NoNames Xmas Vacation 2: Some Things Old + Some Things New

Day 5 – Continued………..






Reunited, we quickly jumped in a taxi to our hotel in Manhattan. Traffic was typically busy and the journey took around 90 minutes, during which time the driver attempted to speed things up as much as possible to the point where he was jumping on the accelerator and break all over the place. It was quite an unnerving experience. We somehow made it to the hotel on Central Park South – just over $75. Chose the cash option and gave him a $100 note and asked for $10 change. That’s when the guy really p#$$%d me right off as he pretended he didn’t have change. I mean, it was an obvious lie. What taxi driver goes around with no cash on them at all? Not even a single $10 note? I said I’d pay by card then but he said I couldn’t due to already selecting the cash option. Anyone know if this is correct? Anyway, after a brief stand off I gave him a piece of my mind and didn’t bother with the change. Later on I thought about it further though and if this ever happened again I would go get change somewhere and then come back and pay sans tip. Irritating start to our visit!

Things got better as we went inside to the lobby of Park Lane Hotel New York. The hotel is located on Central Park South between 5th & 6th Ave. We stayed previously on the same street a couple of building down at the Ritz Carlton Central Park and absolutely love the location. Across the road from central park is a hard beat IMO. With minimal Marriott Bonvoy points at our disposal this time I was looking for other options. Searched for a while before this place caught my eye. Great location! Big rooms by NYC standard! Only marginally more expensive than tiny rooms at various Marriott Courtyards and the like. So I booked it! The rooms could use a refresh but they are still more than good enough so we were happy with what we found. Booked 3 nights for our initial NYC stay over Xmas and another separate 3 nights over NYE.


Stay 1: 23-26 December - 3 nights in a City View Room with 2 queen beds was USD$1,761.24 including tax

Stay 2: 29 December – 1 January in a Panoramic Park View Room with 1 queen beds was US$2,230.08 including tax


Being only 2pm the room wasn’t ready for us so we left the bags and went out to the city we had been waiting for! Just a short walk a few blocks down 5th Avenue for a look around and to take it all in. With Xmas only 2 days away the crowds were out in force. Amazing festive atmosphere.

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Making traffic great again as well


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Never realised how big this Apple store is!


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The hotel texted to say the room was ready so we headed back. Grabbed out key and then up the lifts to level 39. Down the corridor and then into our room. As I mentioned, these could use a refurb but they were fine for our 3 night stay. Don’t appear to have taken any photos but have some for the 2nd stay which I will post then. That said, the room details can be found HERE.

A short rest and then we were out to grab an early long forgotten dinner. Crowds everywhere as we walked down 6th Avenue. Our tiredness was hitting fast so we didn’t stay long. A couple of photos on the area then back to the hotel.

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Found the back entrance on 58th St

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Back up to the room, a quick look outside to appreciate the view and then it was sleep.

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Day 5 – Continued………..






Reunited, we quickly jumped in a taxi to our hotel in Manhattan. Traffic was typically busy and the journey took around 90 minutes, during which time the driver attempted to speed things up as much as possible to the point where he was jumping on the accelerator and break all over the place. It was quite an unnerving experience. We somehow made it to the hotel on Central Park South – just over $75. Chose the cash option and gave him a $100 note and asked for $10 change. That’s when the guy really p#$$%d me right off as he pretended he didn’t have change. I mean, it was an obvious lie. What taxi driver goes around with no cash on them at all? Not even a single $10 note? I said I’d pay by card then but he said I couldn’t due to already selecting the cash option. Anyone know if this is correct? Anyway, after a brief stand off I gave him a piece of my mind and didn’t bother with the change. Later on I thought about it further though and if this ever happened again I would go get change somewhere and then come back and pay sans tip. Irritating start to our visit!

Things got better as we went inside to the lobby of Park Lane Hotel New York. The hotel is located on Central Park South between 5th & 6th Ave. We stayed previously on the same street a couple of building down at the Ritz Carlton Central Park and absolutely love the location. Across the road from central park is a hard beat IMO. With minimal Marriott Bonvoy points at our disposal this time I was looking for other options. Searched for a while before this place caught my eye. Great location! Big rooms by NYC standard! Only marginally more expensive than tiny rooms at various Marriott Courtyards and the like. So I booked it! The rooms could use a refresh but they are still more than good enough so we were happy with what we found. Booked 3 nights for our initial NYC stay over Xmas and another separate 3 nights over NYE.


Stay 1: 23-26 December - 3 nights in a City View Room with 2 queen beds was USD$1,761.24 including tax

Stay 2: 29 December – 1 January in a Panoramic Park View Room with 1 queen beds was US$2,230.08 including tax


Being only 2pm the room wasn’t ready for us so we left the bags and went out to the city we had been waiting for! Just a short walk a few blocks down 5th Avenue for a look around and to take it all in. With Xmas only 2 days away the crowds were out in force. Amazing festive atmosphere.

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Making traffic great again as well


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Never realised how big this Apple store is!


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The hotel texted to say the room was ready so we headed back. Grabbed out key and then up the lifts to level 39. Down the corridor and then into our room. As I mentioned, these could use a refurb but they were fine for our 3 night stay. Don’t appear to have taken any photos but have some for the 2nd stay which I will post then.

A short rest and then we were out to grab an early long forgotten dinner. Crowds everywhere as we walked down 6th Avenue. Our tiredness was hitting fast so we didn’t stay long. A couple of photos on the area then back to the hotel.

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Found the back entrance on 58th St

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Back up to the room, a quick look outside to appreciate the view and then it was sleep.

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Whilst I hate the cold, always wanted to do a Xmas in New York, this has reminded me why. Thanks for posting.
 
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Day 6







Woke up with anticipation for the first full day in NYC and looked out the window to a joyous sight – it was snowing!


Hadn’t planned on getting outside so early but I simply couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. The other two were still keen to rest but I jumped up, put clothes on and was out the door about 15 minutes later. I walked around the area of the hotel, down to 5th avenue all the while being belted with snow! It was just magical!

Snowing in NYC on Christmas Eve! Does it get any better?


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Decided to wander through the park for a little bit.

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They are straight on to clearing the snow!


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Rang Mrs NoName and told here that she better get out of bed and get downstairs before the snow stopped or she would likely regret it. Thankfully she listened and a few minutes later they met me outside the hotel. They were both similarly excited. We did another short walk around before adjourning to room to eat breakfast.

An hour later and we were ready to go again and on our way to the first stop a few blocks away. Walked straight down 59th St and after a brief stop at one of the subway stations along the way to get 7 day passes (US$34 per pass) we were soon at 2nd Avenue and ready to board the Roosevelt Island Tramway. In our several visits to NYC we had never gone to Roosevelt Island and with it being on the itinerary this time, riding the tramway to get there was the obvious option. The tramway crosses the East River from the corner of 59th & 2nd to Roosevelt Island. It uses the same fare structure as the MTA, so we were able to swipe the metro cards we had just bought. Perfect!

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Day 6 - Continued…….





Roosevelt Island is an island in the middle of the East River between Mahattan Island and Queens. Its quite small, around 3km long and maybe 300m wide at its widest point so the idea was to circumnavigate it. We hopped off the tramway (which is located maybe 1/3 of the way up the island from South to North) and began walking North up the Manhattan side. Lots of great views!

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After longer than I had expected, we reached the top of the island and Lighthouse Park.

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The girl puzzle monument

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Roosevelt Island Lighthouse

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Back down the Queens side of the island which it has to be said was not quite as scenic.

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Old Small Small Pox Hospital

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Got down the other end to find the FDR Four Freedoms Park was closed on Tuesdays. Oh well! Walked back up the small part of the Manhattan side of the island that we hadn’t seen.

FDR Hope Memorial – reading that this is to provide inspiration to those with disabilities

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I admire your stamina going to all those lounges and all the eating and drinking. If I drank that much I'd be in bed for a day or two.

Need to be able to give an accurate first hand review of all of these things. And of course, someone’s got to do it! 😂
 
Day 6 - Continued…….





Back to where we started and instead of taking the tramway back to Manhattan we were jumping on the subway. Yes the island has a subway station as well. Jumped on the F train, changed to the B train several stops later and a few more stops later we were off at Grand St. Half a block down Chrystie St in Chinatown and we were at our lunch venue – Wah Fung No1 Fast Food.

This place has a bit of a viral following and is very popular with long lines every day. They basically just do roast meats and the option that inevitably pops up whenever you see them mentioned on social media is their roast pork or chicken on a small rice for US$5.75. An almost unheard of cheap feed in an extremely expensive city. We lined up and waited for our turn. Probably took 15 minutes to get to the front but eventually Mrs NoName was in and ordering.

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We went for a similar option – larger but equally great value. Pork, chicken & duck on a large rice for US$9! A bargain and was more than enough to feed us all.

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Went to the park across the road to eat and once inhaled we were off again. Back to the subway station, back on the B train then off again two stops later at 4th St. A one block walk and we were in Washington Square park. Much the same as when we visited in the summer several years ago. There were still performers and people everywhere, really snow and cold weather was the only difference.

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Washington Arch – the main feature of the park.

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Walked up 5th Avenue for a while until the other two had had enough. Around 34th St we ducked off to one of the subway lines for a quick ride back up to the hotel. It was mid-afternoon and we needed a rest.
 
Day 6 – Continued……….







We headed back out around 5 and set off down 6th avenue. Found something quick to eat along the way and then jumped on the D train at Rockefeller Centre. This was going to be a pretty long trip, all the way to Brooklyn infact. 14 stops later we hopped off in what seemed a world away from Manhattan at 79th St Brooklyn. Much to the irritation of the other two, there was still a 15 minute walk through a residential neighbourhood to navigate but despite the complaining it would be worth it. We were going to check out the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights. This is run entirely by the homeowners of Dyker Heights and it is incredible to see what they come up with. Almost every house in the area is decorated with an amazing array of Christmas lights and decorations. We spent a couple of hours walking up and down the streets in amazement!

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The main area with the light displays are from 11th to 13th Ave from 83rd to 86th St. So a good dozen or so blocks. Various different companies run bus tours and I looked into them and they take you close enough to the area and then you explore on foot. The popularity of the displays are such that the crowds are simply too large for vehicular traffic to be practical. In the end I couldn’t justify what would have been close to A$100 per person for something so easy to do using public transport. Word of warning: eat before you go. While there are lots of food truck type vendors that come to the area, they are all extremely expensive, gouging mercilessly. Think a big pretzel for over US$10.

By the time we were done it was close to 9pm and we were all ready for bed. Walked back to the train station we had come from, jumped on and 45 minutes or so later we were back in our room.

The other two were absolutely done but somehow I had gotten my second wind so decided to go for a walk down Times Square and beyond. I mean, why not right? Its fair to say it was busy out there, crowds out in force once again.

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I smashed out about 25 block down and then the same back before I’d had enough. Back to the hotel and bed after what had been a great Christmas Eve and looking forward to Christmas Day the next morning.
 

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