Day 3 - High in the sky

This morning we widen our horizons even more. After exploring New York yesterday on land and from the water, we explore it today from the sky. Not by helicopter. The price tag of usd 229 for a flight of less than fifteen minutes, seems slightly on the high side. No, this morning we explore New York from the air from one of the tallest buildings in New York and it is not the Empire State building ... But first we explore the area near Central Park. Via the Columbus Circle we first drive along the upper west side, the west side of the park. We stop at the Dakota Building. Here John Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980, in front of his door. On the other side of the street in Central Park, the Strawberry Fields memorial is dedicated to him with a plaque on which one word is written 'imagine'.

Through the upper east side we drive back downtown along the east side of the park. Where the new rich are living along the western side, this being actors, actresses, singers, and musicians, it is mostly old money that  lives along the east side, this being industrialists, business leaders, ... These are beautiful apartments with a unique view of Central Park . If you are interested, the latest apartment offered for sale here, has an asking price of around USD 65 million. Continue to work a little bit more and start saving. Around the park are also the most important museums of the city with among others the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum.

Monday a special conference begins at the United Nations and the city is heavily protected. We are not the only VIPs in the city. Since Thursday, President Obama is also present and every day more and more state leaders are arriving. The streets to and from the United Nations building are closed. We stop at the Plaza Hotel at the entrance of Central Park.

It is very busy at the Apple store on the other side of the street. The I-phone 7 has just been released and it seems everyone wants to be first. We barely don’t take  a dip in the fountain that was used in the opening credits of Friends. Meanwhile, the participants of the Sex and the City tour are starting to arrive. Exceptionally there is a poor man that has to participate in this tour which the spouse. We drive over Fifth Avenue to Rockefeller Plaza, the heart of midtown Manhattan. It is here that we explore New York from the air. We are rocketed in 43 seconds to the 67th floor of the Top of the Rock building and from  here we have a beautiful view of Manhattan.

The stairs lead us even higher. There are three observatories from which we have a 360 ° view of the city. The iconic Empire State Building is standing right in front of us.

In the distance we perceive the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. The advantage of Top of the Rock in comparison to the Empire State Building is that you also have an unobstructed view of Central Park, the  green lung of the city as it were. From here you can see how big the park is.

We stay an hour on top of the rock. I try from all three floors to capture the Chrysler building. Of all the skyscrapers I still find this the most beautiful one, but for now she is playing a cat and mouse game behind another building.

Arriving back on solid ground, we explore the Rockefeller Center a little bit. Then it's time for lunch. For this, we drive to a street just off Times Square. Here QI is located, a Thai lounge restaurant, and one of the hottest restaurants at this time. New Yorkers are queuing for hours to be able to come and  eat here. I eat here one of the best red curries I've ever eaten. I understand why everyone wants to be here.  With a full belly, we can begin our afternoon walk.  But first we stop at the shop of the Hard Rock Cafe. From Times Square we go south on 8th Avenue to the Empire State Building, the southernmost point of our stroll. The Empire State Building was at it’s completion in 1931, the world's tallest building with 443 meters and 102 floors.

We cross to Park Avenue to move northward back to Grand Central Station. We visit the beautiful hall of the station with the equally magnificent ceiling paintings. It looks like the Sistine Chapel. Time to have a drink. We go to Cipriani. I can’t have visited New York without drinking a Cosmopolitan ... and he's made lovely yummy too. We cross towards Fifth Avenue. At St. Patrick's Cathedral a beautiful bride just arrives.

We defy the shopping mob on Fifth Avenue, especially to see the beautiful windows. Everything is here. From H & M, Zara to famous designers such as Armani. Still to be found in its familiar spot: Tiffany's. We walk past the Trump Tower. This is as kitschy as the one on Columbus Circle ...

We cross the street for a short walk to Central Park. Since no one has a private garden in Manhattan, this is the garden of every New Yorker. The park with a surface of ​​340 hectares does not only take a big place in Manhattan, it also takes an important place in the life of every New Yorker. A lot of people are getting married today as in the park a lot of bridal parties have their photo shoot. Children are playing in the park, couples are lying down on the grass. We gather some air before returning to the bustle of the city.

From here we go to Times Square. We take the aperitif on the terrace of the Novotel hotel. Here we have a beautiful view of Times Square, especially now it is quietly getting dark.

Lovely to enjoy all this with ... a Cosmopolitan. We dine at the hotel and then cross the street at 7.45 pm  to the August Wilson Theatre. You can not have visited New York without having gone to a piece on Broadway.

Jersey Boys is scheduled. Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. What is so nice about this piece is that it is not a story to which music is put as is the case with a traditional musical or for which one started from the music and then created a story about it (like Mamma Mia or We Will Rock You) . No, here the story is the career and thus the music of Frankie Valli. It is a sheer delight. A production of high quality. Tired but satisfied we return to the hotel. We go to sleep with again the stunning Manhattan skyline printed in our mind, totally ignorant of the attack that took place a few blocks down while we were in the theater. The city that never sleeps, also does not sleep tonight.