NYC Trip - The Top of the Rock

City view from Top of the Rock

I've received advices before arriving in New York that if it was a choice between the Rockefeller Centre and the Empire State Building, that I should pick the Top of the Rock. Not that the Empire State Building was any much lacking, but that the Top of the Rock provided a much better view of Manhattan as a whole. And of course, it provided a view of the Empire State Building.

Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock

I bought tickets to the Top of the Rock weeks before our tour started. I debated at first because it was hard to estimate when our tour would end the first day. The problem with the Top of the Rock tickets was that they were timed and you had to be at the foyer around about the time of your ticket. Since I was not sure when our tour would end, where we would end, would we need to make our way back to the attraction, I chose a safe time of 6pm at night.

Looking out

I suppose I estimated too late since we had time to kill and had to spend some time getting lost on the streets of Manhattan.

Anyway, around 5:30pm we decided to make our way to the Top of the Rock. Although a bit early, they let us in without much fuss.

It was a good day to go look over Manhattan. Although slightly overcast, the weather was nice and clear enough to get a great view of the city.

Central Park from the Top of the Rock

There's really not much that I can add here. The view was breathtaking. Hubby actually said it was nothing like being the King of the World on Top of the Rock with the Queen of his heart, LOL....and it seems that bringing romance to building tops is also the done thing.

Empire State Building backdrop

NYC Trip - Lost in New York

So the tour with the local guide around 3pm that afternoon and we were left to our own devices.

Funny that it wasn't actually quite as bad as I thought it would be. We asked the bus driver to drop us off at Macy's on 34th Street so we could walk around the downtown Manhattan area.

Macy's - the world's largest store

Hubby had been harping on about eating some hot dogs in New York and so the first thing we did was walk around to find a street vendor. It was difficult as we were spoilt for choice. There were literally street vendors galore at every street corner in Manhattan.

Haggling with the street vendor

After walking a bit, we finally settled on a street vendor. Hubby proceeded to negotiate some food and we managed to walk away with hot dogs and pretzels. Missy was really chuffed with eating her pretzel.

Eating pretzels is a lot of fun!

We manoeuvred our way down some Manhattan streets and stumbled onto Times Square. This place was crazy!!! Diverse, vibrant, bustling, cosmopolitan, touristy, a space where people come together....it's a wonder how a place can be all these things and more.

Times Square...yeah!

We didn't go into any of the shops but just walked along to take in the atmosphere. We had to get to the Top of the Rock because we had an appointed time to be there so we walked on.

We got to a small office park on a street corner near the Rockefeller Centre. We decided to rest for a bit while waiting for time to pass. Missy took out her art book and started drawing some pigeons that were flying in and out where we were sitting.

Drawing pigeons is fun too!

There were mobile charger points at this small park and it would've been more appreciated if any of us had actually bought our chargers along.

And then it was time for our appointment with the Top of the Rock.