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New York City - Day 2

Written by Kristo Tuisk

Thursday, 25 June 2009 13:48

Rockefeller Plaza

I woke up at eight and took a nice refreshing shower (1). I had planned to go check out Rockefeller Plaza and the NBC studios for Conan O'Brien tickets (2). Rockefeller Plaza is also known for its skating possibilities at winter time and the massive Christmas tree (none of those were available now though... maybe the fact that it was summertime had something to do with it...). At 09:30 I finally found the Rockefeller Plaza and as you can guess I was too late to get tickets for Conan O'Brien taping. I decided to come and try again some other day. They advised me to come no later than 7am. if I would like to have a chance to get the tickets. (Yes, that's yours truly at Rockefeller Plaza.)

Top of the Rock

You can also visit the viewing platform at Rockefeller Center, so that was my next stop. The view from up, on the "top of the rock" was excellent. You can see the whole Manhattan from there (the pictures do no justice). The visit to the top cost $18. There was building and street to the horizon, no matter which way you looked. Besides Manhattan you could also see New Jersey, Brooklyn, Liberty and Ellis Island and so forth... A little bit to downtown one could see the Empire State Building, where I had planned to visit also, so that was my next stop.

(Kristo @ \"Top of the Rock\".) One thing I had planned, before the trip, was to taste all the "traditional" American foods. I was very happy when I saw the hot dog vendor at the street, so I just had to stop and have one, the real New York City style. (Hot dog.) On my way to Empire State Building I wandered around near the Saint Patricks cathedral. (Saint Patricks cathedral.) 4 hours later and I still hadn't found my way to ESB. I went to Bryant Park to enjoy a cheese Pretzel and a Green Tea Jamaica (a icy beverage made of 7 different fruits and green tea) mmm.... good. Around 15:00 I stopped by a french pub to have lunch. The service was great... when I asked that did they have any dark beers I was given some to taste, nice. I ended up ordering that beer and a Ham & Cheese sandwich. ( Some snacks and a skyscraper that was being built.)

Empire State Building

4 PM and I was finally at Empire State Building. I had certainly taken the long way around... visiting Times Square and other places on my way. In the front of ESB there was lot of police cars with lights on and people running around... My first thoughts were that something had happened in the building, but it soon came clear that it all was just a security for some VIP. The security continued inside...

Security check number 1: metal detectors and bag checks. After this there was, what seemed as, an endless mage of corridors with lots of security personnel. They looked like they were bored out of their mind and only thing that still gave them some pleasure was to hurry the visitors along, with annoying manner.

Security check number 2: my bag, belt and pretty much everything else I had on went through an X-ray and myself through a second metal detector.

Security check number 3: A scary looking, way too many Big Macs eaten, big black man was shouting out something with such a "ghetto" slang that I had no idea what he was saying... and before I knew what was going on he was groping my pants pockets. Only thing I though of was "damn it, why couldn't I be in the next line, where there was a hot girl doing the check-ups".

At last, after two elevator rides I though I would reach the viewing platform.... but alas, no. Another line... This time they took a picture of you, standing in front of a green screen. As I later found out, they digitally altered the picture to look like you were standing on top of the building... nice picture, a bit too pricey for me though. So... few more stairs up and ..... straight to the gift shop... c'mon... will I ever be up on the platform? I wanted to come and see some sights, not to be groped by a big black guy and buy junk from the gift shop... I finally was able to make my way, through some hyper-active people with way too many cameras, to the viewing platform. There were tons of people and the place was quite crowded. Half of the people seemed to be security though. I patiently waited to get a spot next to the railing.. the views were great though. (3)

(Some pictures from the top of the Empire State Building.)

(Short video from the top of the Empire State Building.)

End of the day...

The culture shock and long walks as well as the jet lag reminded me that I need a rest, so around 7pm I returned to the "hood". subway to 103rd and I found a nice coffee shop at 105th/Broadway. While enjoying my marengi(?)-peanut-thingy and a large latte I browsed through the Time Out newspaper and watched the city go by. (4) Around 9pm I was back to the hotel and I didn't need to wait long to get some badly needed sleep. Tomorrow morning there would be an early wake up, since I'm going to go to get the stand-by tickets to Conan.

(1) If you are going to stay at a hotel where they have shared bathrooms etc. it is a good idea to take some sandals with you. Of course your own towel is a must as well. (Back to top)

(2) You can reserve tickets to Conan O'Brien taping beforehand, so you don't have to go and stand in line. The reservations should be done several months beforehand though, since all the tickets go really fast and are usually reserved for months. Conan O'Brien website at NBC. (Back to top)

(3) Empire State Building can be a taunting experience, mainly because of the endless lines and waiting and security checks. I recommend visiting early in the morning or late at night, when there might be less people. (Back to top)

(4) Time Out (an addition to New York Times) is a excellent source of information about what to do in NYC. There are all sorts of events from picnics to free Yoga lessons in Central Park etc... The Time Out is included with New York Times, Thursday issue. (Back to top)

Back to Day 1 | Continue to Day 3