alicia1506
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
so far on this trip, the temperature had been lovely. we'd worn hoodies on day 1 in DLR when it was raining, but each other day we'd just been in long pants and tshirts, loving this 20 degree C weather, as we'd left hot and humid brisbane far behind. day 4 and 5 in NYC and carlo was out and about in tshirts and trina was wearing camis and sundresses. they got some weird looks from local NYC inhabitants who were wearing gloves and scarves and such... they figured it was due to the massive temp difference between indoor and outdoor temps... outdoors it was about 18-20 degrees C which was nice and cool, but indoors everything is heated... so if you dress for indoors, outdoors feels freezing in comparison...
so when on day 6 we headed out at 8am, we were in long pants (just jeans/cargos) and tshirts, with a hoodie for a little warmth. we decided we wanted to shop around, see the sights then do the uptown/downtown tour, then the night lights tour.
several kilos lighter and feeling distinctly under the weather:
we were in NYC for veteran's day, so got to see the parade and went a little nuts in the various stores in rockefeller plaza.
these guys were out in force keeping crowds under control:
saw fire station 54 and the tribute to 9/11
shopped like natives and got to see some amazing architecture and so forth. got on our tour bus, and the tour operator gave us the option of open topped upstairs and heated downstairs... upstairs was open to the elements, but it wasn't that cold, and we wanted clear photos and a birds eye view, so upstairs we went... by the time we took off, there was a little breeze blowing, but it got chilly pretty damn quickly, and after a while, our photos were blurring cause all the anti-shake in the world couldn't improve on the fact that we couldn't feel our hands... we went past an outdoor display which showed 48 degrees F, which is about 9 degrees C. no wonder we were cold.
gorgeous central park foliage:
i should mention, the bus is pretty tall, and nyc streetlights are low. we were cautioned not to stand or we would die. lols all around, until this happened:
we saw (in no particular order) harlem & the apollo theatre, rockefeller centre, central park, hells kitchen, the upper west side, the upper east side, and some truly beautiful cultural, historic and architectural marvels. by the time the tour finished, we were the only stupid ones left up top of the bus, and downstairs was crowded with people trying to stay warm we tipped the tour operator (we'd finally gotten the hang of giving away money) and he quipped we must be used to the cold... nope. just stubborn aussies after a good picture
some of the amazing photos we got -- and i fell in love with the fall foliage
so we got off the tour and decided we were heading for the nearest pizza joint, for food and drinks and indoor heating. ray's famous NY pizza later, and we were warm, satisfied, and heading back to the hotel for warmer clothes & lots of scarves/mittens etc. a quick change of clothes later and we were back to the tour only to find we could do the downtown tour, or the night tour, but we didn't have time for both. we chose night, as it went across to brooklyn as well, and spent a bit of time in the times square visitor's centre (a must see). when we walked back outside, it had gotten dark & times square was right there in all it's glory!!! so pretty!! and so massive and overwhelming.
we saw some amazing things on our tour, including the empire state, flatiron, crysler, brooklyn bridge, lower east side neighbourhood, soho, dutchtown and chinatown, financial district etc. so amazing, and so diverse, and all of it crammed into such a tiny, tiny place. again, we sat up top of the bus, and again, we were the stubborn aussies who stayed despite the fact that we froze to death. at night, it dropped to 2 degrees C and we were only wearing long sleeves, hoodies, a scarf and cargos/jeans. trina and i had only bought thongs/sandals/etc so no closed in shoes... funnily enough, my feet were fine, it was my hands that froze
freezing cold:
giant NYE light ball in NYC visitors centre in times square:
wall of hopes & dreams:
empire state lit up for veterans' day:
flatiron building (aka gringotts, according to trina )
when we were leaving times square, we saw the disney store and the toys r us... the toys r us has a ferris wheel (really, a giant ferris wheel not some kiddie version) insdie the store.
it's massive... so, we decided more shopping was in order (and i'd saved heaps of money by being sick for 2 days) so off we went... carlo stocked up on boy toys, then had no room for the rest of his clothes etc, so good thing we bought spare luggage with us ) and then back to the hotel to pack... for our 2.30am wake up call to cab to the airport for a 6am flight. trina went off to pack and carlo and i started packing when we realised... we didn't have the credit card the credit card that had open funds on it and we needed to show at orlando to pay for things like room service -- so. we looked. and we looked. and we looked. still no card.
so we went through the luggage. still no card. we checked pockets and carry bags and all the super secret hiding places we had. still no card. calls to the shops. still no card. we had back up funds, but we didn't want to report it missing unless we super, super had to, cause it would be such a hassle getting it shipped to us and what a nightmare trying to call internationally was, as our phone cards had been intermittently working then not working.
so... smart idea at 11pm. let's unpack every. single. thing from the luggage. and then repack. cause surely it was in there somewhere. now it's midnight and still no card. surely to god we're just tired and overlooking something obvious. unpack everything again. repack it again. it's 1.30am and we decide to hell with it, we've gotta be up in an hour, let's just lie down and go to sleep. nope. no sleep. we check each other's luggage again. still no card. 2.30am and we're wired from stress and nerves and the idea that we've got thousands floating around out there, potentially lost. we'll call the bank after we check out & organise something. shower, lock the luggage, elevator downstairs. trina's in the lobby with our card in hand. turns out it had ended up in a bag of her shopping somehow.
thank you baby jesus
cab takes us to the airport, we arrive, check in, slide through security within 5 mins and have 2.5 hrs til our flight leaves. go to the starbucks but they don't open til 7. what the chonkers? no sleep and no caffeine? ima gonna go nuts. there's a little coffee place that will open at 5.30. praise be the glory of the coffee bean. grumpy, bleary and thoroughly stressed and at wits end, we board the plane, knowing that the commando part is over, the sleep deprivation and obscene jetlag and time differences and cram-as-much-in-as-possible is over and the rest of the trip is 5 star resorts, pools and sunbathing, drinks and delightful food.
so when on day 6 we headed out at 8am, we were in long pants (just jeans/cargos) and tshirts, with a hoodie for a little warmth. we decided we wanted to shop around, see the sights then do the uptown/downtown tour, then the night lights tour.
several kilos lighter and feeling distinctly under the weather:
we were in NYC for veteran's day, so got to see the parade and went a little nuts in the various stores in rockefeller plaza.
these guys were out in force keeping crowds under control:
saw fire station 54 and the tribute to 9/11
shopped like natives and got to see some amazing architecture and so forth. got on our tour bus, and the tour operator gave us the option of open topped upstairs and heated downstairs... upstairs was open to the elements, but it wasn't that cold, and we wanted clear photos and a birds eye view, so upstairs we went... by the time we took off, there was a little breeze blowing, but it got chilly pretty damn quickly, and after a while, our photos were blurring cause all the anti-shake in the world couldn't improve on the fact that we couldn't feel our hands... we went past an outdoor display which showed 48 degrees F, which is about 9 degrees C. no wonder we were cold.
gorgeous central park foliage:
i should mention, the bus is pretty tall, and nyc streetlights are low. we were cautioned not to stand or we would die. lols all around, until this happened:
we saw (in no particular order) harlem & the apollo theatre, rockefeller centre, central park, hells kitchen, the upper west side, the upper east side, and some truly beautiful cultural, historic and architectural marvels. by the time the tour finished, we were the only stupid ones left up top of the bus, and downstairs was crowded with people trying to stay warm we tipped the tour operator (we'd finally gotten the hang of giving away money) and he quipped we must be used to the cold... nope. just stubborn aussies after a good picture
some of the amazing photos we got -- and i fell in love with the fall foliage
so we got off the tour and decided we were heading for the nearest pizza joint, for food and drinks and indoor heating. ray's famous NY pizza later, and we were warm, satisfied, and heading back to the hotel for warmer clothes & lots of scarves/mittens etc. a quick change of clothes later and we were back to the tour only to find we could do the downtown tour, or the night tour, but we didn't have time for both. we chose night, as it went across to brooklyn as well, and spent a bit of time in the times square visitor's centre (a must see). when we walked back outside, it had gotten dark & times square was right there in all it's glory!!! so pretty!! and so massive and overwhelming.
we saw some amazing things on our tour, including the empire state, flatiron, crysler, brooklyn bridge, lower east side neighbourhood, soho, dutchtown and chinatown, financial district etc. so amazing, and so diverse, and all of it crammed into such a tiny, tiny place. again, we sat up top of the bus, and again, we were the stubborn aussies who stayed despite the fact that we froze to death. at night, it dropped to 2 degrees C and we were only wearing long sleeves, hoodies, a scarf and cargos/jeans. trina and i had only bought thongs/sandals/etc so no closed in shoes... funnily enough, my feet were fine, it was my hands that froze
freezing cold:
giant NYE light ball in NYC visitors centre in times square:
wall of hopes & dreams:
empire state lit up for veterans' day:
flatiron building (aka gringotts, according to trina )
when we were leaving times square, we saw the disney store and the toys r us... the toys r us has a ferris wheel (really, a giant ferris wheel not some kiddie version) insdie the store.
it's massive... so, we decided more shopping was in order (and i'd saved heaps of money by being sick for 2 days) so off we went... carlo stocked up on boy toys, then had no room for the rest of his clothes etc, so good thing we bought spare luggage with us ) and then back to the hotel to pack... for our 2.30am wake up call to cab to the airport for a 6am flight. trina went off to pack and carlo and i started packing when we realised... we didn't have the credit card the credit card that had open funds on it and we needed to show at orlando to pay for things like room service -- so. we looked. and we looked. and we looked. still no card.
so we went through the luggage. still no card. we checked pockets and carry bags and all the super secret hiding places we had. still no card. calls to the shops. still no card. we had back up funds, but we didn't want to report it missing unless we super, super had to, cause it would be such a hassle getting it shipped to us and what a nightmare trying to call internationally was, as our phone cards had been intermittently working then not working.
so... smart idea at 11pm. let's unpack every. single. thing from the luggage. and then repack. cause surely it was in there somewhere. now it's midnight and still no card. surely to god we're just tired and overlooking something obvious. unpack everything again. repack it again. it's 1.30am and we decide to hell with it, we've gotta be up in an hour, let's just lie down and go to sleep. nope. no sleep. we check each other's luggage again. still no card. 2.30am and we're wired from stress and nerves and the idea that we've got thousands floating around out there, potentially lost. we'll call the bank after we check out & organise something. shower, lock the luggage, elevator downstairs. trina's in the lobby with our card in hand. turns out it had ended up in a bag of her shopping somehow.
thank you baby jesus
cab takes us to the airport, we arrive, check in, slide through security within 5 mins and have 2.5 hrs til our flight leaves. go to the starbucks but they don't open til 7. what the chonkers? no sleep and no caffeine? ima gonna go nuts. there's a little coffee place that will open at 5.30. praise be the glory of the coffee bean. grumpy, bleary and thoroughly stressed and at wits end, we board the plane, knowing that the commando part is over, the sleep deprivation and obscene jetlag and time differences and cram-as-much-in-as-possible is over and the rest of the trip is 5 star resorts, pools and sunbathing, drinks and delightful food.