Thursday, November 6, 2008

Napoleon in New York

There was originally no plan about how to get from Willimantic to NY except that Daddy kept reassuring us it would be easy. In the end we caught a train from New Haven to Penn Station. From there it seemed Mama and Daddy didn't have much idea of where anything was but eventually we caught a cab - with a cool video screen inside telling us about the weather and things to do in NY - to our apartment.

When I walked in I was really surprised at how big it was and I had my own tv with cable! Yay!

On our first afternoon we walked and walked. I should be able to run longer when I get back because we have walked so much on this trip.

We went to the Madison Square Garden and found out there was an ice hockey game on there that night but the only tickets we could get were about $100 each and Daddy thought that was a bit much. Instead Mama decided it was better to go to a pre-season basketball game the following night between the NY Knicks and Boston Celtics.

And so we walked (see, more walking) on to the Empire State Building. We thought it might not be open late but it was and the lines weren't too bad. We took the elevator to the 80th floor and there was a 20min wait to go the final six floors to the observation deck so we took the stairs. It was worth the exercise. There were 15 or more planes we could see buzzing around and Daddy assured me they were all where they were supposed to be. We could see the Statue of Liberty and all of NY because it was such a clear night. I really like the Chrysler Building because it was glowing and the shape was triangular. In the gift shop on the way down I saw a 1.5m Lego version of the ESB and took a picture of it which will be posted at the end of the trip. (Daddy's note: bet you can't wait for that one!) By the way, even with this view I couldn't see Spiderman!

The next day we went to Ground Zero - the site where the Twin Towers were before 9/11. It was very sad to see all the memorials to all the people who died. We went past the fire station nearest the TT's and so they were the first to respond for the call for help ... and several of the firefighters paid with their lives.

Onward to the American Sports Museum with sections for almost every sport. There were several interactive displays including one for soccer where it was a penalty shootout with you and an opponent taking turns to save and shoot for goal. I whipped Daddy and Mama and I won't let them forget it!

The Knicks-Celtics game was really good for me because I was barracking for Boston. Daddy told me they would do well and they led all night with the best player in the league - Kevin Garnett - not needed to do much after the first quarter.

We really enjoyed our trip to NY and just as a bonus we spent some time with the owner of our apartment on the final morning. She has several dogs including a small terrier called Napoleon. She was really cute and it was good to spend a little time with her because I miss my dog Magenta.

MILKSHAKE
Again, I have to say I am disappointed at the lack of true milkshakes available. In NY I only had one and it was at the airport on the way to Europe! I gave it a four and I can't really remember what it tasted like so I guess it wasn't that good.

And so on to Europe.

Mac

No comments: