Monday - Day 3 NYC

Again, we let ourselves wake up naturally and by 9.30am we were out on the sidewalk, to yet another sunny and bright (but cold) day. We started to head for Penelope again, but on the way, spotted a less expensive establishment called Bread & Butter, which served up a tasty spanish omelette for breakfast.

Hunger satisfied, we headed out for the day, in a cab up to 74th Street and the Dakota Building where the world was robbed of John Lennon. We got out of the cab and you couldn't see The Beeb for dust. He just sped of towards Central Park without looking back. No words, no photos, nothing!

We strolled down through Central Park to Columbus Circle.

Minty in Central Park

On the way down, a film crew were filming a couple of joggers, from a rickshaw! At Columbus Circle, things were busy, both traffic wise and stalls selling bottles of Snapple - this seems to be the themed drink in NYC as everyone is selling / drinking the stuff!

Minty outside Carnegie Hall

We had a quick stroll through the Time Warner Centre, then headed across to 7th Avenue to see Carnegie Hall, the location of a Brian Wilson concert a few years ago.

After that, The Beeb lived out his dream of being able to say he bought a shirt from Bloomingdales, following the words from a Bruce Springsteen song. The first shirt he picked up mind you was $295 and that was returned to the rail like it was on fire!!!!

The shirt he did get was a T Shirt, but it was quality. the assistant who made the sale even attached her business card to the receipt.... she is a "Selling Specialist" dontcha know?

Anyhow, The Beeb had to have his picture taken..........

"I bought a shirt uptown in Bloomingdales"

Next on our list of things to see today was St Patricks Cathedral on 51st and 5th (see we are getting into the NYC street names!!!). This building was awesome, and we were able to go inside. It's a shame that it's a bit touristy now, with many camera flashes, but the atmosphere was peaceful. The Beeb was shocked at the idea of having to pay £2 to light a candle..so he didn't!

Outside Radio City Music Hall

Not far from St Pats is Radio City Music Hall, another venue with a close connection to Brian Wilson, in that an all star tribute was held there. This was another of the must sees....

Just along from the Radio City Music Hall is The Rockefeller Centre where, for the princely sum of $22 each, you can take the elevator to the 67th floor and then view the city from the "Top Of The Rock". It is quite a fantastic view, but Minty being a bit fearful of heights, could swear she could feel the building swaying, and hugged the walls!

The Beeb was far more adventurous and whereas Minty stopped at the 2nd level from the top, The Beeb went right up to the highest point and took a great shot of the world below........

From The Top Of The Rock

Do you have any idea how tall the Rockefeller Centre is........

Yep - we were right up there!

Next up was a stroll down 7th Avenue heading to Times Square.

The one place The Beeb really, really, really wanted to experience was The Brill Building. For those who don't know, in the 60's this building housed the best song writers the world could wish for.

When we got to the site, a crowd had gathered. Turns out there was a bit of filming going on for some TV show - the actor we didn't recognise, but looked a bit like Michael Brandon did 20 odd years ago (well it might have been him, and he might have had plastic surgery). We hung around for a few minutes, thinking, how long can it take to shoot one scene............ forever it would appear. We wandered into Colony Records just alongside the Brill Building for a while, and then as the filming was still going on, we walked down to Times Square and back.

In Times Square, we saw the queue for cheap theatre tickets (only one source here versus many booths in London's Leicester Square!). We found out the show we would have been interested in seeing "Million Dollar Quartet" doesn't play on a Monday. We did enquire at Times Square visitors Centre but the tix for the show on Tuesday, whilst quite modestly priced (aside from a $7.50 service charge) were way at the back of the top level of the theatre...... we took a raincheck.

The Beeb experiences The Brill Building

So, about an hour later we went back to the Brill Building and thankfully the film crew had packed up.. this gave The Beeb the chance to wander through the doors.......

Just along from Time Square, on West 48th Street, we found a nusic shop, and scarily, as soon as we went in the door a Gretsch White Falcon beckoning at The Beeb. It took all his will power to restrain himself from taking out his wallet!!!!

It was now early evening, the temperature had dropped with the sun disappearing behind the skyscrapers, so we started to look for a place to grab a pizza...........

Now, places to eat in NYC........ unless you want a cafe / deli type place, the choice seems to be quite limited and many restaurants (when you look on the internet) are actually within hotels! Could we find a place to grab a pizza or pasta from 42nd street down to 27th, which did not mean eating a "pizza slice" or sitting in a small part of what is essentially a takeaway place, with small metal tables? Not on your life.

Hungrily we went back to the hotel and checked the internet which confirmed our fears that to get a proper sit down pizza / pasta meal you really need to go to Little Italy. We settled instead for a  burger and chips and a few beers in a restaurant just down from our hotel - Deweys Flatiron, which was a bit of a sports bar and had great service in that the waitress kept us in beer (and knew what our order was!).

So Day 3 finished. Minty had very sore feet from all of the walking.......(No change there then..The Beeb!)