On Top of the World!

Monday 4/12/17

At the top of our list today was the Top of the Rock. While it might not be the highest observation deck in Manhattan, it offers one of, if not the best panoramic views in the city. You can see the Empire State Building, Central Park and a whole host of skyscrapers. In fact, we even caught a glimpse of the One World Trade Centre and the Statue of Liberty! However, my favourite view has to be Rory, who hates heights, taking baby step after baby step to get closer to the edge.

We spent a fair amount of time taking in the view across the three observation levels and when I had photographed every last inch of the view, we made our way back to the hustle and bustle of the city. Nowhere is this more evident than Times Square which was our next stop. Like all dutiful tourists we visited the Disney Store, the M&Ms shop and marvelled at the lights and sounds. If the hustle and bustle of Times Square wasn’t enough we then decided to head to Ellen’s Stardust Diner!

Recommended by a friend and featured in numerous TV shows and movies, the diner is home to the famous singing waitstaff. There was a twenty minute queue to get in to the jam packed diner and we were given a seat upstairs and right on que, the singing began. The waitstaff make their way around the diner, taking orders and belting out a mix of show tunes and popular songs. They interact with the customers and they were all genuinely excellent signers. We ordered suitably American meals (a huge burger ad brisket sandwich) and sat back and enjoyed what has to be one of my all time favourite experiences. Yes, it was that good. Even Rory, who isn’t the biggest musical fan, had to admit that it was pretty exceptional!

Begrudgingly (and probably long after we had outstayed our welcome) we headed back to Times Square where the lights and buzz seemed a little muted compared to our action-packed lunch! On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Bryant Park which had been transformed to a Christmas market. From here we went to Target where I bought a shameful amount of niceys that Rory had to cart back to the hotel.

After resting up we ventured out for our first real evening exploration. The first stop was the Flatiron district. The most striking building is the Flatiron, built in 1902, the name comes from its resemblance to, well, an iron. After walking through Madison Square Park and the mammoth Eataly restaurant/shop we made our way to the Gramercy Park area, had a nosey (through the railings) at the park which is one of only two private parks in the city and then we stopped off at the Union Square Park Christmas market.

Rejuvenated by the crowds and the buzz of the Christmas market we kept on walking and found ourselves at Washington Square Park and staring at the enormous Washington Square Arch. Despite our jam-packed day, it was still relatively early and while it was dark the park was full of people, most of which seemed to be students, which is understandable given that we were now firmly in NYU territory. That’s right, that little university that Gossip Girl characters Blair, Vanessa, Dan and Georgina all attended. I’m sure some real and noteworthy people also went to NYU (ok, just did a Google search and apparently Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Adam Sandler, Philip Seymor Hoffman, Morgan Freeman, Alec Baldwin, Rudy Giuliani and about a million other famous people went to NYU) and while we really enjoyed seeing some the buildings (shout out to the humanities) we were on the lookout for something much more important than celebrities – pizza!

Despite not being a huge fan of pizza, I thought it was important that we sampled some of the most highly recommended pizza in NYC. We stopped for a slice at John’s Pizzeria followed by Bleecker Street Pizza. For me, John’s was the hands down winner but Bleecker Street shouldn’t’ feel too bad, after all their wall is lined with pictures of their famous patrons! I don’t think the pizza competition is settled, there’s definitely more to sample but we were feeling pretty full and so made our way back to the hotel, walking past busy cafés, restaurants and my personal favourite, street side Christmas tree sellers. Just like the movies. Amazing.