On Friday morning I was up early and in the Uber by 6.45am to the Amtrak station to board the train to NYC. The trip was really pleasant with some very pretty scenery. Unfortunately train windows were really dirty, so it was impossible to take any pics or video. Spectacular view of the horseshoe bend on the tracks. I did manage to embarrass myself monumentally! I remembered my earphones and was happily listening to music along the way. I went to the dining car to get a drink and when I returned to my seat I reconnected to the music. The sound was a bit peculiar so I turned it up a bit…OMG….I then realised that it was playing out aloud through the IPad speaker.

Obviously I blushed to my core and offered grovelling apologies to my fellow travellers. I must say that they took it fairly well and let me off the hook! To answer the question my dear brother asked….Kenny Roger’s – The Gambler. Pretty appropriate when you think of the lyrics….

On a warm summers evening, on a train bound for nowhere…..

The train pulled into a pretty chaotic Penn station at peak hour, 5.40pm. I then proceeded to have a really crappy Uber experience. Called the cab, got the details and was waiting on the corner intersection…waited about 7 minutes and then saw the cab drive by…with someone in it. So I tried to cancel, but was advised that I would pay a fee for cancelling. So I waited…another 15 minutes. When the dude eventually arrived, I asked him why he drove past. Oh he says, I had another ride picked up and had to drop him off. So I asked him why he didn’t phone me or cancel the collection. He says, oh I guess I should have! I could have spontaneously combusted…the rest of our trip was in absolute silence. Well guess what pal? That is what the rating system is for!!!

My hotel is really good…typical small New York sized  room. I am on the 14th floor and it is relatively quiet especially for NYC. Most importantly I have a window that opens. The lack of fresh air in some of the hotels really distresses me. The Hotel Hayden is slap bang in the flower district, so plenty of fresh flowers and plants all,along the roads. Friday night was an early night, I went for about an hours walk to suss put the neighbourhood, had a mac n cheese at Panera’s and an early night.

All my notable activity so far, took place on Saturday. I was up and about by 9am and hopped on the subway to City Hall and then did my long, long awaited walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I have always wanted to do it and never managed on any of my previous visits to the Big Apple. It really was magic! Fortunately, it was not as hectically busy as it can be. The wind blew quite a bit and it was a fresh 14 deg, but that made it quite pleasant. In general, the temp has been between 14 and 20 deg…so definitely getting cooler. But not always necessary to have my jacket on.

I did stop and think about the trauma of 9/11 and vividly remembered the images of those shell-shocked and ash covered people walking across the bridge. It must have been a horror that is so burned into their memories. Really made me quite emotional.

The views walking along the bridge on either side are great. On the left is the river and the huge metal Manhattan bridge. To the right is Governer’s Island , the Statue of Liberty is in the distance and the massive bay expanse. Unfortunately the famous Brooklyn Bridge Ice Cream shop was closed – I think possibly because it was Yom Kippur- many businesses in the city were closed on Friday and Saturday. Once I got across to the other side…I thought…”What I can do now”? So I looked left and thought, why not walk across the Manhattan bridge while I am here? A completely different experience! The thundering noise on that bridge is unbelievable, you have 3 train tracks, motor vehicles and the narrow pedestrian/cycling path next to it. When the trains go by everything shakes and rattles….teeth included!

The bridge empties into downtown Chinatown. Dawn, you will remember the arch and the wide crossing where I nearly got run over one night. (Ps….don’t mention this to my Mom!), we ate at a restaurant nearby. I then caught a bus, through the East village past our old neighbourhood. This is such a brutally vibrant city. I got back to my hotel at about 4pm and just chilled until 6.30pm and got ready to go and see The Piano Man.

Madison Square Gardens is a 3 block walk away from my hotel and took about 7 minutes to get there. I stopped and had a greek salad along the way. I had really great tickets for the show, which was Billy Joel’s 90th performance at MSG – another sold out show. The arena has seats 360 degrees around the stage, 18 000 seats. Again I was most fortunate to be seated near some great fans and really friendly people. Two guys sitting next to me, were Danny and Gilbert (married to each other), from Texas. They were so excited to hear that I was from South Africa. When slower songs were song, Danny grabbed me and pulled me in for a group sway. The couple behind us were in on all the action too…check out the expert photobomb.

The stadium erupted at the first guest artist…none other than Paul Simon. He sang The Boxer and Late In the Evening, he was excellent. I nearly plutzed when Billy Joel played Born to Run- as a tribute to another Jersey boy! There was also an appearance by Miley Cyrus…which surprises us all. But she did perform well. In total he played 26 songs- the only one I missed was Innocent Man. What a professional performer he is – every bit as good as he was in SA. Fully engaged with the crowd, laughing and joking and self-deprecating. The lighting was phenomenal. Dressed in a suit and tie through the entire performance, I think he will continue to sell out as long as he continues to perform. I am so privileged to have seen both my favourite musicians in concert.

The scalpers’ tickets for Springsteen on Broadway are selling at over $1200 per ticket. So it is not going to happen for me this trip and I will be flying home on Wednesday as planned! But I have promised myself that if the Boss goes on the road again in the States, I will come over and see him play here.

I only got to bed after midnight last night, so this morning was slow and lazy. I took a walk to Macy’s and then caught a bus to Bloomingdales, where I got the only 3 bottles of Sublime perfume I can find in NYC. I took a slow meandering walk back towards my hotel. I had an early dinner and have basically been room bound this evening, mostly due to exhaustion. Caught up on blog and started packing. No no no… I am not completely anal….just want to see how much shopping I can still do!

Tomorrow’s agenda is a walk to lower Manhattan along the raised bridge walkway, a visit to B&H electronics store and a general walk around. Tuesday will be Central park and Times Square. It has been great not rushing from attraction to attraction. Taking time to see and hear and watch the ordinary things. I may also try and squeeze in a Hudson River Cruise.

Time for some pics and then its off to bed for me.

Flower shop in W 28 th street

Along the street

Orchard shop

View from hotel roof top

Can’t imagine this winning cops n robbers racw

Stuart Little????

Orchards in the Flower district

More orchards

Fountains near city hall

Live the beauty in parks

Finally

Proof

Great views ahead

Long way from the edge

Again the skies gave drama

We got a bit wet

Wet and windy

Dramatic sky

Temp check

Back over the next bridge

Not so pretty

Rough and ready and loud

Good lord who designed this building

This is why I dont cycle

View from Manhattan bridge

Manhattan skuline

Special view

90th show

Brilliant lights

Big screens

Danny and I

Photo bombed selfie

Awesome lights