theDIBB - A Complete Novice In New York - Day 6 A Station, A Library, A Park And Way Too Much Walking!

Today was the closest thing to a lie in that we'd managed since arriving in NYC. Although I'd been awake since 4.30 updating the trippie, the kids didn't surface till 8.30am. We decided to skip going down for breakfast. Chloe had a bowl of the cereal that I'd brought from home and by the time we were all showered and ready to go it was turned 10am.

Ian called in to see what we had planned for today and as everyone still wanted to see Grand Central Station and the New York Public Library, which we hadn't got round to doing on Day 2, we decided to stick together this morning.

We set of towards 5th Ave and were soon standing outside the library.

This time, we ventured inside and were amazed at the scale and grandeur of the building.

Nicola trying to look intellectual!

This was the only reading room not packed with people trying to work. I don't know how they concentrate with so much going on around them - it certainly isn't your usual Sssshhh type library!

We visited the gift shop where I bought a few bits to take back home and Chloe bought the Library Lion book - she was most impressed when the cashier stamped her book with the Library's lion logo.

We then headed down library walk towards Grand Central Station, stopping to read some of the literary quotes set into the pavement on the way.

We caught a glimpse of the Chrysler building in the distance.

And soon arrived at Grand Central Station.

This is another incredibly impressive building.

We quickly reached the Oyster Bar and had to try the whispering walls. This was truly amazing - we could hear each other clearly, even over all the hustle and bustle of the station.

The kids and I were beginning to feel hungry by now as we'd skipped breakfast. So we parted company with the others, who were going to the Empire State which we'd already done.

We stopped off at Juniors in the food concourse for some lunch. I'd read on the internet about the amazing cheesecake here and was determined to try it!

The meals here are colossal!

I had Brisket Melt which was packed with meat and very tasty.

Dan had a 10oz cheese burger with onion rings.

Nicola went for the Tuna melt

and Chloe had the children's chicken strips and fries. This was yet another place where the kids meals were more than big enough for an adult!

We were completely beaten by this meal, despite having no breakfast. Both Nic and Chloe had half of theirs boxed to go and none of us had any room for the famous cheesecake!

We chose 3 slices to take out and settled the bill - which with drinks came to $98. Our waitress was lovely so we left her a 20% tip.

The plan for the afternoon was to head up to Central Park and have a proper look around. Although we had already been here twice, we didn't feel that we'd seen much of it yet.

We walked down Madison Ave and some of the shops and shoppers have to be seen to be believed. If we'd thought some of the places on 5th Ave were a bit posh, this was in another league again. So much so that we didn't feel comfortable setting foot in many of them.

We did however pop into a delightful little gallery called Eden Fine Art where we saw this representation of the Beatles Abbey Road cover.

The guy in here was very friendly and was asking us all about England and what we were doing in New York.

He said that he was happy for me to take photos.

The girls agreed that their favourite exhibitor was an artist called David Krakov who makes these delightful 3D butterfly sculptures. The one above represent the 9/11 disaster and the butterflies are the departing souls.

The gallery owner joked with us about which piece we would like boxing up and sending back to Derby but with a starting price well into the $1000s, I think he realised that (short of a lottery win) this wouldn't be happening any time soon.

We carried on up Madison Avenue calling in at the Apple Store so that Dan could buy some Beats headphones. These were $199.

Our intention on reaching Central Park was to get a pony and carriage ride as it was getting really hot by now and our feet were starting to ache. However, I hadn't realised that approaching it on Madison rather than 5th meant that we were at completely the wrong end of the park! So we set off walking again, passing this monument to New York's 7th Infantry on the way.

We finally arrived at the pick up point for the carriage rides and began our tour around the park. I decided to do the short loop, which I felt at $50 for 20 minutes would be enough to give us a feel for the place. The longer loop took 40 minutes and cost $90.

This provided a welcome break from walking and our driver pointed out places of interest as we drove round.

At the end of our ride, he gave Chloe some carrots to feed to our horse, who's name was Patricia.

With the carriage ride over, we bought a park map for $2 and went to find the fun fair which Chloe had spotted from the carriage.

It is situated at the Wollman ice rink and we soon reached it but were disappointed to find that there is a $9 entrance fee just to enter the area - you then buy a wristband on top of this for the rides. As only Chloe was interested in doing any of the rides, we decided that $27 for the rest of us to just stand around and watch was a bit excessive.

Anyway, by now we really had had enough and were looking forward to getting back to the hotel for a rest.

On the way out of the park we saw a lot of pavement artists and Nicola decided to get a picture done of her and Chloe. At $15 for 2 people this one seemed more reasonably priced than most but, be warned, when he had finished he offered to frame it. Then informed us that the cost of the frame was $20!

We had to get one as the drawing was charcoal on flimsy paper and would have been pretty impossible to transport home without it.

The girls were pleased with their picture but I felt that the frame was a complete rip off which slightly soured the experience.

Once back at the hotel we had a much needed sleep in order to recouperate for the evening.

Nicola and I were meeting up with Emily to see Phantom of the Opera. Ian and Georgie had kindly offered to look after Chloe and were taking her and Dan to see Matilda. Fiona had already set off to meet up with her brother's family for their cruise on the Hudson.

Phantom was absolutely breath taking. It is Emily's favourite show and this production reduced her to tears. I wasn't sure quite what Nic would make of it as the musicals that she seen previously have been more light hearted, but she loved it too.

Unfortunately the others were less impressed with Matilda. Chloe enjoyed it but Ian and Georgie thought it really was just aimed at kids.

When we got back to the hotel Fiona had already returned. She'd had a pleasant evening. They'd decided against dining during the cruise and instead had dinner in Little Italy which she said was lovely and very reasonably priced.

She had returned with a bottle of wine so, when the kids were in bed, she invited me to join her and Emily for a glass or 2. We had a good natter for an hour or so before finally turning in at 12.30am.