New York! New York...I want to be a part of it

It has been some time since I have written anything.  I have come to realise I have to be in the mood for this wordsmith stuff.  Perhaps I can just attribute it to Mr Jetlag or Mr Vertigo, whichever, it knocked me flat and I couldn't even contemplate the letters wobbling as my body remained still.

As you can see I am still procrastinating...

July 18th - 24th, 2013
We arrived in NYC to a very hot and muggy 95 degrees, not really that hot when converted to Celsius, but the humidity smacks you about and leaves you limp and lifeless.  We stayed at the French Quarter Guest Apartments and after meeting our ever friendly host Colin, we were settled in and ready to make our mark on this dynamic city.

Tony and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary through glassy jet-lagged eyes and some Spanish paella.  We all fell into bed at 6.30pm after walking the streets desperately trying to stay awake.

The next few days are a bit of a blur, but I will provide some highlights.

Top of the Rock - a city wide view from the top of Rockefeller Centre.  Here we cued and waited and cued again to get this spectacular view of Manhattan.  I think what was more impressive to me was the architecture of this building rather than the view.  After digging deep into our pockets, we descended 25 minutes later.

Eatery's - our favourite eating place hands down was Hell's Kitchen. This is not the Hell's Kitchen of  Gordon Ramsey.  The district is Hell's Kitchen with this restaurant featuring Spanish tapas...THE BEST.  We went back for a second seating some days later.  Another favourite was Amy's bakery, chocolate devils food cake and finally a proper coffee.  An array of the finest cakes and breads to just die for. Tony likes to think of coffee in North America as swill, I just think it is watery.  Another good find was the Todd English food hall at the Plaza Hotel, basically an upscale food hall with table service...very cool.

One of our favourite outings was to The Art of the Brick, an exhibit by Nathan Sawaya.  His fascination with Lego as a child led him to expressing himself in the art form, leaving his high powered job as a barrister behind for little pieces of coloured brick.  There was everything from the Mona Lisa, Rembrandt to famous Greek palaces.  Who needs to travel the world, it is all here!

Tony enjoyed a night out at Dizzy Gillespie, his favourite jazz spot.  Arriving home after 2am, he says it is the city that never sleeps, the streets are just as crowed as during the day.

We attempted to enter the Ground Zero Memorial park but it was a big cue and the weather was once again extremely hot, so we kept walking towards the water to see if we wanted to board the ferry to see the great Lady Dame aka Statue of Liberty.  We figured with our zoom lens, we got some pretty good shots and seeing I had the wobbles on, there was no need for another boat ride to add to it.

Our last day was spent walking though Central Park and going to the zoo. I found the zoo to be a bit of a let down with the small enclosures, which were not that clean and featured animals not even present.  I suspect the polar bears and the Snow White leopards were removed due to the heat.

New York is a great city, but my next visit will be in the cooler months, outside of school holidays and without my beautiful kiddily winks. :0)