6-8-17 NYC Day 2

We started our day getting on the X1 bus to Central Park.  Our bus driver Frank was hilarious.  He talked about the “little Geniuses” that are preparing for  jail instead of of college and called a group of iffy people on the sidewalk “Mutts.” He joked with us the whole way about our trip costing us $100 and that he was drinking or drunk driving.   We had a great 1.5 hour bus.

Here is Frank our funny bus driver.

We had reserved a horse and carriage to take us through the park. You hear all this terrible stuff about central park on TV. Don’t buy into it.  We saw police and park rangers all over the place. We felt very safe there.  When our carriage arrive we were blessed with another funny guy “Joe” as our driver. He actually was the owner of the company and was the typical italian schmoozer, but lots of fun. He told us Pope jokes and stories about a Danish man.  He was quite the entertainer.He really know his park history. our ride was 55 minutes and it could have easily been twice as long.  The park was beautiful, extremely well kept and we never saw a homeless or questionable person.  We saw families and young people all over the place. If you go to Central Park consider a ride with “NY Carriage Rides” they are the best!

Joe our Italian, charming carriage driver.
All of us with Joe and Dante the horse.
Joe stopped to take pictures of us by this fountain in Central Park
John Lennon was shot in front of the building you see. He lived across the street.
Memorial to John Lennon in Central Park not far from where he was shot.
The lakes with people rowing boats looked so fun.
The tall building in the background is called the “cube” the top floor sells of 90 million dollars. If you can see in the picture there are open floors in the middle, these are to let wind blow through.
Majestic Towers is where Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe lived.
There was a big sheep farm here before it was a park it was called “Sheep’s Meadow” now it is called “Manhattan Beach” Joe told us that on warm days there is lots of sunbathers some with no tops. He teased that he would go home with a smile on his face and his wife would ask why.
Joe was enthralled by our trip. When we were done and saying good by he insisted we do it the Italian way. A kiss on each cheek.

 

From Central Park we walked to Time square, Rockefeller Center, Radio Music Hall, Rockefeller Center etc.  Lots to see in just a few blocks. Our highlight of all of NYC was St. Patrick’s’ Cathedral.  It was magnificent.  It is the largest Cathedral in the United States. The corner stone was laid in 1858 and finished 21 years later in 1879.  It looked like it was built yesterday.  So much of it was carved stone no wonder it is still as magnificent today as it was back in the 1800s. It seat 2400 people, it takes up a whole city block and it’s spires rise 330 feet, 7855 pipes for the organ. It has 21 altars and 19 bells each named after a different saint. 28100 stained glass panels there are between 15 and 18 masses said everyday in the Cathedral.  Over a million candles are lit every year in the church. They asked for a $2 donation for candles.  That $2,000,000 in income for tiny little candles that I am sure only cost 10 cents each. It must take an incredible amount of money to keep up this church.  We were all in awe and couldn’t help but fall to our knees and pray.

Us in front of Time Square. It was a busy place. We could only imagine what it is like there on New Year’s Eve
We are at Rockefeller Center with a little photo-bomber.
The ballerina is like a blow up balloon you expect to see at a parade.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Pope John Paul II visited here in 1979 and 1995.
There were multiple areas of pipes for the organ.
One of the many Altars in the church.
Wow, just wow!
Panels of intricately carved wood surrounded the altar area.
More Pipes
They were tuning the pipes when we were there.
Holy Moley that is a pulpit!

Just because we could, Maria and I walked into Tiffany’s and were treated very respectfully. We all went into Sak’s fifth avenue expecting a cold response because we are not their type of people.  We were shocked to have been pawed ad by the clerks, like they were desperate for business.  Lady let me try this cream on you, you will love this perfume etc.  It was way worse than any of the panhandlers or the bus salespeople on the streets. So when I win the lottery big time I may shop at Tiffany’s but will never set foot in Saks. I guess I don’t have to worry about that.

Proof we were in Saks.

We stumbled across the NYFD education center.  They have on average 150 kids go through their program everyday.  They teach them fire safety and have a fake burning house.  They can change to color of smoke for the kids. There was also a firetruck for them to crawl on and lot of fire gear on the wall.  They also have patches from other fire depts all over the walls.  Had we known we would have brought a GRFD patch. I am sure there is already one up there.  We looked but could find them amongst the 1000s or more patches all over the walls and halls etc. We talked to a retired firefighter who was at 911.  He said the men who were at the tragedy are really having some health issue. All the kids who lost a parent have had their college education paid for.  He said they are almost all through school.  They take care of their own.  We would have liked to talked to him more but he was volunteering and had other people to talk to you.

Us in front of the NYFD tire truck.
Display of fire gear. Well done.
This is the fake fire room they fill with smoke to teach kids how to get out of burning building.
Just one wall of patches from other fire departments.

When we were done uptown we took a subway to downtown.  It was Scott and My first subway ride.  It was slick. We were there so fast.

Maria and I on the Subway. This was my first subway ride.

We found the Wall Street Bull.  We learned by eaves dropping in on a tour that the guy designed and built the bull with this own money and dropped it off at the NY Stock Exchange.   It wasn’t appreciated and was moved around the corner.  It is  now one of the most visited sites in NYC and the guy never got a dime after spending $350,000 of his own money to make it.  There is a rumor that if you rub the bull’s balls it will bring you good financial luck.  So of course Maria and I had to give it a whirl. So many people have done this that they are shiny and perfectly smooth. Who thinks of this stuff and who follows through…..well we did.  Why not.  Maybe I can shop at Tiffany’s someday.

We’re gonna be rich!

We then walked to the 911 Memorial.  It is so moving. Everyone seemed somber and respectful.  What a horrible tragedy, but NY sure did a nice job with the Memorial.

It was very moving to stand at the edge of each memorial where the original buildings were.
By the 911 Memorial
All the names of those who died from this tragedy, including the flights and the Pentagon, were etched all around the the fountain. The memorial puts a rose on each name on their birthday. I wanted to cry when I heard this.

We were originally going to try to get 50% off broadway play tickets, but the wait was going to take hours and we had a lot of NYC to see yet.  Because we weren’t doing a play we decided to walk to both China Town and Little Italy.  We had dinner on the street at an authentic Italian restaurant. Happy hours seemed to last all night for us.  They kept saying this will still be on our happy hour half off prices. Once again, we never felt in danger and thoroughly enjoyed every step of the 10 miles we walked that day. We hopped a bus back to the boat.  The NYC public transportations is amazing and not terribly complicated.

On our walk to China Town we found this old fire station. Who wouldn’t want to be stationed here.
Guess where we are?
We liked Little Italy!
We were going to go ask the brothers at the Little Italy fire station where to go for dinner, but they got a call just as we were outside this unique fire station.
Here they are….New York’s finest.
Dinner on the street in Little Italy.

We amazed ourselves with how many things we saw in one day by foot and one subway ride. We walked 10 miles according to Maria’s fitbit.  We slept very good that night and were satisfied with what we got to see.

Thanks for reading,

Karen and Scott

Unique Random Photo of the week:

This guy was drunk or on drugs and his sign he was holding was more than not appropriate in public. The cops were all over him, ready to take him down if needed. An ambulance was called instead because he was so out of it. If you can read his sign, you will know what I mean.