Day 3 in New York. The day started out a tad muggy. But it didn't stop us from exploring like hyper maniacs once more. Once we checked out and left our bags at the reception at
Park 79 we went to have salmon omelette at
Barney Greengrass Deli. Pastrami salmon omelette and Nova Scotia salmon omelette on bagels.
And then we strolled through the Central Park and kept ourselves entertained by turtles.
Time to pick up our bags at our old hotel, and head over to our new bed pan for day 3:
The Carlyle Hotel. Fancy eh? The concierge staff at the hotel let us have a room with a nice view on level 31.
After a quick shower, we were off again!
This place was absolutely enormous. And amazing. We spent the entire day just on the first floor and we still didn't get to complete our tour inside the museum. We took about 300 photos. Here are just a handful just because this is none other than a travel blog - not an Art History site.
Before we went to NY I did some research, and most of the reviews for Serendipity3 revealed that the customers have to wait in line for 30 mins to an hour to be seated. We were lucky enough to get a table in 5 minutes (because everyone had left to come back in 30 mins). We ordered Forbidden Broadway Hot Fudge, and Cinnamon Fudge Sundae. Those monster desserts were so big even I couldn't finish it.
Feeling sick we waddled out of the restaurant and then into a candy store - just to take photos.
In order to burn off all the cream and fudge we consumed, we speed-walked past all the pretzel eating kids, yellow taxis, and the Queen over to Park Ave to see
The Waldorf Astoria.
I had to take the camera to the women's room (and trust me, I wasn't the only one with a camera in there). Past the glowing powder room were individual bathrooms lined up along the hallway for all the visiters. The excited ladies lingered in the bathroom vestibule taking photos of one another.
We then continued on our walk towards the court house, then to China Town.
This is where China Town meets Little Italy
And THIS is where road penalties meet countless rubbish bags on the street. (Another warning to future travelers. Bring a gas mask when you travel to Manhattan during summer. The odour combination of rubbish bags, cars, dog urine and other juices from restaurants is NOT pleasant).
Then we got back to our fancy hotel for some live jazz.
 |
| Gettin' ready! |
The atmosphere at the hotel lounge bar was really poetic. The waiters were scattered around to service the patrons throughout the night... Although, most men there looked old and ready to decease. And they were accompanied by... what's a polite word for "whore"?
The music was fantastic. It was good to listen to live jazz again (my regular jazz bar got replaced by yet another Thai restaurant. ALL we have in New Zealand are Thai restaurants!) It was lead by
Loston Harris who, bless his soul, was forced to listen to my complaints about Thai restaurants for longer than necessary.
Needless to say, after a few Dirty Martinis, I was all over the place. Dan kindly put a rug over me as I fell asleep happily on the bathroom floor.
Next day we checked out of our hotel groaning. I had too much of a hangover we could not do anything but frequently stop for a bathroom upchucking time. We got on a few subways to the airport and thankfully made it onboard. I hadn't eaten anything since the monster sundae until we arrived at the airport. And even then my organs failed to accept anything edible.
But I must say, this was the best trip I've ever had. We had so much fun. It was busy, and I had to work, but it was well worth it. I am hoping to return to NYC in the near future.
Tiring story about flying with Delta:
Checking in our backpack at the JF Kennedy airport was hectic. There seemed to be a lot of communication breakdown. We left our bags near the X-Ray as we were advised to. Got on the plane, arrived at PDX after a few hours, only to our surprise, bag-less.
This is the side effect of flying with
Delta. With a
cheap price tag comes
bad quality. The Delta representative assured us that we would get a phone call from them the next day. And since we lived 6 hours from the airport it would be shipped to us ASAP.
We did not receive a phone call. We ended up ringing them and they told us the bag arrived on the next plane, and that it was being shipped to us.
When the bag finally arrived after a few days, it was
dirty and damaged. We rang up the customer services where they told us we would need to visit the nearest Delta office. (@#$%) We asked if we could just email with photos attached instead. The answer was no.
We drove to an airport in Idaho one weekend with the bag just to place a bloody complaint. NOBODY was in their office. They had a flight arriving, and yet nobody bothered to show up. (And we were told there would always be someone available at any airport at any time) We used the airport intercom to call for the Delta employees. They still didn't turn up. After being on hold on the phone with them for 20 minutes, Dan finally got through and we were told to return home and to just send them an email with photos and details of the damage. (@#$@$%#$)
We send them an email and they sent us some nonsense form to fill out.
I guess this is how they get away without covering for the damage they cause on their customers' belongings.
Delta also charges you for checked in luggage, refreshments, entertainment, headphones and everything else on board. I'm surprised we didn't have to pay to use their toilet.
Once you pay for food, drinks and luggage, it ends up costing just as much as it would with other airlines who don't ship you like unpaid parcels.
My advice, oh great intelligent readers, is:
Don't fly with Delta.
