As today was our only full day in New York, the plan was to get ourselves on to one of the many Hop on Hop Off buses that circulate around the city.

After eating three face sized pancakes and a sausage for breakfast, at a nearby diner, we headed to the nearest bus stop .

The company we chose offered five different routes – Uptown, Downtown, Brooklyn and The Bronx. Purely due to our location, the first loop we started on was the Downtown one.

Starting near Pennsylvania Station, the loop took us along 5^th Avenue, past the Empire State Building, the Flat Iron Building, past Union Square, through Greenwich Village then along Broadway past 1 Police Plaza and City Hall. When we got to the stop for the 9/11 memorial we hopped of the bus and joined the Brooklyn loop.

Due to security, traffic and roadwork related issues on the Brooklyn Bridge; we went to Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge. This route gave us a few photo opportunities of the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. On the way to the bridge we had a quick drive through Chinatown and saw the lamp posts that little pagodas on top.

As we were getting our photos of the Brooklyn Bridge, we noticed that the flags on top of the two pillars/towers were white and that there were a lot of flashing lights in the middle of the Bridge . Unknown of us at the time, it would appear that during the night, people had climbed to the top of the bridge and replaced the USA flags with flags that had been bleached white. This was a massive security breach and the lead story for most of the news channels. Mum and I just thought that the white flags were a sign that everything was fine in the city and that the treat level was ok. Instead it would appear that the white flags were anything but a signal that all was well.

The rest of the Brooklyn loop was uneventful. We went past the Brooklyn Zoo, the Botanic Gardens, the Library and the prison. After crossing back over the Manhattan Bridge we finished the loop with another quick look through Chinatown and finished at the stop where we bgan.

After rejoining the Downtown Loop, we continued our journey along the lower eastside, past where the downtown fish market was, the United Nations Building, the Rockefeller Centre and Central Park.

Given it was lunchtime and we were hungry, we stopped to eat a quick snack on the edge of Central Park. Mum braved a hotdog, while I opted for a super sized pretzel.

After continuing on the Downtown loop to Times Square (where everyone was kicked off the bus), we walked across to 8^th Avenue and joined the Uptown Loop.

As the name would suggest, this bus took us Uptown . We headed up 8^th Avenue towards Columbus Circle, past the Lincoln Centre, Columbia University and the Dakota Apartments where John Lennon was shot and Strawberry Fields.  We then continued on to the Upper Westside and saw General Grant's Tomb. We were planning to hop off the bus here to join the bus that went out to The Bronx, but were too late to make it. Continuing on into Harlem, we went past the Apollo Theatre, along part of Malcolm X Boulevard and then back along 5^th Avenue next to Central Park and past the Metropolitan Museum and the Guggenheim.

After once again being kicked off the bus near Times Square, we decided to brave the crowds and walk back to the hotel. It was only about 10 blocks and we had plenty of time before our next engagement. To say that Time Square was crowded would be an understatement. You could barely move and heaven help you if you were in a car, as no-one was paying attention to the traffic signals.

We returned to hotel and after a short rest, we headed out for our dinner engagement . The plan had been to have dinner at the Lucille’s restaurant at the BB King Blues Bar, however due to there being a private booking that wasn’t included on the bar’s online calendar, we didn’t end up having dinner there. While we were trying to sort out when the restaurant would be open to the public, we saw people going in to watch the main gig for the night – a rapper named Currency. I’m not sure it they were expecting trouble or it was standard practice, but everyone going down to see Currency had their ID checked and had a pat down.

Having given up on having dinner at the bar, we headed around the corner to the Hard Rock Café. Once again we hit a speed bump, mainly a 50 minute wait to be seated. We didn’t wait around. Instead we had Italian at a small place nearby. They forgot our order (45 minute wait for two bowls of pasta) and when we did remind them, they gave me the wrong meal. After letting them know about our displeasure, the decided to give me my wrong meal for free.

As we were still in the area, Mum went and bought her Hard Rock Café t-shirt . Then it was back to the BB King Bar for a second supper downstairs in the Lucille’s. Even though we had already eaten, we still had some fried green tomatoes and some beef sliders. Very tasty. As a surprise Peach had tried to organise having the bar staff bring out a drink from her… they didn’t seem very receptive to the idea, so we recreated her plan for her.

After listen to some music, we walked back to the hotel.

Fun fact:
The Freedom Tower is 1776 feet tall and sits on the site of one of the World Trade Centre buildings that were destroyed in 2001.