New York, New York

New York Skyline

We arrived in New York late on Tuesday afternoon due to the treachorous Atlantic seas and to top that it was a bit miserable because it was raining.  However once we got ashore we fell under New York’s spell as usual and headed straight to the Metro to see the 9/11 Memorial – this was one of our most important aims as we were on top of the Twin Towers three weeks prior to the terrorist attack.  

Part of the 9/11 Memorial

After that Keith convinced me to go into an Irish Bar for a Guinness – served by a genuine Irish man!  We hot-footed it up to Macy’s to look for bargains and did some shopping around Broadway – admired the Grand Central Station and stopped by Rockefeller’s building for a Chilli Dog and watched the Ice Skating.  We arrived back on the ship with 10 minutes to get dressed for dinner and much needed refreshments.

Off on a shopping spree

Delicious Chilli Dogs bought here

The next day it was sunny and cold and we were up early and on top of the Rockefeller building by 8.30 am – the views from there are absolutely superb – particularly over Central Park  - possibly better than from the Empire State.  Then we made our way to the Metropolitan Museum by Central Park – mainly to view Jill’s favourite painting – the Parc de Monceau – and the Egyptian Temple (a whole real Egyptian Temple complete with moat- donated by the Egyptians following a gift from USA of 16 million dollars to save 3 temples from the flooding of the Aswan Dam).  

We  then  visited Battery Park at the south of Manhattan to view the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and finished up in Times Square before stocking up on beer wine and mixers to take back to the ship.  Next stop Fort Lauderdale, Florida 1000 miles to the south.