The Aussietravellers Adventures continue... Updated - Day 26 - Part 1

[PrincessInOz]

I've read your posts about 5 times now and thought I should let you know how much I'm enjoying your food porn and descriptions of your travels!

I hope your neck is okay.....REST, SLOW DOWN ..... and more food porn.

 

[Travel Mum]

I too am just loving your updates so much and feel really lucky to be reading them as you travel! I've never considered adding New York to our Orlando/Caribbean cruise trip, but you've got me very interested! I wonder if I could squeeze a few more days away?

 

[Jade+3]

I am really enjoying your trip report and the photo's! I really really really want to go to New York, but am saving that trip until 2013, when our kids are a little older and hopefully we will be stroller free. Hope your neck is feeling better.

 

[ehsmum]

Wow, aussietravellers, you put me to shame! Here I am home for 6 weeks and very slowly getting a trip report together, and there you are doing on the spot reporting!

I'm absolutely loving your report! You've visited all the same places as us so far and I'm loving reminiscing via your photos and stories!

If you haven't tried ESPN Zone for dinner yet, don't bother as it's closed down. I know I haven't got to that story in my trip report yet but we were very disappointed to find it shut down a few days before we arrived in NY .

I'm sorry to hear that your neck is playing up, I hope it starts to feel better and you get to enjoy the rest of your holiday.

My fave meal of our trip last year was at Bubba Gumps - the Mahi Mahi on mash, I think it may have been marinated in bourbon or something. Can't wait to go there again and have it. My mouth waters everytime you think of it.

Ms. Shuttergirl - did I tell you that I ordered the Mahi Mahi at Bubba Gumps on your recommendation? And you are right, it was delicious!!

 

[SnowWhite09]

Thanks for posting a live trip report Aussietravellers - it feels like we are experiencing your holiday with you.

I hope you continue to have a great trip and can't wait to hear more!

 

[Oz-kateer]

Can you buy hop on/hop off bus tickets in NYC or do you have yo pre-purchase? We only have a handful of days until we go and there still seems to be so much to do and decide on!!

 

[kyl]

You can buy them there Oz-kateer at the bus stops. There is always someone there willing to make a buck! They even had mobile EFT at the bus stops, that is what I used and had no problem last year. Its a great way to get around NYC and the info they talk about along the way is quite interesting. Not long now for you guys!

 

[aussietravellers]

Can you buy hop on/hop off bus tickets in NYC or do you have yo pre-purchase? We only have a handful of days until we go and there still seems to be so much to do and decide on!!

Yes Kyl is right, we didn't prepurchase, we just bought them on the morning we wanted, but we bought a 48 hour ticket and not only can you get them on bus stops you can get them virtually anywhere in Times Square as the people in the red Grayline jackets are lining the streets. We just returned from dinner and just on our side of the road and two blocks we probably saw 15 people selling them.

They accept travellers cheques too, I paid with travellers cheque from a sales woman right outside the front door of our hotel.

 

[aussietravellers]

OK... It's 2.45am and I can not sleep. Have been lying here for an hour and thought, this is ridiculous I'm wide awake, I'll update my live trip report. I'm kind of stressing as I went to get a drink before and went to the cupboard in the living room part of the suite and saw that the power to the safe was not on. Thought that looked strange so tried to open it and no it's dead Our passports and everything are in there, so I hope they can get it open if the thing can not be fixed and I will not let them take the thing away with all of our personal things in there So maybe that's why I can't sleep as I'm worried about that.

Anyway here is our update from yesterdays adventures. The Bronx Zoo was our plan. We had slept in late so just had a banana for breakfast and off we toddled. We stopped at concierge on the way down as I knew there was an express bus from Manhattan to the Zoo but couldn't remember where it left from. They didn't know much about it and kept saying to take the subway, but we wanted to take the bus and see the surroundings as we went. The found the info and off we went. As the bus only takes quarters (or a metro card that we didnt' have) and they told us the fare was $2.25 each way we stopped at reception to grab some change.

We strolled down 51st to Maddison Ave and then went up a little further to 54th and just as we were arriving so was the bus (BxM11 is the bus if anybody is interested and picks up at 54th and Maddison, you just look for the sign). Unfortunately the bus was $5.50 each so obviously we didn't have enough quarters so he just let us pay what we had and told us to get a metro card at the zoo for our return What a lovely driver. "Good Karma to you" I said to him

The bus trip only took about 25 minutes, much shorter than the 45 to 1.5hours the concierge said it would take whilst trying to convince us to take the subway. But I knew the subway wasn't right beside the zoo entrance so wanted the bus that had a stop right there. We arrived about 11am, about an hour after opening. We got the ultimate experience ticket which includes everything (except the camel rides) and were so glad we did. To ride the monorail, shuttle and see a few enclosures like Gorillas and Butterflies require an extra charge so if we didn't have that ticket we would have had to queue all the time. Saved lots of time

Now our family loves zoos. My DS want's to be a vet, has wanted to be a vet since he was tiny and where ever we go, if there is a zoo we go to it. To name a few, we have been to London, Paris, Vienna, Singapore, Taronga, Melbourne, Australia, San Diego Zoos's to name a few. The Bronx Zoo has to be the prettiest zoo we have ever been to. I just kept walking around saying how gorgeous this place was. Now I don't feel that they had the selection of animals that many zoos have, but the animals they had were so active, in such huge enclosures, just beautiful enclosures covered in trees. Here is one of the pathways, but they all looked like this. I actually thought a couple of times how Ms.Shuttergirl would take some divine photos here of the landscapes.

When you would walk off the main roads above you walked on this to the enclosures

So here are some of the enclosures and animals

Tiger having a morning nap

Deer

Young bears having play fights

Funny thing.... There was this enclosure of Antelopes, they were running everywhere, going mad, chasing each other, having an absolute ball.

Then in the enclosure next door sitting right on the fence watching this running around were the lions and we were laughing as they were obviously thinking "mmmm, lunch"

They have this monorail thing (not anything like a Disney monorail), it's an open air one and you all face the one direction pointing outwards (not forwards). There is a whole area where you can not walk around and you go on this through and over many enclosures (eg the elephants)

 

[aussietravellers]

After the monorail ride we were starving. So we took the zoo shuttle up to what we thought may be a better dining area How silly I was in my thinking, it's a zoo, in the USA, really what type of quality food was I expecting

So we ended up here

Where we had (no explanations necessary )

Now this salad...... It was frozen! Yes frozen! The eggs were rock hard, the cucumber was rock solid. Not great!

I made an error. My first hot dog of the trip. Was asked if I wanted cheese on that. Mmmmm, yes the thought of a bit of grated tasty or cheddar on the top sounded delicious, like we get if we ask for cheese at home in Australia (not that we have hotdogs that often). Here was the error

It was some bright yellow liquid fake cheese stuff. If forgot they have liquid fake cheese Oh well, lesson learnt. So between that and the frozen salad, lunch was really not that great.

After lunch we continued on our journey seeing many animals including

I do have one tip. Get to the Zoo on opening to leave early. By 3.30m it was SO busy, crazy busy. We did go on a weekend because we had heard that during the week it's over run with school kids and I think Wednesday is free. I think half of the Bronx was out at the zoo yesterday afternoon.

By about 3.30 we had had enough, lots of walking so decided to head back to the bus. On the way back we were dropped on 5th Avenue and 50th street which was very handy, not far back to the hotel and then....... had to pass Magnolia Bakery (after a quick detour into the Lego Store as we passed by). The streets were lined with people selling fake handbags, wallets, watches etc. Don't know if this is a weekend thing but they literally lined both sides of the sidewalk and you had to weave through them. Didn't stop and look but they weren't there during the week.

Now I am sorry, there are no photos of the cupcakes. When we got back to the hotel, as I took the sticky tape off the box I knocked the box and it went flying onto the floor I screamed "NOOOOO not my cupakes" but unfortunately the lid opened and there was nothing that could be done to save them..... I spent the next 20 minutes trying to clean cupcakes and icing off the carpet.

So I will end my report for the day there as I should really try to go back to sleep before the sun comes up

 

[aussietravellers]

Oh, Little tip with the Red Grayline Hop on Hop Off. Even if you don't buy the tickets to use the bus, when you walk past one of the red ticket sellers. Ask them for one of their brochures (actually you could ask a couple of times). There are some coupons (not many) in them and you don't need the bus pass to use them. My DS has used two of the $5.00 off coupons at Toys R Us.

 

[ehsmum]

Aww, sorry about your cupcakes . The good news is you can go back when you wake up and get some more

I was so tempted to buy that same t-shirt from Magnolia Bakery! Unfortunately I suffer from "I'll come back and buy that later" disease and most of the time I don't go back so don't end up with the souvenirs that I want

The Bronx Zoo looks lovely! We didn't make it there but I am definitely putting that on my must do list for when we go back some day.

I hope you get the safe fixed. I also hope that your jetlag sorts itself out soon and you get a good night's sleep!

 

[aussiegirls]

Noooooooooo, not the cupcakes

Ewwwwwwww at the cheese

Loooooooove the first pic of the gorilla

xxx

 

[PrincessInOz]

Another sleepless night in NYC; another great TR update!

I was laughing at the yellow cheese flavoured blob and crying over the cupcakes!
Lunch did not look like it is going to end up being a highlight of your trip; so double over the cupcakes!

Here's hoping that you get your important documents and stuff out of the safe!

 

[Oz-kateer]

Sounds like you're having a great time! Hope they get your safe operational...

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

DH and I had quite the giggle over the cheese on the hotdog . We totally would have expected yummy grated cheese too .

Now I don't want to get all soppy on you Aussietravllers, but your constant sweet attention is so touching to me. When you posted your first "live post" you mentioned how long it took you to get through customs at LAX and onto your NY flight and I know you knew that I was concerned about getting through customs and onto our flight. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. And then your re-creation of my DD's Planet Hollywood photo made me giggle, you did such an awesome job. And then to think of me when you were at the Bronx Zoo, well I shed a little tear. It's so funny how you can create these amazing "cyber friends". My husband finds it a little difficult to understand but he knows that one of my best friends in the world came from an online relationship. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your info, advice, thoughts and constant love.

Okay, soppyness over.

 

[glara]

Oh wow, have just found your thread and have eagerly been reading through - and drooling at the pictures...well, except maybe the hot dog!

 

[kylieh]

The cheeeeesssseeeeee .... Noooo!!!!

Having a giggle, thanks for the update.

 

[aussietravellers]

Aww, sorry about your cupcakes . The good news is you can go back when you wake up and get some more

I was so tempted to buy that same t-shirt from Magnolia Bakery! Unfortunately I suffer from "I'll come back and buy that later" disease and most of the time I don't go back so don't end up with the souvenirs that I want

The Bronx Zoo looks lovely! We didn't make it there but I am definitely putting that on my must do list for when we go back some day.

I hope you get the safe fixed. I also hope that your jetlag sorts itself out soon and you get a good night's sleep!

I have been doing the "I'll come back later to buy that" quite a bit actually and I'm kind of glad I have, otherwise I would have another whole suitcase full of things

Noooooooooo, not the cupcakes

Ewwwwwwww at the cheese

Loooooooove the first pic of the gorilla

xxx

The gorillas were so funny, I love the gorillas, they were so active.

Another sleepless night in NYC; another great TR update!

I was laughing at the yellow cheese flavoured blob and crying over the cupcakes!
Lunch did not look like it is going to end up being a highlight of your trip; so double over the cupcakes!

Here's hoping that you get your important documents and stuff out of the safe!

Yes another sleepless night and I didn't get back to sleep either! So it was an early night last night being up from about 1am. But did get a good nights sleep last night (even though I was up at 5am )

Sounds like you're having a great time! Hope they get your safe operational...

Yes, got the safe working. It was weird, the safe is in the cupboard in the kitchenette, there is a button in the living room area that I round that says to press to reset electricity. I just pressed that and presto, the power to the safe came back on

DH and I had quite the giggle over the cheese on the hotdog . We totally would have expected yummy grated cheese too .

Now I don't want to get all soppy on you Aussietravllers, but your constant sweet attention is so touching to me. When you posted your first "live post" you mentioned how long it took you to get through customs at LAX and onto your NY flight and I know you knew that I was concerned about getting through customs and onto our flight. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. And then your re-creation of my DD's Planet Hollywood photo made me giggle, you did such an awesome job. And then to think of me when you were at the Bronx Zoo, well I shed a little tear. It's so funny how you can create these amazing "cyber friends". My husband finds it a little difficult to understand but he knows that one of my best friends in the world came from an online relationship. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your info, advice, thoughts and constant love.

Okay, soppyness over.

Oh that cheese was just grosse!

It's funny, I don't really know any photographers and there were quite a few people, with very big cameras around taking photos at the zoo. Some doing close ups of bees on flowers, leaves, the trees and it's funny what thought's pop into your head, that's when I thought after seeing some of the amazing quality photos you post on here, maybe because you are going to be here soon, not sure

Oh wow, have just found your thread and have eagerly been reading through - and drooling at the pictures...well, except maybe the hot dog!

Thanks for reading along

The cheeeeesssseeeeee .... Noooo!!!!

Having a giggle, thanks for the update.

Oh yes I know, that cheese! It's not even cheese! I don't know how they call it cheese

 

[aussietravellers]

Well when I last left you I was going to try to go back to sleep. Sadly I was not successful in that task So it was a very long exhausting day having been up since 1am, but we had quite a bit to do that day so I just had to put up with it! Today was my day, well partly my day, it was my shopping day!

So we started with breakfast downstairs in the hotel restaurant. We had the same as the other morning, omelette and waffles and fruit.

From breakfast we went to Top of the Rock. We wanted to be there on opening to avoid any queues. There were only 4 other people there when we arrived but whilst we were at the top more started filtering up. When we got into the first lift I was already starting to have a little panic attack I am not a fan of heights and was really nervous about the lift ride up there. Anyway so we were in the lift by ourselves and I said to the guy, I'm really nervous, is it a long ride, how long does it take. He said "Just a couple of seconds mam, you are only going to the 2nd floor " Ok I felt like a bit of an idiot at this point

So I made it up to the top, it was absolutely amazing, the view was awesome. Here are some pictures from the top.

It was a little smoggy as you can see but still just amazing views.

From there we had to stop at Magnolia Bakery again after the disaster the day before losing the whole box Managed to keep this box of cupcakes intact and here they are.

After the TOTR and Magnolia we went back to the hotel. Today was my shopping day and with shops opening at 10am (so we thought) we would head off in about an hour. So at about 10am we left the hotel, on 7th and went straight up 47th to Madison Ave. Plan was to go down Madison to the Apple Store, then up 5th back to the hotel. So we were walking down Madison and the shops all seemed to be closed We didn't think shops in NY would be closed on a Sunday but maybe we were wrong. Got to the Coach store and it was closed too So we just went to the Apple Store. It was absolutely packed, unbelieveable. I asked them why all of the shops were closed and they had no idea (it cracks us up how nobody ever knows anything in the US, other than just what is in front of them or directly involves them ). So when we had finished there we headed up to Tiffanys, oh I love this store and I was so excited to finally see Tiffany & Co in NY. Of course it wasn't open and neither was the Gucci store next door. So we popped into Trump Tower next door and asked them when the shops open. They told us 12pm, so we went upstairs to Starbucks for a coffee.

We then walked back to Coach and it was open Popped in there and got a handbag and then back we went to Tiffany and Co.

It opened just after we got there and OMG, it is 6 stories. 6 stories of Tiffany, I was in heaven. Yes i did make a couple of purchases and off we went. We then wandered the back up 5th Avenue, popping in and out of different stores and dropped our bags back at the hotel.

We then decided to go on the NY Waterways 90 minute harbour cruise.

There is a free bus that they have that picks up two streets back from our hotel so we caught that and off we went. It was absolutely amazing. Our guide was awesome and the actual boat and our guide were there when that plane crash landed in the Hudson and they were first on the scene. Our guide was telling us about "Sully" the captain of that flight as he was on our boat.

Brooklyn Bridge

Lower Manhattan Skyline

No description necessary

Anyway we really loved the cruise and after it was over, we headed back to the hotel on the free bus. It was about 5.45pm and we were absolutely exhausted so we decided to go back to the hotel and have room service for dinner and an early night.