Before I go any further, those people who have already seen some of this post you have had a sneak preview! I inadvertently published it by mistake. I was half way through writing it and it was not intended to be posted until now, as we had other places to visit before this. Anyway back to the trip.
After the wonderful scenery of New England and our overnight stay in Rochester we were back on the road again at 8.15am, the fall colours becoming more obvious.
Our next destination was NYC for a four night stay!
We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for coffee after a couple of hours then on through Pensylvania on Interstate 81 and the
Pocono Mountains. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and autumn colours for the next couple of hours then time for lunch we stopped at a
Perkins Restaurant and I have to say it was the best food we'd had on the road, reasonably priced and great service!
After a delicious lunch we headed off once more getting quite excited at our first sight of the Big Apple!
Soon we were in the heart of the city on the way to our hotel
the Residence Inn, Times Square. This was our home for the next four nights
and the view from our bedroom window.
After a quick freshen up we all met in our tour guide's hotel room for a farewell drink as some of our group were only staying two days. Here's our merry band enjoying a glass of champagn
before embarking on our 'New York By Night' tour! Out first stop was
Grand Central Terminal with its impressive exterior
and even more impressive interior
beautiful chandeliers,
fantastic painted ceiling
and station clock.
Next stop the
Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts, beautifully lit up,
then the
Rockefeller Centre outside,
inside with it's Time murals ceiling in the Lobby,
and the Summer Garden outside, with the beautiful sculpture of Prometheus, was very busy. Prometheos in Greek mythology was the God who brought fire to mankind.
Next on the agenda was Times Square.
then on to the highlight of the evening the iconic
Empire State Building! The 103-story skyscraper has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m), and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 feet (443 m) high.
Its name is derived from the nickname for New York, the Empire State. It stood as the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years, from its completion in early 1931 until the topping out of the original World Trade Center's North Tower in late 1970.
Following the September 11 attacks
in 2001, the Empire State Building was again the tallest building in
New York (although it was no longer the tallest in the US or the world),
until One World Trade Center reached a greater height on April 30, 2012.
Impressive outside
with it's changing lights, you may notice the lights are a different colour on the video below, that's because it was taken a couple of nights later from our bedroom window - great view we had eh?
and inside too
but the views from the top - F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C.!
Here's me at the top. Did I mention I don't like heights??
Have you noticed how many high buildings I've been up on our travels? All under sufferance I might add to keep MWM happy and bring you these photographs **wink**.
Well, as you can imagine, after a long coach journey and a whirlwind night tour we were ready for something to eat and an early night, which is exactly what happened.
Do join me in Part 10 for a daylight tour of New York and a Helicopter ride with video!
