquet! The Pleasant Company is sitting on a gold mine and the four floors of their flagship store were bustling with people making purchases in the hundreds of dollars.
We only really scratched the surface of the city and there is so much more to explore. It was an overwhelmingly awesome experience that I highly recommend. I leave you with U2 performing the headline song of the musical Spider-man on American Idol, “Rise Above.” I would to thank Cathy and Jack for the bus tickets and hotel stay..
Bill's Blog 