New York City Day 4

New York City Day 4
Monday 4th July 2011


We had nothing booked for the morning so after a bit of a lie in we strolled across the road from the hotel to ‘Juniors’ for our breakfast. All our previous breakfasts had been taken in the hotel so this was our first proper New York breakfast and we were not disappointed. What looked like a small café from the street turned out to be a large dining area where you could order virtually anything. When we entered to the reception desk we were immediately shown to a table and given a menu. Although we were in New York we decided to stick to our usual healthy breakfast and had a sundae bowl filled with yoghurt and granola and fruit accompanied by a glass of orange and a coffee. Even so it turned out to be a substantial meal and came to $35 all told. We left feeling confident that we were well set up for the day.
Our thinking for this day was that New York would be very busy on the 4th of July and the temperature promised to be nudging 100 degrees so we decided to spend most of the day in the hopefully cooler Central Park. The route from Times Square took us past the ‘Rockefeller Centre’ and on the spur of the moment we decided to give it a try. The kiosk we stopped at to buy tickets turned out to be credit card only so we bought two seniors tickets for $44 and set off for the ‘top of the rock’ We had to go up an escalator to the second floor where we joined the lines for the elevators; evading the photo opportunities as best we could.
The lines or queues were surprisingly small and we were soon in an elevator going up to the 67th floor. As we set off the lights in the elevator were turned off so we could look up through the glass ceiling to the lift shaft as it sped up to the top floor. Not everyone was impressed but it was a unique experience. The observation deck was in two levels with safety glass panels all round; presumably to deter suicides. The building itself seemed to be constructed of heavy cut stone with cast iron workings at the top which was a surprise as I assumed light materials would have been a priority. Although the temperature was getting a bit warm by this time we spent some time looking at the views which we thought were better than the Empire State building. The views were not significantly different but being lower down you got the impression of being amongst the skyscrapers which seemed nearer on all sides. The return elevator journey was a repeat of the upward journey but we exited at the basement and walked back up to ground level after some time finding our sense of direction.
The rest of the walk to Central Park was easy as we simply walked north up 5th Avenue and entered the Park at its south eastern corner. This is one of the main entrances to Central Park and is the site of a sculpture by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The sculpture consists of representations of the Chinese Year such as the Pig or Rooster and Joan and I had our photos taken standing by our relevant sculpture. Our idea was to walk round the Park in an anticlockwise direction but we only managed to get as far as the Jackie Kennedy reservoir before turning back.
Central Park looks like a natural feature but in fact it was created in 1857 on land to the northern end of Manhattan Island. The hard rock on which the tall skyscrapers are built lies at the southern end of Manhattan but in the park area the land is much softer with occasional outbreaks of the hard schist which have been left as features in the park. The pond, the lake and the reservoir have all been artificially created; the area between landscaped and trees planted. Streets that cross the park, called transverses, have all been sunk below the park level and are crossed by bridges for footpaths and other tracks. Besides the water features the park contains a zoo which we did not visit and Belvedere Castle which we did. Belvedere Castle was built on the highest point in the park as a folly without internal rooms but over the years it has been used as a meteorological station and at the moment as a natural history observatory.
The park is also used for live entertainment and several artists were playing as we walked round including a classical violinist whom we were glad to sit and watch whilst cooling off in the heat.
The main reason for turning back when we reached the reservoir was the heat which was at its greatest as we crossed over to the west side of the Park. We managed to purchase bottles of water as we entered the Park and stopped for an ice cream when we walked down the west side. As long as we took things steady we managed the heat quite well but were glad of the air conditioning when we eventually arrived back at the hotel about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
When we had cooled down a bit we got ourselves ready to go out for our evening meal at the David Burke Townhouse. We left the hotel at about 17.15 and decided to experience the delights of a New York yellow cab. The hotel had a special area at ground level where cabs could drive through to pick up and set down passengers. In addition they employed people to direct the operations and we duly presented ourselves, with a small piece of paper with our destination written on it, to a tall coloured fellow dressed in red livery. A person of his size was not meant to be messed with so we shut up and waited for our cab to pull up. We did not have long to wait before we got in the back of the cab and the cabbie drove off. He was not the sort of person you engaged in conversation either; not because he was big but because he had his hands full with his mobile phone in one hand and a large coffee in the other. Occasionally he put down his coffee and looked at the slip of paper to confirm his destination. The cab however seemed to know the direction better than he did as it did not take us long to get to the restaurant on 61st between Park Avenue and Lexington.
David Burke Townhouse was the second of the recommendations by Carolyn on board the QM2 and it turned out to be the best. We expected the restaurant to be full on July 4th but when we arrived there were people at only two of the tables. The number did increase as time wore on but the restaurant was never more than half full and we enjoyed the relaxed peaceful surroundings in the air conditioned room. The service was helpful but restrained. We were told that we could have a 42oz steak to share but even 21oz was a step too far.
We had an appetiser of mousse/gazpacho that tasted of mustard and salad cream in a shot glass and got individual bread still warm in the pan it was baked in. For starters I had a salad with walnuts, cheese, apple and croutons. My entrée was of lamb and selected vegetables arranged in a modern cuisine style. For desert I had pineapple baba rum. As a thank you we got two chocolate truffles in a cardboard box to take away. The whole experience was very enjoyable and we walked back to the hotel on a barmy evening with the feeling that New York was a wonderful place.