Hayden and Célia's Web Site

This photo was taken in honour of Célia's brother Victor.

Day 1 dawned bright and sunny (around 22ºC). We thought we'd start off with a nice, leisurely walk up towards Central Park, heading towards one of the world's most famous department stores - Bloomingdale's. Célia being the ungraceful clod that she is, ended up spraining her ankle just before this photo was taken, and had to sit on a park bench for about half an hour before being able to hobble on! Though not very clear, this is a photo of Bergdorf Goodman, the luxury department store, located in the Grand Army Plaza on the corner of West 58th St and 5th Avenue - as seen from the park bench!

This is Hayden in front of one of the famous Trump buildings. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Sir Donald himself! Bergdorf Goodman is to the right (that's your right, not Hayden's) of the building, at a 90ºC angle.

Located on the ground floor of the Trump building - just behind where the bus is on the photo on the left, is FAO Schwartz - one of the world's most legendary toy stores. As you can imagine, as soon as Célia saw this giant teddy bear outside she immediately wanted to take it back to London - unfortunately she had to settle for just a photo.

After lunch and with a new pair of sneakers in hand - we decided to head back to the hotel to rest Célia's ankle and put some heat rub on it. As it was on the way, we decided to go via Rockefeller Centre - located on West 50th St between Fifth and Sixth Avenue.

The photo is the entrance to the centre from Fifth Avenue. On either side of Célia there are little shops and cafés. Behind her is Rockefeller Centre with all the world's countries' flags in the forecourt.

You can imagine Célia's excitement when she realised they hadn't forgotten to include Mozambique's flag! The only thing do to (naturally) was take a photo!

After a little rest it was time to head off again. This time it was down towards Macy's - another famous department store, located on Seventh Avenue and West 34th St, and then on to The Empire State Building.

The observatory on the 102nd floor was shut on the day we visited, but it didn't matter too much, as the views from the 86th floor are pretty amazing anyway!

This is the view uptown. On the extreme right of the photo you can see the Chrysler building (more about this building later).

You should be able to see Central Park straight ahead on this one.

A better pic of the Chrysler Building - you'll see a number of shots of this building - which was definitely Célia's favourite. The most amazing thing about this 77-storey building is its stainless steel Art Deco spire that resembles a Chrysler radiator grill. Behind the building you can see the East River.

All that sight seeing builds up a healthy appetite! Hayden had eaten here on a previous visit to New York, and promised the best smoked meal around. He wasn't wrong! Anyone visiting New York must plan a visit to this place. The best advice we can give you is not to order a starter, as their main courses are very filling. The restaurant hangs and smokes its own meat - and you can taste the difference. They also serve all food with the most divine corn-bread you've ever tasted. Virgil's is on West 44th between Sixth and Broadway (Times Square).

Day 2 - another beautiful, sunny day. We decided to head off to the World Trade Centre, located in the Financial District - but only after a spot of shopping at a designer discount store called Century 21 on Church St just across the road from the Centre. The World Trade Centre itself actually consists of a couple of buildings, including 5 office blocks and a hotel - all connected by an underground concourse of shops and restaurants. The complex has 2 twin towers - one of which you can go up. The lift takes only 58 seconds to reach the 107th floor, from where you get spectacular views of New York. You can then take 2 sets of escalators up to the open observation deck on the 112th floor

Do we really want to go all the way up? Yeah!!

This is the waterfall concourse between the two towers.

When we entered the Centre Célia got excited (again) by flags. This time though, she found two which reflect her heritage - just as well she couldn't get to the other side where the South African and Swazi flags were or we would have been there all day!! If you're going to the World Trade Centre we recommend buying a ticket that includes going up at night as well. It costs less than double the price and that way you can come back at sunset and whizz straight past the queues. (Unfortunality this is no longer possible)

We're on top of the world!! Well, maybe not on top, but at least 112 storeys up! Note the scared look on Hayden's face - wonder what he was afraid of...

Célia with views of New York. Unfortunately the cloud obscures her favourite building - the Chrysler.

View of the East River with the Brooklyn (nearest) and Manhattan Bridges.

View over Manhattan. The tall building on the left is the Empire State Building.

View of Washington Square - now part of NYU. More on this later.

No visit to the USA would be complete without taking in a baseball game. We went to see the NY Yankees take on Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

As you can see, our seats were quite high up. Célia didn't enjoy the game quite as much as Hayden did - although she did enjoy listening to the weird conversation going on between the group of people sitting behind us!

Day 3 and by this point we were really starting to relax and settle into our holiday. It will come as no surprise then to hear that we hardly took any photos. We spent most of the day walking around, visiting stores like Barney's (the famous book store) and other interesting stores. We decided to take a walk through Greenwich, and ended up strolling through a street market where Hayden had a Chinese massage which he claims was just what the doctor ordered! Washington Square, where this photo was taken, has quite an interesting history. It was once a marshland, and in the late 1700s a public cemetery! It was also used as a duelling ground and until 1819 was a site for public hangings. The marble arch under which Hayden stood replaced an earlier wooden one, and was erected to mark the inauguration of George Washington.

We awoke to another stunning day and decided that it would be a perfect day for a boat trip. Circle Lines operate tours of varying times (we took the 3-hour option) and boats leave from Pier 83. Hopefully this tour will give you a better idea of how all the bits of New York fit together.

Berthed right next to the Circle Line Pier is the Intrepid, which contains a Sea-Air-Space Museum. The Intrepid was a World War II US aircraft carrier. The museum includes real fighter planes from the 1940s and aircrafts like the A12 (the fastest spy plane in the world). Unfortunately we didn't have time to board the Intrepid - but we thought it looked pretty impressive and will definitely find the time to see it next time.

Almost immediately after setting off we saw the Empire State Building in all its magnificence.

Another view of the Empire State Building - seen from further down the river.

And here she is - Lady Liberty! The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French people and used to loom over Paris before moving to New York.

From this angle you can see the 5 glass buildings that make up the World Trade Centre.

The World Trade Centre seen from the base of Manhattan Island.

The Brooklyn Bridge - which is the first bridge you pass once you round the bottom of Manhattan.

Look kids - it's the Chrysler Building again! This shot gives you a pretty good view of the top of the building - which is why it here (well, that and the fact that Célia wanted it here!) The photo was taken to contrast the richness and opulence that exists at the same time as the squalor and relative poverty of the brown tenement blocks.

Yankee Stadium - as seen from the water.

As we rounded the top end of Manhattan there was a low-level bridge that had to be moved in order for us to pass. Unlike most bridges that lift upwards, this one had three parts to it, the middle of which rounds 90ºC. Neither one of us had ever seen anything like it!

The George Washington Bridge - which is the first bridge you see once you've rounded the top of Manhattan and are heading back towards the pier.

All that sight seeing makes you hungry and we were determined to eat at Katz's Deli before leaving. Located on The Lower East side is Katz Deli, it has hosted many celebrities in its time, including Bill Clinton - whose thank you note is proudly displayed in the window. Despite being renowned as having the best Pastrami on Rye sandwich in New York - the Deli owes much of its fame to it being the location for the famous orgasm scene in the movie "When Harry Met Sally". Our opinion is that the Food is good - but the system chaotic. If you ever go there do yourself a favour and take a seat at one of the tables along the left had side. That way you'll be served by a waiter without having to figure out the queuing and ordering system!

The ticket is something you're handed when you walk into Katz's, and waiters scribble some nonsensical scribble on it before you pay. No one (other than Katz) knows what it means or what it's supposed to mean - but there are signs everywhere telling you to hand any unused tickets back before leaving. As you can see, we took one, but if you tell anyone we're gonna have to kill you!

All good things must come to an end (or so they say) - and this was the last day of our good thing We decided to head towards the Financial District again to try to see the Stock Exchange. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos inside, so you'll have to settle for a picture taken outside. Why does Célia look so strange? You might think it's because she was sad to be nearing the end of the holiday - but we think it's because she wasn't concentrating on the fact that she was about to have her picture taken!

Here we have Hayden in front of The Bull - which was erected as a symbol of Wall Street.

After the Stock Exchange we took the subway to Brooklyn with the aim of walking back across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan - something that Hayden has always wanted to do. You should just about be able to see the Empire State Building in the distance. Once across we stopped for a bite to eat and then it was back to the hotel to wait for the airport transport. And so ended our New York trip - but at least there was Lisbon to look forward to