L's parents are still here, but we're tired and having a lazy day which means I finally have a bit of a break in which to update the blog. Why so tired? Well, I'll let the photos tell the story of everything we crammed in during the week of my Mum's visit:
First was the "tramway" to Roosevelt Island. It's been around for decades, but many don't even know it exists. The cars have been upgraded considerably since they first started, so we were't totally terrified by their height as they run alongside the 59th Street bridge. Once onto the island we also had our first view of Manhattan, from the East - we saw much of it from all 4 directions over the course of the week. We had been to Roosevelt Island before, but hadn't taken the tramway due to bad weather.
The next day we took the Staten Island ferry, and straight back again. This is the closest we can get without taking the tours - and the tours still aren't taking anyone on to the island, thanks to hurricane Sandy. The ours however remain pricey, whereas the Staten Island ferry is free. So this made a lot of sense! Also, we got to see Manhattan from the 2nd direction: this time from the South.
Later that day we took the subway up to Central Park. I have more photos from there than I know what to do with, but none of my Mum enjoying one of the sights near the top of her must-see list. She'd always wanted to visit the city, so we were so pleased to show her around. Mum even had fun pointing at various things around Manhattan to prove "she was there"!
The next day began at the 9/11 Memorial. I won't get into past memories again, but I do think the memorial site is a fitting tribute. The sheer size of the fountains, within the footprints of the fallen Twin Towers, really gives you a sense of scale of the event: once you're standing right there, you really get it.
After enjoying some NYC's finest traditional pastrami bagels, we chilled out at home before our evening jaunt on Broadway. We saw Newsies! We had great seats for one of the city's most popular productions, which also happens to be one of Laura's favourite musical movies. Whilst she thought a few of the changes were unnecessary, everyone enjoyed it immensely. Everyone in our party that is; a couple next to Laura tried to talk the whole way through (we shushed them), use their phone (everyone stopped them), didn't applaud at any point, and even fell asleep halfway through. You have to think they might have something better to spend their money (well over $100 a seat) on! After the show we went to Times Square, which is always "very New York" - bright, loud, busy... and photogenic. Mum was delighted to be there and I hadn't really been since I used to work there.
We had a day off (aside from a short walk in Hoboken, seeing Manhattan from the third direction - West) to recover from all the tourism, but spent our final day at Rockefeller Center. We tried out the NBC tour first, then scored some free rehearsal tickets to see Jimmy Fallon - a great and unexpected bonus. We then toured the plaza, before heading up to the Top of the Rock for a glorious view of Manhattan - from the North (well okay, from the middle, but looking down!). Afterwards we ticked off the last few things on the list (many of which my Mum pointed at), including the Chrysler Building, and Grand Central Terminal. To the end the day was dinner at The Smith in Midtown East, which was very loud, but very, VERY good. L and I will be going back.
Sadly we had to say bye to Mum but she had a great time (we are told!) - and we enjoyed being tourists too. So many times we avoid the touristy areas because "we live here, damnit!", but really we would have been sad to leave here without seeing all the sights. Sights or no sights, however, the name of the game is happy families:
The whole set from Mum's trip is here. More family fun to come over the course of the next month!
