New York City

Did a practice run to Penn Station to see how long it takes, in preparation for Monday. Once we get there we find the "Red Caps" and get them to look after the luggage and make sure we make it onto the train. After regrouping we walkd across town from 8th Ave to 5th Ave ( they're wide blocks) and uptown along 5th from 42nd St to 59th St (not so wide blocks) to Central Park. The wind was cold in the 5th Ave canyon!! Passed all the enormous flagship stores -
It has a pretty impersonal feel to it because the buildings are all so high. Got to the Park about lunchtime and made our way to Tavern on the Green for lunch. It's an old building that's just reopened after extensive renovations and was a nice place to eat. We gradually made our way to parts of the Park we hadn't seen before but we still didn't get to all of it - missed Belvedere Castle. It is absolutely enormous and almost impossible to see it all in a day. The paths meander all over the place in all directions and a map is useless! We even saw a cardinal but didn't get a chance to take a photo before he hopped away. Squirrels were everywhere and we came across one that let us get very close while he munched away. The most popular dog in Central Park today was the golden retriever - there were lots all over the park. On our way out we passed the Zoo - we'd never even come close to it on previous visits! Walked back along 6th Ave and as it was about 5 p.m. the traffic was chaos. Everyone wanted to cross intersections quickly so vehicles were halfway across on red lights - in all directions - and horns were honking furiously. At one intersection one car's horn just honked continuously. We really admire the drivers and don't know how they drive here. To date we have not seen one accident anywhere. The only sound that rises above the car horns is a police vehicle horn, which is a very short sharp noise. Had dinner at Don Giovanni, a small Italian restaurant a few blocks away. The food was lovely and the service outstanding. One of the best things about this city is the accessibility of everything at all hours. We didn't book for Matilda the Musical or for the restaurant tonight but had no trouble getting into either and both ended up being pretty full.Read more