This morning we slept in as long as possible and then headed down to the breakfast area as we had free vouchers with our accommodation. We both ordered eggs benedict which came with tea and orange juice and we also ordered a fruit smoothie as well at $8 each!! Still it was worth it.
I have to say that the fruit was really tasty everywhere we went and the fruit smoothies are so full of flavor and it’s the one thing that the Americans don’t seem to add extra sweetness to.

I found the sweet taste of things a bit cloying after a while. Not being overly fond of sweet tasting everything I was hanging out for something savoury in the end. Paula, doesn’t mind the sweet taste in fact she eats just about anything and never puts on any weight. I think I put the weight on just watching her munch through sweet pastries and tarts.

After breakfast we headed back to Times Square. We had brought relatively small suitcases with us as we were trying to travel light enough to take our cases on board so we wouldn’t have to wait for our luggage when we arrived. This didn’t work out quite how we had planned as we ended up letting the bags go in cargo hold after all. So the small cases were filled to overflowing and I had discared shoes, jeans and a top in Disney World as I couldn’t fit them into my bag.

This meant we needed another suitcase to put in all of the extra stuff we had purchased along the way. We found a small little overnight bag in a souvenir shop for $30 and after buying the obligatory souvenir t-shirts with New York emblazoned over them we headed back to the hotel to pack.

With the new suitcase we had a better experience packing than the day before. Everything managed to fit in nicely and before long it was time for us to leave.

The hotel had been kind enough to let us stay an extra two hours before checking out at 2pm we headed out dragging all three suitcases between us, down to Lexington and 42nd st to catch the shuttle bus to JFK. What a great service, the buses run regularly and it only costs $15 per person.

After making it to the airport early we waited in the queue for about 50 minutes for the Qantas staff to arrive to start the check-in for our flight. Lots of grumpy, grumbling going on around us as people fidgeted and couldn’t go anywhere in case they lost their spot in the queue. Really poor service on the part of Qantas.

At long last we were on our flight and heading back to Australia.

The trip home was a lot better than the trip over. We had the usual stop in LA where we were actually allowed to take a break in the airport and so we sat down at Starbucks to have a cup of tea. Once we got on the plane again we had a meal and then everyone settled down to sleep. We seemed to sleep for most of it which made things a lot easier and we arrived back in Sydney feeling quite good.

We still had to take another plane to get us back to Canberra and because customs was a disorganised mad-house we missed our connecting flight – in fact it seems most people missed their flights as we had to join a long queue of people whingeing about how badly organised everything was.

Finally we were on our plane and heading home all the time wishing we were still back in the States. It’s not that we don’t like being home, it’s just that we love the experiences that travelling gives.

This morning we got up early for our flight to New York which was leaving Miami International Airport at 7.45am. We decided to set the clock for 4.30am. This might sound early but we had to drive to the airport and we knew that it would be easy for us to get lost. As it turned out we did the right thing.

Crawling out of bed after spending a late night at Disney World wasn’t the most fun thing to do but we got ready and headed out to the car to head off to the airport. We drove around to the front of the hotel in order to go to reception to check-out. We could have used the express checkout but I always like to check the invoice to ensure we haven’t been charged for anything extra, as we all know that hotels are notorious for getting it wrong.

Then we set off to the airport. Thinking this should be fairly simple we took off confidently but as we have found, things aren’t always what they seem. Signage might be okay if you live in the place but for anyone else it’s terrible. Of course we got lost but not in a bad way as we were still headed in the general direction. Although we somehow ended up at Animal Kingdom and had to ask a security guard how to get to the airport.

After going through three different toll booths we knew we were heading in the right direction. They love toll booths in the States – just make sure you have lots of small change for this as sometimes the booths are unmanned and you need the exact amount of money to get through.

When we got to the airport we had to find the Avis drop-off point. Fortunately the signs were pretty good and we made it into the right car park. Even at that early hour of the morning they had plenty of Avis staff available to take the car and do the check straight away.

Once inside the airport we knew what to do this time and were able to check in with the self service machines quite easily to get onto our Delta flight.

Finally we sat down and relaxed with breakfast and waited for our plane.

While we were waiting, a woman came past us with a little dog in tow. We were quite astounded by this and even more so when she got on the plane behind us still holding onto the pup. In Australia, the only way you can get an animal on board is if it goes into the cargo hold. They aren’t allowed in the cabin.

The flight itself was fairly uneventful and we arrived in New York pretty much on time.

Since we were becoming old hands at this we quickly went out to get a shuttle bus to our hotel. Within a few minutes we were on a mini bus with a few other people. This was fine at the start but after hitting the next two terminals we were jam packed with people. The poor guys in the back were just squashed together like sardines. There were 12 people in a mini-van that could really only seat 10 comfortably.

We have to say though that the driver was excellent. Even though the passengers were covering their eyes in horror for most of the trip, we found the opposite. He managed to squeeze through the tightest places and zip in and out of traffic getting us to our hotels in half the time that others would have. We gave him a little extra tip for his efforts.

We finally made it to our hotel after dropping off all the other passengers and checked-in quickly and easily. We had booked the Sofitel for our last night in New York as it was recommended as the no.1 hotel in New York in TripAdvisor.com. We weren’t disappointed. This is one nice hotel and very convenient to Broadway and Times Square. Even so, we were just as happy with the Grand Hyatt which is a much cheaper hotel.

After settling in to our room we immediately headed out to do a bit of shopping. We were looking for a particular brand of walking sandal that we had purchased in Florence, Italy when we were there last. We loved these shoes but they were seeing better days so we each wanted a new pair. The brand was ARA and the style was Korfu. We tried a couple of shoe stores but neither had them in stock so we gave up on this idea and headed down to Times Square for some lunch.

We ended up at the Red Lobster. This is a very nice restaurant with lovely meals that are fairly reasonably priced. You get plenty of food and the service is great. We ordered two platters as well as an appetizer to share. This was way too much but we managed to get through most of it because it was just so tasty.

We get off the bus to go and have a look at ground zero. A memorial plaque has been put in place but the area is still just rubble with cranes and graders working the area.

The bus takes us past the UN building.

The New York Stock Exchange was under police guard and closed to the general public. We heard on the news later that night that employees in the Wall St area had received death threats.

It is the richest area in the richest city in the world, which makes it an interesting stroll. From Wall St we head towards Battery Park to take the ferry over to The Statue of Liberty.

Well the queues to get tickets and to board the ferry were horrendous. Fortunately our wonderful New York Pass meant that we didn’t have to join the queue to buy tickets, and as the tickets are valid for 6 months we decided to leave the trip to the statue until we return next Saturday.

So we now had a few hours to kill so we tossed up whether to go over to Brooklyn or to see the Bodies exhibition. Well the loop around Brooklyn takes around 2 hours and as we didn’t feel like sitting that long in the sun, we opted to go to the museum.

For some reason the air conditioning on the buses is turned to maximum, so you have the choice of sitting upstairs in the sweltering sun, or rain as the case may be, or freezing to death on the lower level.

So we decide to head to the South Street Seaport exhibition centre to take in ‘Bodies’ The Exhibition.

‘Bodies The Exhibition’ is excellent. It is amazing how they have separated the arterial lines from within the body structures, and the various dissected body parts give you a total insight into the workings of the body.It was amusing to see the discarded cigarette packets in the container at the end of the room showing the disgusting state of lungs diseased by cigarette smoking.

This exhibition is insightful, informative and very interesting.

After strolling through the exhibition and marveling at displays it’s time to get back on the bus to go to Central Park to photograph the John Lennon memorial “Strawberry Field” for my granddaughter Ishta,who is a Beatles fan and in particular a John Lennon fan.

We find that the commentator on this bus is very knowledgeable and he points out the many interesting facts about New York, such as how various churches have changed from synagogues to Chinese temples, depending on who inhabits a district at a given time.

Donald Trump’s residence is pointed out, along with the apartments of Betty Davis and Katherine Hepburn, which unlike Trump Tower, are modest looking fron the exterior.

We get off the bus at Central Park and as we enter the park near the zoo, we decide to go in and have a look around. Entry is free with the NY pass.

The first stop is the exotic bird sanctuary. There are birds of all sizes in an amazing range of vivid colors.

These birds were quite happy to sit and pose, showing no fear at all when I approached them.

Next it’s onto the reptile cages where there are an assortment of snakes, lizards and gecko’s.

I especially want to see the polar bear but it isn’t in it’s cage, and in fact a number of cages were empty and we were reminded of the line in the movie Jurassic Park “Are there any animals on this tour?”. The zoo is well laid out and it was closing time so the animals had probably been bedded down for the night.

So onto Strawberry Fields, only we have absolutely no idea where it is. One suggestion for the park authorities would be to add a few more maps with directions on where things are, especially when you consider that the park is 843 acres, approx 2.5 miles North to South, 6 miles around and .5miles East to west.

After walking for a while we decided to ask another couple if they knew the way.

We finally reached a sign “Strawberry Fields” and continuing up a winding path we found a plaque honouring John Lennon, a little further on was the circular ‘Peace’ plaque where some aging hippy dropout has placed a pile of junk that he belligerently, and aggressively states is his art. So, photos taken, duty done, we head back to Planet Hollywood for dinner, passing skaters on roller blades, horse drawn carriages and bicycle riders.

The park is a great place to either just sit and relax or undertake all manner of strenuous activity. New Yorkers are so lucky to have such a haven in the midst of their city.

Today we have to make up for lost time as there are a number of things we couldn’t do because

a – of the rain
b – I have been sick.

So we caught the hop on hop off bus and headed downtown to the Empire State Building.

Our New York pass meant we could bypass the ticket queue on the lower ground floor.  We couldn’t avoid the queue to go up to the 86th floor observatory though. So we queued with many others for about 30 minutes.  Everyone who arrived had their  our photo taken in front of a backdrop of the building.

The elevator stopped on the 80th floor and because of the large numbers we were advised to take the stairs for the last 6 flights.

So I arrived huffing and puffing – note to self – get fit.

We strolled around the observation tower taking lots of photos and jostling for position with everyone else. We decided not to go up to the top 16 levels further up.

The view over New York is awesome.

We walked down the first 6 floors again. The queue to go down was longer than the one to go up.

The Art Deco design of the foyer is worth seeing.

Finally we were outside and we headed off to Ground Zero and Wall Street.