New York hols

Quick run down of the holiday - to elaborate.

Day 1
Arrived in NYC around lunchtime. Checked in and headed out to Bryant Park. Had gorgeous hot chocolate and macaroons at Lily O'Brien's, then headed into Public Library for a wander. Lovely place, exhibition on Shelley.

Wandered onto Chrysler building and Grand Central Station to admire architecture.

Back to hotel to change for theatre. Dinner at Appetito.
Wicked at theatre, walking through Times Square.

Day 2
Early start with our Big Apple Greeter. Straight onto Subway for quick lesson. Then scooted down to Battery Park - seeing Castle Clinton. Then onto Bowling Green Park, the Bull of Wall Street, Wall Street, Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel, which had a poignant display in memory of 9/11. Carried on through town to city hall, Woolworth building, and half way across Brooklyn Bridge to admire NYC skyline.
Then past the law courts into China Town - taking in all the odd things on sale - from birds nests to chicken tendons. Left guide and had Chinese lunch.

Afternoon went into American Indian Museum, and across the Staten Island ferry to see Statue of Liberty.

That evening we went up the Empire State building - another art deco masterpiece and watched the town at night come to life. Then headed for pizza at Lazzaras - just before closing time.

Day 3
Natural History Museum on Upper West Side. Visited geological, space, and animal galleries - barely scratching surface.
Hunted for bagels to no avail, but found a sandwich place for lunch and went to Zabars deli - another NY institution - and bought some excellent cakes (cheese counter particularly impressive).
Headed down to Financial district again and chilled in World Financial Centre (as there was nothing else to do that didn't involve walking) and waited for our 9/11 memorial slot.
Site impressed us with its simplicity, and future plans - the new buildings, the open park - seem fitting.
Headed back to town and went to our local pub - the Ginger Man. Awesome place!! Hundreds of types of beer, which we sampled and coupled with some salty hotdogs.
Feet sufficiently recovered to wander onto the Morgan Library - free Friday evenings (win!)
Incredible collection of priceless books, placed in a staggeringly elaborate library, that somehow gets away with it on this side of the pond.

Day 4
St Patrick's Day dawned sunny. Stopped at Magnolia bakery for a cupcake and then up the Rockerfeller Centre to admire the city in the sun.
Back down and wandered along 5th Avenue. All the flagship stores there - Gucci, Armani, Tiffany - but jammed solid with green-dressed revellers for the parade. No chance of getting close to see, and feet were not up to the task, so gave up and hired bikes through the park. Park again was stacked full of people - both the Patrick's overspill but also joggers, cyclists etc. Did the lap of the park on the bike trails, but feet weren't up to more, which was a shame as we may have missed the best the park had to offer. Lesson learnt the hard way.
Headed to the Time Warner for lunch - the crazy Wholefoods in the basement. Then onto Chelsea and the High Line. Walked full length, stopping at points along way to rest feet and various interesting points, and good diversion to Chelsea market too.
Very tired walk back to hotel. Dragged ourselves out later to Times Square for photos, to see Empire State in green, and to enjoy true American diner food at the Brooklyn diner.

Day 5
Bit of shopping around 34th and Broadway, then wandered down past the Flatiron to Washington Square. Chilling and people watching (random student acting, piano playing, guitars, chess - the lot) before lunch at Le Pain Quotidien.
Wandered through the streets of Soho in afternoon - discovering some great, less mainstream shops and wandered up to Strand bookstore and Forbidden planet. More time chilling in Union Square, then back to Ginger Man for more awesome beer, hotdogs, pretzels before heading home.