Disembarkation and a Taste of Manhattan

Wednesday 7^th September 2016

Disembarkation was slow this morning, despite starting on time. We had chosen a late disembarkation as we cannot check into our hotel until 3pm.

We were eventually off the ship and through customs by a bit after 10.0am, and looking for a taxi to take us to our hotel. They were in short supply, but eventually one turned up. Our hotel is not that far from the ship , just off Broadway on West 54^th Street. Yesterday we walked up there from the dock in 20 minutes, today it took us 20 minutes by taxi. Manhattan has to be a contender for the World’s largest carpark, with traffic barely moving faster than walking pace (or slower). There is roadwork, and building renovation everywhere bringing traffic to a standstill.

Looks like the smart people have changed to push bikes

Leaving our bags at the hotel, we headed out looking for the Hop on Hop Off bus that we had bought tickets for yesterday, planning to do the downtown loop today, including a boat trip out and around the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Once on board we seemed to be going nowhere as we crawled through the streets. The audio commentary system on board wasn’t working so we had to work it all out for ourselves with the map provided as we moved along.

Nevertheless, we took in the view and saw lots of well known places.

Empire State Building

The World's Largest Department Store, Macy's

The Flatiron Building

Possibly the World's Smallest Thai Restaurant

Battery Park

Eventually, 2.5 hours later, we were at Pier 16 to meet up with the boat that would take us for a one hour “harbour cruise”. It left at 2pm, and the commentary along the way was very informative (but we could have done without the attempts at humour).

Leaving the dock (which looked like it was about to become an amusement park)

Manhattan Bridge

World Trade Centre

Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island

New Jersey

Castle Williams on Governors Island

Manhattan Heliport

Once off the boat, we had about a 20 minute wait for the next bus and were then on our way back in the direction of our hotel, moving at a slightly faster pace (but not much). We spent a lot of time on 1^st Avenue taking in the sights.

Not sure what was going on here, but NYPD there in force

Chinatown

United Nations Building

Donald was not far away

Saks 5th Avenue

The nearest stop to our hotel was about a 20 minute walk away, so we were back on foot finding our way from West 42^nd Street back home. It has been a very warm day and we had to stop at Rosie O’Gradys Pub to rehydrate, before continuing on the final leg from Times Square.

It was now around 5.30pm and we settled into our room, before venturing back out in search of a predinner drink and dinner. After walking around for about 30  minutes, we settled on a bar about 3 doors down from our hotel and had a beer before dinner. It is amazing how many “Irish “ Pubs there are here !

For dinner we chose a small Thai restaurant, again not far from our hotel and had a very good meal and discussion with two Americans at an adjoining table who worked here in the film industry.