12th September, 2018

Our last day in New York and the weather still looked a bit iffy, but it held out ok and while still overcast and drear, it didn’t actually rain.

The day did not get off to the best of starts as we tried to board the bus for the Downtown Tour, this time really near the pier at which we were docked. This seemed excellent as it meant we did not have to walk all the way to Times Square. Unfortunately, whilst we had our VIP lanyards, which had been all we had needed for all the other times we had boarded the bus, this time the guy seeing us on insisted we show our tickets, which were, annoyingly, on the table in our cabin. No amount of pleading and arguing seemed to move him, so it was off back to the ship for me and back again. And then they showed us onto the wrong bus! Luckily they spotted the error and we transferred to the correct one and then sat there for 30 minutes. We were not very happy bunnies, despite what this photo of Val would imply!

Well, eventually we were off, again visiting Times Square and then on down Broadway heading south. We passed the Empire State and Flatiron Buildings (the former being built in an astounding 410 days) and lots of examples of the cast-iron architecture that is typical of NY. Effectively they were made off-site and flat-packed and built. The one with the clock was the first commercial building in the world to have a lift and people would queue around the block to have a go on it.

Our first stop was Chinatown and Little Italy, where we found a Chinese restaurant and Val was able to stock up on some Asian grub. We didn’t feel the Chinatown in NY was as impressive as in San Francisco and lacked a bit of charm. Little Italy is just across Canal Street and it was odd to walk from one culture to another in a few steps. Little Italy has been shrinking over the years and we only walked along one street, but you certainly got a feeling that Al Pacino was going to come out in a large overcoat, sharp suit and hat and give you a hug and a couple of kisses – and possibly an offer you can’t refuse!

We then walked on down Broadway past the Woolworths Building (above) to our next destination, which was the 9/11 memorial. The first thing we saw was the Oculus, a building designed by an architect from Valencia in Spain and very reminiscent of the modern development in that city. From a certain angle, it looks a bit like a bird.

The main building on the site is the One World Trade Centre, the tallest building there, but nothing has been built on the actual sites of the twin Trade Towers that were destroyed on that fateful day in 2001. Instead there are two square holes with water pouring in and another hole in the middle. All around the edge are the names of those killed. Every now and then you see a flower sticking out from the names and those are put there on the birthday of the person concerned.

It is truly moving and Val was particularly affected as she did not know that this was what the Memorial consisted of. We would have liked to have visited the museum, but the queue was very long, so we went instead to the 9/11 Tribute Museum, a bit down the road, which was also very emotional and brought back the memories of what the city and the world went through.

A few more sights to see from our bus including the Wall Street Bull and the Chrysler Building in the distance.

We also passed the UN Building and the now infamous Trump Tower and some pretty typical NY streets….

We were both pretty knackered now, so it was back on the bus and back to Times Square. We would have like to have seen St Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Station and Macy’s, but we had run out of energy, so it was one final cab ride and a collapse in our cabin. New York had been fun, but like all big cities, we needed more time. So we shall have to come back!

The next day, 13/9, was a sea day and we caught up with our table tennis, gym and reading and prepared for our first stop in Canada, St John, New Brunswick.