we got up early and checked that the weather was nice- with clear skies and warm. planning to see a view of the whole city (and pay quite a bit for it) we wanted to make sure the weather was suitable. luckily it was a b-e-a-uuutful day in nyc, and we had crepes for breakfast from a food van on one of the side streets.
crossing the road to the rockerfeller centre, we spotted a gathering of guys wearing nothing but their shoes and underwear. standing outside a business building being handed white shirts from a security guard. a very bizarre, but not altogther unpleasant way to wake up!
arriving at the rockerfeller center, we bought tickets and went through the security and all their other procedures. finally getting in the lift- it had a glass roof in which you could watch the elevator rise the 67 levels to the 'top of the rock'. it was like willy wonka and blasting out the glass roof of the wonka factory! the views from the top of the rock were pretty incredible- nearly 360 degrees around the whole of manhattan island. we heard a lot of aussie accents and realized an australian university chamber choir were all there. they assembled and began to sing waltzing matilda. it was enough to make anyone want to jump right off the now 70 stories high. we met a lovely french man (salut pierrick!) and eventually made our way down to the bottom again.
we had lunch at starbucks afterwards. ordering our drinks the woman asked for a name for the order. 'dianne'- the woman looked at mum blankly. 'cheyanne?' 'no no no, dianne'. a few minutes later i collected cheyanne's drinks from the collection area. clearly some things are still lost in translation.
we played in the lego store for a while, with incredible larger than life figures made entirely out of little lego pieces. it would seem that everything intended for kids of about 8 years is the stuff we get the most enjoyment out of. hmm...
we then stopped in an grand central station just to see it. the height of the ceiling was much greater than any visuals had suggested, and the whole area was alive and buzzing. we then headed for the international center of photography. this was an incredible place- with works by a whole number of greats. robert capa, cindy sherman, irving penn and henri cartier-bresson. my faviurite was probably seeing the original polaroid photographs of edie sedgewick taken by andy warhol. a very impressive center indeed!!
we then went to penn station to pick up our amtrack passes to boston for the 1st before heading to b&h. now, for those of you at home who aren't camera obsessed, b&h photo video is the largest non-chain photo and video equipment store in the united states. it was huge- and full of young jewish men in their yarmulkes, big beards, and curls. naturally, i felt at home- and wandered around looking for nothing in particular. the buying process- i found out was super organized (if not a little too organized). one register to ask for what you wanted, a person who dropped what you wanted off to the register, they give you a receipt and your things are sent downstairs where you show your receipt and collect your bag of goodies- all packaged and ready to go. the things you can do with hundreds upon hundreds of intelligent employees...
the day getting hotter, we returned home for the afternoon- and got ready for the night out. the night was spent on broadway- seeing the newest broadway show 'harvey'. it starred jim parsons (a.k.a sheldon cooper from big bang theory) and a number of other amazing people. a little unsure about booking for a new show- it was so lovely! incredibly quirky and child-like, the set design was beautiful. parsons and jessica heicht shone and we left the theater grinning from ear to ear. we had a light late dinner at a thai place before heading home. coney island tomorrow- with amazing weather forecasted. so excited. might pass out.
