Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

10^th September 2011 – 7.30am

Last night we went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Times Square. All of the wax models were so life like, if you go up really close and look them right in the eye, you almost expect them to blink... or tell you to back off!

GAY? NO WAY!

POPULAR POSE APPARENTLY, BUT THIS THE CLOSEST TO HIS FACE THEY'D EVER SEEN!

Our last day in New York began with an introduction to the uselessness of the US Postal Service. I still don’t want to talk about it. There may or may not be a package in the mail. 

We caught the train to Harlem after that with the intention of hiring a couple of bikes to ride almost the entire length of the Western Manhattan coast but the bike rental place was closed. So we got back on the train to the next bike rental place, which was also closed. I was just about defeated, I was ready to give up on our bike ride! But not Matthew! NO! We walked another 30 or so blocks to the NEXT bike rental place which was (thank God) open. The girls at the bike hire were so rude. People in New York mostly don’t seem interested in being nice or helpful. But we got our bikes! We rode what was left of the West Coast of Manhattan, to the Staten Island Ferry. 

BIKE RIDE DOWN MANHATTAN

The queues for the Statue of Liberty cruises were insane but I had been told that the view from the island itself was not worth it, and to jump on the free (yes, I said FREE!) ferry to Staten Island, where you don’t stop on Liberty Island but get a nice view of the statue from the water. It was lovely, a real buzz to see it with our own (tired) eyes.  

THERE SHE IS!

AND AGAIN WITH THE CITY BEHIND

There was a 911 memorial in the park near the piers, for every life lost on 911 there was a flag. There were a lot of flags. I’m sure the media at home is having a field day about the anniversary as they are here but for the most part, the general public don’t seem to be worried. The security is insane at the moment, but everyone is just doing their thing. 

THE MEMORIAL

We handed out bikes back and it was back to the gritty and stifling subway. I would hate to experience it in Summer. It would be seriously disgusting. We checked out City Hall and the surrounding buildings. City Hall was so old, and pretty dilapidated but the surrounding buildings were magnificent and I’m glad we saw them. 

Magnolia Bakery. The Holy Grail of CUPCAKES! At this bakery, when they are busy, the line goes down the street. Apparently the cupcakes here were  made famous by Sex and the City. We got a few cupcakes, the icing was the best, so buttery and yummy!

We were absolutely buggered and had we not booked our Mary Poppins Broadway tickets, we would have gone straight to bed and happily missed seeing a show! It was 5pm… but we dragged ourselves off to the show and boy were we glad we didn’t miss it! It was so amazing. I’ve only ever seen one musical before but this was in another league. The sets were amazing and the scene changes were fast and left us scratching our heads, like HOW did they do that? Their voices were superb, and the little voice inside my head was singing along to a few of the tunes! I wasn’t going to sing out loud, because that’s just crazy!

MARY POPPINS AT THE NEW AMSTERDAM THEATRE ON BROADWAY

We packed up again last night. We have really enjoyed all that we’ve seen in New York and we both feel like we’re ready to move onto the next spot. 

Right now we are on the train to Niagara, Ontario. The seats are comfy and there is heaps of leg room. We haven’t long left the city and we are overlooking the Hudson River with cliffs on the opposite side of the river, and we just went past a massive castle. It’s quite pretty so I might end this and look out the window instead!

Amy