18 October 2014
The majestic Museum of the City of New York
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Another morning when we did’t have deadlines to meet, so had a sleep in before visiting Dean and Deluca, that wonderful delicatessen on 8th Avenue, for breakfast. Then it was only a short walk for us to catch the Blue Hop on Hop off Bus to see more of Uptown Manhattan. We have had the opportunity of seeing much of this area, so decided to stay on the bus for the full loop.
Whizzing past the Lincoln Centre on the left of the image
The route took us up 8th Avenue toward Central Park, firstly past Columbus Circle, named for Christopher Colombus. It is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in Manhattan, at the southwest corner of Central Park. It is the point from which all official distances from New York City are measured. The name is also used for the neighbourhoods a few blocks around the circle in each direction. To the south of the circle lies Hell’s Kitchen, also known as “Clinton”, and the Theatre District, and to the north is the Upper West Side. Next we passed the Lincoln Centre, then back to 8th Avenue and the Dakota Apartments where John Lennon lived, and where Yoko Ono still lives. The street is lined with the most beautiful buildings that are mainly apartments, and very costly!
Some of the ornate buildings that are now luxury apartments facing Central Park
The bus then moved along the Upper West Side past the Cathedral of St John the Divine, Grant’s Tomb and the famous Apollo Theatre (right) on the edge of Harlem. We were then heading down the east side of Central Park past the Museum of the City of New York, the Guggenheim Museum, the Frick Collection, Central Park Zoo and Central Park.
It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday, and the crowds were out enjoying the lovely Fall weather all over New York, but in particular around Central Park. It was a very relaxing ride revisiting some of the sights we had been to, and enjoying new ones.
It had been a wonderful day as we headed back to the New Yorker to organise our luggage for our two day tour to Washington and Philadelphia that starts tomorrow – excited to be seeing the Capital of the United States of America.
The crowds lined up on a busy Saturday morning for carriage rides through Central Park
