Tuesday, January 25, 2011

New York, New York 12-07-10

Today, we again walked downtown, toward the Empire State Building. 
The closer you get to it the more impressive it becomes. 
Even though you see pictures of it and have seen it in the movies, you have to see it in person to understand how magnificent it is. 
 The entrance to the New York City public library.
Of course all of New York City was decorated for Christmas. 
 We went to Radio City for the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular.
 The stage before the show started.
 First, we were entertained by two organists.
They handed out 3-D glasses for a portion of the show. 
The orchestra plays a prelude prior to the show. 
The stage decorations were amazing, 
 but not as amazing as the Rockettes!
Their precision was incredible. 
This portion of the show was for the kids.
The Rockettes did a routine as little tin soldiers. 
Again, perfect precision. 
They ended the number by slowly (over a period of a couple minutes) falling down in succession. 
A number saluting New York City bus tours. 
The most famous chorus line ever. 
 It just wouldn't be a Christmas Spectacular without Santa.
 The costume changes were awesome.
The grand finale. 
New York pizza for lunch. 
 Downtown near the Rockefeller Plaza.
 More Christmas decorations.
 This was the stage in the theater where we saw the Broadway production of West Side Story.  We weren't allowed to take pictures during the play.
 After the Broadway show, we went to Rockefeller Center to take trip to the "Top of the Rock".
 The elevator (with a glass ceiling) goes up 67 floors in a matter of seconds.
 On the 67th floor, they have a room where the lights in the ceiling change color to sounds and movement.  Lynda is admiring the changing of the lights.
The New York City skyline at night from the 70th floor observation deck. 
 The Empire State Building is in the center.
 The Empire State Building at night.
 Another view of the skyline.
And yet another view. 
On the way back to our hotel, we passed by some more Christmas window displays. 
The detail of the window displays is amazing.

New York, New York 12-06-10

 We flew into New York on our way back from Europe and we stayed here at the Seafarers Inn.
As most people in New York do, we walked most everywhere we went. 
We made a stop at Grand Central Station. 
 Lynda is admiring the interior of the station.
The Christmas tree and ice skaters at Rockefeller Plaza. 
 We took a city tour and visited the Dakota building where John Lennon used to live.
 This is the entrance way where he was murdered, a very sad day in music history.
Our tour took us to Central Park where we visited the portion of the park dedicated to John Lennon. 
Lynda is checking out the imagine mural next to our tour guide. 
 A plaque dedicated to John Lennon's quest for world peace.
Central Park in the winter! 
Oh my gosh....Lynda has the Empire State Building growing out of her head! 
As part of our tour we took a harbor cruise.  This is a view of Wall Street with the new building going up at Ground Zero. 
 Another view of the harbor.
The number of sky scrapers in this city is amazing. 
 Can't visit New York without going to the Statue of Liberty.
 One of the highlights of our trip to New York was to see the Statute of Liberty, but it was so cold and we were freezing.
A view of the bridges cosssing the Husdon from our boat. 
 The New York Stock Exchange at night.
 This was our first trip to New York and we were constantly amazed by all the sky scrapers.
 Another building on Wall Street.
 The new building going up on the site where the twin towers once stood.
We visited Times Square and the line to get in to see David Letterman was around the block. 
 Times Square at night is quite a sight.
Lynda and our friend Lori, who grew up in Tallahassee and now lives in the Big Apple. 
 Another view of Times Square.
 Of course you know I would find a police station there!
One of the Christmas displays in the windows of Macys. 
Inside Macys next to one of their Christmas displays.