Empire State Building

This morning saw us setting off nice and early for the Empire State Building, we walked from 43rd Street down to 34th Street a nice leisurely stroll amid the throngs of other people walking that early, and cars and taxis everywhere, am sure it was much quicker than taking the bus though.

Anyway in our usual style we went for the quick entry tickets, so we didn't have to line up for hours waiting to get up in the lifts, it was straight up to the 80th Floor where we changed lifts and made our way to the 86th floor and observation area. It was great, the view was spectacular and you could pick out the landmarks in the distance, Macy's was one that stood out for me, maybe it was the pure size of the shop :), Trump Towers stand out too and also you could see for miles in every direction.

Well we walked back up the road and stopped in Toys R Us in Times Square wow that was fun, it was Barbie heaven for Bella, Barbie purchase was necessary here, we found an Ariel one so that was a bit special, we saw Geoffrey the Giraffe and Bella had her photo taken with him.

After this we headed up the road and came across the Build-A-Bear Workshop, now Bella had been subjected to kids in the streets for the last 3 days with big bags and big bears so we decided to have a look, and well we built a bear, Daisy is her name, she is a cheerleader wears little Skeecher shoes (how cute) and she is currently tucked up in bed with Bella fast asleep.

We stopped after finding a mounted policeman and his horse and Bella had her photo taken with him.

I also came across the Naked Cowboy and stopped and took a couple of pics.

After this purchase we headed back down to the Westin and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Deli next door which we took back to the room, sat down for a bit and then we walked up 5th Avenue all the way to Trump Tower on 56th St, where we found Niketown, so a bit more shopping was necessary here. Then we kept going up the Avenue and we came to FAO Schwartz, so okay this was a biggie for me, have wanted to see it for a long time, it was great, we loved the stuffed animals especially the big ones, like the giraffes, kangaroos and elephants. Andrew had fun at the candy bar and we bought a big bag. Bella had a great time on the big piano, such a "BIG" moment :)












Walked back down 5th Avenue and stopped at the Rockafeller Centre for a quick look, also checked out Nintendo World but that was a bit lame actually.

We walked back along 8th Avenue and came across Engine 54, and the memorial to those from that station that lost their lives in 911, puts a lot into perspective actually.

Had a big rest this afternoon and tonight we went to see the Little Mermaid on Broadway, WOW it was amazing, the show was brilliant, the singing and costumes were sensational, and Bella sat there pretty much the whole time with her mouth open, we were both really impressed and would recommend it as worth seeing. We saw the cast leaving when we walked out and Bella sang out to Ariel and Sebastian.