Day 03: A sleep in, walk and dinner

After a big day yesterday, around 14 hours out of our hotel we planned a lazy day today. Veterans Day in the USA and here in NYC also featured a parade and lots of road closures, big crowds and limited subway. 

After a lazy morning we had breakfast in. 

We discovered a yummy granola at Murrays cheese. So that was brekky with a cup of tea. 

Mardi pottered around with her cosmetics and yesterday’s gifts and purchases. I ventured out with my camera and wandered aimlessly taking in the beat of the city. I made it to Fifth Avenue and watched the Veterans Day parade for a little while. The crowd was starting to thin but there were still massive crowds and road closures. With the road closures comes the barricades as well. Light coloured metal wire things. Half a dozen bruises or so later (damn things) I made my way up town to Central Park. 

Along the way I passed the magnificent St Patrick’s, the now fortified Trump Tower, Tiffany, Saks, Apple and the exquisite Plaza Hotel. 

I ventured into a Central Park, a quick visit, the wind had picked up and it was really starting to cool down and the sun setting behind the sky scrapers mean it gets dim quickly. 

I had a 16 block walk ahead of me. I ventured to Sixth Avenue, to beat the crowds and walked further across to a Seventh for the trip home. 

On the way home I picked up a couple of hot chocolates and we sat in our room for a bit enjoying the late afternoon before heading out for dinner. Italian tonight. 

We headed out about 6pm for dinner and walked to Barbetta. A little Italian restaurant set up in an old residence built/owned by the Astor’s. Some will know about Lord Astor going down with the Titanic. A beautifully restored old residence with wonderful staff and traditional Italian fare. 

We sat for a couple of hours chatting to the staff, eating pasta and a yummy roast chicken. Desert was a silky panacotta and orange mousse. Delicious. 

We walked back through the gale force wind that had whipped up and stopped at one of the many night markets. The cold got too much and we ventured indoors to a nearby gift shop. We looked around for ages at the array of gifts on offer.  

We bought a few gifts for friends and family back home. 

We then walked back to the hotel. Mardi went to Sephora in Times Square and I stayed in the hotel and chilled out with some Dave Gilmour.