More New York

So the sun came out and we headed to Central Park for a picnic.

Of course the squirrels also wanted to join in the picnic.....

This time last year I was in India where some poor guys were paid peanuts for taking people around in Rickshaws - not in New York seemingly the rates here are more like $30 per hour!!! Funny enough I walked.....

As it was one of the first sunny weekend days this spring the park was full of families.

Alka, Masi and Anish walk go for a walk whilst Ajay has a sleep.

Looks like the kid in the hula hoop is negotiating hard with the Hollyhock dude in the big funny hat to get an extra few minutes for free....

No wonder there was no one in the horse carriages they are twice as much as the rickshaws....

Alka explains to Anish who Rabbie Burns is - why his statue is in Central Park I have no idea!

The sun brought out all sorts of colourful and entertaining characters in the Park.

Battery Park where you catch the Ferry over to the Statue of Liberty - this statue is in memory of those who died when a merchant ship sunk nearby.

Just some of the more common items that people try and take to the tourist attractions....

The Statue of Liberty just in case you were wondering.

The cold wasn't spoiling these kids having fun on the Ellis Island ferry.

After the Statue of Liberty I headed over to Ellis Island - this was the first point of arrival for over 12 million foreign Immigrants arriving in the US between 1892 and 1954. The museum explained where a lot of these people came from (lots of places but a lot from Island) and how they had to go through health checks etc before they were allowed into the US - those that failed were sent home on the next ship.

I hadn't done the tour of Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island my last visit to New York though I had got good views from another ferry trip I took - and I have to say though it was interesting and inexpensive it wasn't worth the 3 hours of standing about in queues for ferries and tickets - if your ever going to do it go very early and on a warm day!!

Views of Manhattan from the Ferry.

Grand Central Station - worth a visit even if your not catching a train just to see how huge this place is and wander around the shops and of course people watch!

Basketball shop.....

New York is just full of characters - no idea why or what this giant panda was doing but he was cute....maybe that was it!!!

The National Museum of American Indians had a colourful display of traditional costumes - or as it turned out most are not so traditional as it was only when westerners arrived with new fashions that beads and some other materials were worked into these outfits!!

There was also an interesting display of art by Fritz Sholder who was a controversial painter of Native American Art who himself was 1/4 Indian.

My favourite part of the museum was this oval shaped room with brilliant ceiling murals.

The New York Bull is up there with some of the most photographed characters in NY - there was literally a queue of people scrabbling to have their photo's taken with the bulls bollocks!!

The Courthouse.

Can't decide if I would want to have a dentist with this sort of sense of humour.....???

A walk through Downtown Manhattan just had to include Chinatown....

And Little India.....

There was surprising little graffiti on the buildings in Manhattan and the other areas of NY that I visited - same can't be said for this truck.

Then of course there is all the billboards.

And official if strange street art....

And some more funny posters.

After wandering about for a while I took a break in Washington park and listened to this jazz band who were good - but not good enough that I bought there CD.

Probably one of the most expensive addresses in Manhattan.

Chom Poo Moo was surprised to get up close to Liberty when she took the day off to come shopping on 5th Avenue.

Of course New York's famous Yellow Taxi's - still never been in one though.

St Patrick's Cathedral.

The Ice Rink area at the Rockefeller Centre gets busy when the rain stops....

One of my favourite things I did on my first visit to New York was the tour of the Rockfeller Centre where the guide explained some of the reasons behind New Yorks archetecture - like the staggered design of the buildings to make sure that the sun could always get through to the street level and it didn't end up always in the shade. Then there was all the hidden and not so hidden art work on the Rockfeller Buildings and what they meant. I took my own refresher tour this time - not quite as informative but still loved it.

My favourite piece of artwork in the Rockfeller Centre is this roof painting my Jose Mari Sert - when you walk underneath it from one side to another the figure appears to also move his position on the colomns.

And of course there is the Radio City Studio.

My last day in New York we took Ajay for his first visit to the zoo - Bronx Zoo. Think I was more excited than Ajay to get up close to the Tigers and the breast feeding Gorilla!!

We then went to Patsy's Pizza place - one of if not the oldest pizza place in New York. Not sure what Anish was trying to do here - my guess is that he was mimicking the animals he'd been watching at the zoo and trying to pretend it was to entertain Ajay!!

And the sunset views from Alka and Anish's place on my last night.

So I have started the second stage of my travels and I am already way behind on my blog - no excuses I have just had better things to do ;-).

It was great to catch up with Alka and family after not seeing her for so long and getting to spend time with Ajay was fun. Spent about two weeks in New York and though I did some sightseeing etc I spent quite a lot of time just playing with Ajay and catching up with Alka and Anish. - oh and dealing with police/consulate etc after my passport was lost/stolen (long story but my own stupid fault for forgetting to take it out my wallet after a night out - they ask for id over here even at my age!!). But thankfully my new one arrived safe in Washington the other day and I will pick it up next week.

Oh and I have to mention all the lovely home made food that Masi made for me - yes I will definetely be stopping back off to say hello on my way home (my attempts to persaude Masi to come travelling with me didn't work but I'm still holding out!!).

So since starting this blog update I have already moved on and been to a few more places but I will update with them as soon as I get the chance - for now I am off to bed...

Hope your all well.

Jack xx