No Fancy Name, Just New York Feb 08 - Day 6

[pepsicube]

Day 6 - Wednesday 20th

Today is our last day and is going to be a long one as we don't fly until 9.30 tonight.
We were up reasonably early and down for our final breakfast. I'll miss the Waldorf breakfasts, although I suspect my waistline won't!
Back to the room for Jo to finish packing - surprisingly our bags seem to have shrunk and it's quite tricky getting everything packed.
When we were satisfied that all our belongings were safely packed we called for a porter to take our baggage for storage for the day.
Today we had planned to go up the Empire State Building and do some more shopping at Macys, which is exactly what we did.
Again it was a cold day and mum, in her wisdom had packed most of her warm clothes, so our first stop was a cheap clothes shop so she could invest in a hat, scarf and gloves ($6 - bargain).


The Chrysler Building

We decided to visit Grand Central Station en route to the Empire State Building, what a manificant hall, well worth a visit.





We were expecting huge queues and long waits for the E.S.B. - but no, it was very quiet.



The lift took us up to the 80th storey, where we queued a bit more for another lift up to the observatory deck on the 86th floor. Somewhere en route we had our souvenir photo taken.
Obviously the views from the top were stunning.



We had the option to visit the 102nd floor for another $15 each, we declined as I'd heard the views aren't any better.
After the E.S.B. we wandered over to Macys for some last minute shopping.
Wow, this place is enormous - 10 stories I think (9 plus a basement). You'd need about half a day per level to do it justice. We started off with a cuppa and cake at the Starbucks on level 3, after a minor altercation regarding walnuts and wedding vows, we agreed to go our separate ways and to meet up in a couple of hours.
I managed to invest in a new case for my camera and a new jacket (Ralph Lauren for under 60 quid! bargain - But why are the zips the wrong way round?).
We then taxied back to the hotel for a final drink prior to our limo turning up for our return journey.
Again fabulous service, we never had to lift a single bag.
Well that was it, our few days in the Big Apple were over, the limo ride was again great but uneventful.
We arrived at Newark in plenty of time to rearrange our baggage - somehow making room for our latest purchaces from Macys.
After checking in we decided to go through passport control and were intending to get something to eat. Big mistake, there was nothing at all - a trolley selling sandwiches (with one choice - ham, cheese and tomato), a shop (basically a newsagent selling chocolate bars, crisps etc.) and a tiny duty free shop. We had to make do with a Pepperoni stick, yogurt and crisps, marvelous!
The flight was on time and pretty much uneventful - a bit of turbulence, ok food and not much sleep.

A few notes

I think we all loved New York, especially the Waldorf Astoria - I know where we'll be staying if we ever visit again.
There was so much more that we could have done if we'd had time (Little Italy, Chinatown, Brooklyn Bridge, Museums, an ice hockey, baseball, football or baasketball match, a helicopter flight... ), but strangely enough I think 4 days was enough.
I don't know if we'll ever ruturn as there are so many other places we'd like to visit (Las Vegas, LA, San Francisco etc.- not just in the USA either - Rome, Paris, Barcelona etc.)

Anyway thanks for reading this, I hope it's given you an incite into NY.

Mark

Days 1 & 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

[kmt]

thanks for the trippie will get my dad to read it in preparation for their trip as it looks like you had a fab time

[jeanwales]

Great report - thankyou so much for doing it. It makes me all the more excited for my trip in November
xxxxx

[Bellestar]

Hi-Looks great pictures are lovely..

[gingababe]

Wow this looks fab & a dream for me is to stay there one day, can I ask did you book this as a package or did you do it yourself?

Helen

[pepsicube]

Originally Posted by gingababe

Wow this looks fab & a dream for me is to stay there one day, can I ask did you book this as a package or did you do it yourself?

Helen

See more...

Booked it myself - Miles plus money flights (Virgin Atlantic)
Booked the Waldorf online via the Hilton Website,
Booked most attractions online - Limo, theatre, Empire State, Statue of Liberty, Top of The Rock - I even reserved a couple of meals on line.
(That's the Dibb for you - teaches you to plan!)

[Guest]

A fab trip. Thanks for sharing it with us. The hotel did look lovely. We've found quite a few of the US airports don't have much once you go through security.

[donnakirby]

hi

what a brilliant trip report.

really enjoyed reading them.

the limo ride sounds good - who did you book with.

we are wanting to do the horse and carriage at central park.

your dd is so cute - i hope her doll she had made was perfect - we have read about this and my dd is wanting to get one too.

brilliant photos - thanks for sharing them with us.

[pepsicube]

Originally Posted by donnakirby

hi

what a brilliant trip report.

really enjoyed reading them.

the limo ride sounds good - who did you book with.

we are wanting to do the horse and carriage at central park.

your dd is so cute - i hope her doll she had made was perfect - we have read about this and my dd is wanting to get one too.

brilliant photos - thanks for sharing them with us.

See more...

Thanks, limo was booked with nyclimopickups/

[Jet]

Brillant report, I cannot believe that it looked like you stayed in the same room as us! over looking the church... room 704
Have to agree it is a fabulous hotel for the atmosphere, and everybody should stay there at least once if they can.

Jean