As today was our last full day and the itinerary had pretty much gone out of the window days ago I knew that there was not going to be enough time to see and do everything that we'd wanted to. I did still want to explore some of the other boroughs though so me and the kids decided to get a cab to the Highline and then just walk back in the direction of the hotel and see how far we got before our feet gave up!
We met the others for breakfast. Fiona and Emily decided to join us but Ian and Georgie wanted to do some shopping and Georgie also wanted to find Carrie Bradshaw's house from Sex in the City, so they went off on their own.
We were dropped off on W14th right by one of the entrances to the Highline.
This is a really lovely walk, away from the hustle and bustle but with some lovely views over the city.
We saw some huge and iconic paintings on the buildings.
and some quirky art installations.
We had a pleasant stroll and it was nice to see a completely different part of New York.
When we'd had enough, we came down from the Highline and stopped for drinks and snacks before heading to the Chelsea Markets.
We loved this place and felt that it had quite a Camden vibe with all the stalls and hand crafted goods.
The kids had an ice cream each.
We enjoyed browsing around all the different food stalls but avoided the temptation to try anything because we had already booked to go out for a meal later and were still quite full from breakfast.
We all agreed that if we'd realised what was on offer here, we wouldn't have eaten at the hotel!
Fiona did however manage to find a "good cup of tea" - something that she'd been searching for all week!
Next we set off to walk through West Village to Greenwich Village. This is a lovely area with tree lined cobbled streets and has a completely different atmosphere from anything else that we've experience so far in New York - for some reason I don't seem to have taken many pics here.
Walking through Greenwich Village we spotted the Jekyll and Hyde Club. Someone had recommended trying this place to Emily a few days ago. The one in Times Square is currently closed so she was delighted to find another.
We were all in need of the restrooms by now so we decided to call in for a drink.
There were some spooky exhibits - some of which came to life when we were least expecting it!
The restrooms are actually hidden behind the books that line the corridor - not easy to find!
We spent quite a while in here just chilling and chatting to the bar tender who told us that we were just around the corner from the Slaughtered Lamb which featured in American Werewolf.
We didn't go in here but Emily had to have a photo as she is a massive Horror fan.
By now, we were all starting to feel hungry so we set off to look for a slice of authentic New York pizza to keep us going until dinner.
These things are huge! And tremendous value at $2.95 per slice.
After lunch, we all decided that we needed to take a break from the walking. Emily and Fiona wanted to head back to the hotel but the kids and I decided to carry on exploring for a bit.
We hailed a cab and drove through China Town and over the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn.
China Town was one of the areas that I'd wanted to visit and now wouldn't have time for. Judging on what we saw from the cab, we're not missing much! It looked very chaotic and quite run down.
Once we were on the other side of the river, we got dropped off near DUMBO. I had read about this area on the Internet and was expecting to find arty places and galleries to browse round - we couldn't find any!
I don't know if we were looking in the wrong place but I did ask a couple of people and they didn't seem to know what I was talking about.
This was the only art that we found - it is actually in the window of a Spa!
We headed down towards the river and spent a pleasant hour or so in the sun wandering around Brooklyn Bridge Park and the area between the 2 bridges.
Chloe and I had a ride on Jane's Carrousel.
Then it was time to return to the hotel and get ready for our planned evening out.
Tonight we were going to the Rockefeller Centre as we had tickets for the top of the rock. The idea was to time it for around sunset so that we got the views in both daylight and lit up at night.
Unfortunately, as it was quite cloudy, the sunset wasn't as spectacular as we'd hoped. But it was nice to be able to get the Empire State in some of the pics.
Personally, of the 2, I preferred the Empire State Building to the Rockefeller.
We did buy our souvenir photo package from here. At $40 for 2 prints and an Email link to the rest, I felt they were quite pricey. But they were nice pics of all of us and a fun reminder of our last evening.
We had booked a table at Bistro Milano for our final meal. We had all really enjoyed it here the other night. We were greeted on arrival by Ben with a complimentary bottle Muscato to toast the bride and groom.
I didn't get many food pics this time as most of the group had the same meal as on our previous visit.
I decided to try a chicken dish for a change (sorry I can't remember what it was called!). When they brought it out I thought that they had made a mistake because it looked like a pizza but it was actually chicken that had been beaten out really flat, cooked in breadcrumbs and topped with mozzarella. It was lovely and much larger than I'd expected.
It was served with a side salad and I'd also ordered a side of roast potatoes - I really didn't need these and ended up sharing them with Emily. The salad wasn't even touched.
Chloe, who hadnt eaten with us here last time, had the bolognaise. They don't have a children's menu but did her a half portion.
Nicola, who was also on her first visit, tried the lasagne that I'd had last time and Dan stuck with his usual pizza.
My share of the bill, including drinks and tip, was $185.
Chloe had fallen asleep at the table as soon as she'd finished eating so when we asked for the check. Nicola, who was sitting next to her, leant over to wake her up. As she did so, the leg of her chair cracked and gave way and she ended up in a heap on the floor!
The staff rushed to her assistance and were very apologetic. She wasn't hurt and just sat on the floor laughing. Like Ian says, if it had happened to an American they'd probably have sued but we found it hilarious.
As we were leaving the restaurant the heavens opened. We can't really complain as it's the first rain that we've seen all week but we got drenched!
We did try to find shelter but it was too late to make much difference. So, in the end we just ran for it.
Another enjoyable but exhausting day. Tomorrow morning we'll be packing😢