New York & Canada Day 2

[Elderbly]

Complimentary breakfast in the Waldorf towers is purely continental but great quality, very convenient and set us up for the day ahead. DD and DW are both big fans of the tv show Friends so our first trip in NY (booked with Do Something Different.com saving about $16 each) was a TV and film tour of some popular locations around Manhattan. As well as being a big hit for DW and DD it didn’t start till 11.00am so it was ideal after a 7 hour flight and extended day time for us the night before meant we could rise when we wanted have breakfast and head out without a mad rush round and every one (me) getting stressed.

Up, out and looking resplendent in my union jack shorts we set off from the hotel to walk the couple of blocks to the meeting place of the tour.

On the way to the movie tour we inadvertently got caught up in an NY fireman’s funeral cortege. Now its not often you go on your hols and watch a funeral procession but its worth noting what a spectacle this is. We first thought it was a commemoration or dedication ceremony as we literally bumped into the pipe and drum band of the NYFD warming up on 50th street in the first 2 lanes. They were very good but what we had failed to see were the 400 firemen lining up behind us outside St Patrick’s cathedral.

As more and more cordons were put along the length of the street it slowly started to dawn on me what was happening and it was not something I was comfortable with for a few reasons. I have been involved in workmates funerals (on half this scale though) where Police, Fire and Ambulance have come together in massed ranks to pay their respects and it creates an atmosphere ,that I cant explain, which can easily make you very emotional. But also, and much more to the forefront of our minds, we have the imminent departure of our DS to Afghanistan and the sight of hundreds of uniformed men with a military style band in a funeral cortege was just too close for comfort. All 3 of us felt varying degrees of emotion and the fact that the fireman was the same age as DW all got a bit much really we all stood motionless as the cortege passed we had no choice really as the road was blocked now and to leave would have felt almost disrespectful to this poor mans family. The cortege passed by us and we concentrated on crossing the street and getting on with the mundane task of going on a movie tour. DD was visibly upset and there was no need to ask why as we were all thinking the same thing yet wanting to push it to the back of our minds so a group hug was in order on a busy Manhattan sidewalk and that made everything ok again. That and a silent resolve to spoil DS rotten when we get back no matter how grown up he thinks he is!





If nothing else this incident served to justify our trip, it may have felt extravagant and garish and paying extra off the mortgage is a much more sensible thing to do but that wouldn’t have put some of the smiles on my families faces (and mine) over the past few days. Were all here for an amount of time but none of us know how much time that is, so seize the opportunities to experience things with your loved ones around you can all cherish when you can get them because you never know when you will have a complete stranger welling up at your funeral because it reminds them just how precious their family are to them.

11.00am movie tour started , the tour guide, an actress and theatre worker herself was very good. She made the atmosphere relaxed and funny and a its good way to see Manhattan and get orientated. The tour is 3 ½ hours and you are on and off the tour bus about 5 or 6 times for photos etc and a bit of a history of the particular site your at and halfway through, about noon, there’s a chance to buy a slice of pizza at the pizza shop featured in Men in Black 2, “Bens famous pizza” its very nice and good value so I would recommend it even if its just to say you’ve been in the pizza shop in MIB 2.

We saw the friends building lots and lots of film locations with a DVD of film clips to back it up. There are lots of American shows like Seinfeld, Gossip girl and Ugly Betty that didn’t mean much to me but the American’s loved and I’m sure some other brits on the tour did too.

A few stars homes get mentioned in passing as you pass their buildings. Which is why I have so many photos from DD’s camera showing unknown skyscrapers? It’s because “Chandler Bing works there in Friends or the bloke who peels the oranges in between scenes for Al Pacino used to live there in real life dad!” That was until the famous orange peeler became citrus intolerant and was demoted to bananas (a not so well paid job and now he lives in a less well to do area).

I made the whole orange peeler thing up but if you ask the tour guide she will probably know who peels Pacino’s oranges or be able to tell you if Al’s citrus intolerant!

Well worth it just for the look of delight on DD and DW face stood outside the friends building having their photo taken. Bit of a touristy shop for I love NY t-shirts and hoodies for DD and then back to the hotel for a relax and to prepare for tonight’s surprise.

Relaxing back in the hotel was great the room was comfortably cool and plenty of space and seating. And enough to just recharge our batteries. Whilst I wanted to see and do as much as possible I wanted to be sensible and not overdo it and spoil things. I’ve experienced far too many Disney world route marches to want to repeat it.

The heat outside had soared to around 98F and energy sapping. It was becoming more stuffy, there is a huge population and associated vehicles crammed in between Manhattan skyscrapers and not much of a breeze so I can only assume the place creates its own microclimate

Tonight I had booked a table for 6.00pm at the London Hotel. More specifically we had a reservation at Maze restaurant owned by some bloke called Gordon Ramsay? Now I can only assume he has lived in London a lot as apparently and I don’t think many people know this but he swears a lot!




I can only put it down to working and living in London. As it’s the only place whilst observing my DW’s handbag being rifled on an underground platform I tapped the footpad on the shoulder and asked her to refrain from her redistribution of our wealth! I did also use, I must confess, some short harsh words of Gaelic origin to reinforce the point.

Therefore I assume Mr Ramsay’s also had his handbag rifled, absconded with his cumquats and the memory has just stayed with him too long hence the recurring expletives.

DW is a big fan of Mr Ramsay I think DD would have preferred a KFC but it was another experience we could tick off our ever growing list of things to do. So it was an opportunity not to miss to sample all this fine dining and see if it was all its cracked up to be.

Now I was a bit apprehensive about the dress code it did say relaxed casual dining atmosphere but at those prices there was nothing relaxed from where I was sitting. Far be it from me to make sweeping generalising stereotypical comments but its ok for you women relaxed casual is just another dress with more or less flowers on the pattern for us blokes it’s a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt that doesn’t show a beer advert! I had packed a few extra items of clothing for the posh restaurants I had pencilled in so fingers crossed.

We got a taxi to the London Hotel, it wasn’t far but DW and DD had high heels on and didn’t want aching feet. I had sensibly not worn mine!

On arriving and being seated I was relieved to see that my choice of a smart shirt and trousers was perfect for the restaurant. I had had visions of being turned away or offered a tweed jacket and loud tie, The description of Maze as casual relaxed dining was spot on.

Im not going to detail what we ordered and ate as you can view the menu online and see if it appeals to you? I will just explain the way the menu works though as its not like anywhere I’ve eaten before. The waiters will guide you through it and are very knowledgeable but basically if you order a light main meal then you order 2 light starters in advance of it so you end up with a meal encompassing several courses.

The food tasted fantastic it was light and not over engineered or pompous and was extremely well presented. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed and was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of sightseeing etc and I would definitely recommend it if you are considering it.

I had booked the table for 6pm so that we could finish around 8ish as the sun was setting and my plan was to walk into Times Square whilst it was dark to see the vibrancy of the whole place complete with neon sign scrolling newsreel walls etc. The guide book recommended approaching from 57th and Broadway as the view opens out as you get closer to Times square until it fill the horizon completely. Which it did although very subtly at first and then you just seemed to be immersed in it all of a sudden.

It was extremely busy but the view was amazing we just wandered round for a while soaking up the atmosphere, its as if its new years eve there whatever the time of year it is.

Some local police even posed for a photo with DD and were really chatty. What a brilliant working environment!

We hung around for a while taking photos and videoing like the tourists we were and could have stayed longer but it was still very hot and humid and jet lag was still taking a bite out of us when we thought we had got over it. So we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep and to prepare for the next day in the big apple.

I will post our exploits so far as this is taking a lot longer than I originally thought and by now in real time we are in Halifax Nova Scotia and hurricane bill due to pass by us by3pm (7pm GMT) so we have our candles ready our bottled water and the bath is full of water as well! Although why we need a cold bath in the middle of a hurricane is beyond me but thats what the man on telly said so thats what we have done.

[Guest]

Another great report.

Hope you didn't suffer too many of the effects of hurricane bill.

[Strommie]

Lovely day. The tour sounds good.

[ali-s]

You had me welling up with your description of the funeral procession. Another great report.

[Guest]

Another great day

[DIBBadmin]

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