The plan today was to visit the other museums that were part of our NYCityPass. After breakfast in our room, we walked to 5th Ave and then strolled down to 53rd St and the Museum of Modern Art.
After a little trouble trying to find the actual entrance, we walked in right at the opening time of 10am. We were totally overwhelmed by the map and had no idea where to start, so we just picked a floor and started looking at the exhibits. After about 20 minutes of seeing things like this
we realised that this was not the place for us! So we retrieved our backpack, much to the surprise of the staff (you're leaving already??) and hopped on the subway down to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
What a beautiful museum! Again we were overwhelmed by the size and the amount of exhibits, so we just followed the crowds and took in as much as we could.
After a couple of hours we were all museumed out, so we left and caught the bus back up 5th Ave to the Central Park Zoo. We had lunch in the cafe there and then had a wander around. I was surprised at how small it was! We saw the penguins and the snow leopard
but the polar bears were hiding, as were the lemurs so we moved on to the Children's Zoo, stopping to watch the Delacorte Clock on the way.
The boys really enjoyed the Children's Zoo
After the zoo, we took another bus back to the Rockefeller Center
from where we walked back to the hotel for our afternoon rest.
Emily and I were determined to fit in some more shopping, so after a break we caught the subway to Cortland St and went back to Century 21. The boys came with us this time and I held their interest by letting them choose some new things. They boys got shorts, bathers and pajamas while Emily and I got some more clothes. Happy with our purchases, we walked back out to the square across the road from Ground Zero, where we found this guy
This "everyman" statue survived 9/11 and has been restored in his original place in Liberty Park. He is now known as "the Survivor" as he was pulled whole (albeit battered and bruised) from the rubble.
When we did the Ground Zero tour, the guide pointed out O'Hara's Irish Pub which was a refuge on 9/11. Before the tragedy it was a firefighter hangout as it's just around the corner from the firestation, but on the day it became a sanctuary for survivors, they all gathered there waiting for news of friends and colleagues and waiting to be able to get home. The guide told us if you ever want to buy a NYFD firefighter a beer then head to O'Hara's as you'll always find one there. We decided to go to O'Hara's for dinner and had a nice meal, but we didn't see any firemen!
After dinner we hopped back on the subway to 51st and called it a night.
No comments:
Post a Comment