Day 25 - First Day in NYC

Sad to see a brick wall as our "view".

There was a misunderstanding about our room booking at the Park Central. We had booked online a Times Square View Room.  The check in attendant mentioned something about an upgrade, but we didn't catch on.  We got to our room, opened the curtains and looked out to see a solid brown brick wall.  How disappointing!  A phone call to reception and we were told that there wasn't anything they could do as all the Time Square rooms were already allocated and that the information showed the booking was made through an external online agent.  We searched through our paperwork and found a printout of the email confirming our booking and the room type.  Next morning we will see someone about sorting this out.

After a restless night, we woke early and decided to go for a walk.  We called past reception to see if there was someone in charge we could discuss our situation.   The manager would be available in half an hour.  We went for a walk towards Central Park and around the block.  On our return we talked with the desk clerk again and explained our request.  Thankfully he acted on the detail in the email without argument.  We then had to pack our bags and put them in storage for the day.  Our room would be ready after 4pm that meant we were roomless.

Feeling much happier, we found a deli to have breakfast and discuss our plans for the day.

We ended up buying a Metro card each for unlimited travel for 7 days.  We used the underground train to make our way to the World Trade Centre site.    The platform and carriage weren't crowded as we were well past peak hour.  We walked around the site and spent time in the museum shop.  There were lots of folk here.  We were content to walk around and see the site from different vantage points as we hadn't pre-purchased our tickets to access the memorial gardens.

Nearly caught playing in the fountain

The new Freedom Tower rising to overlook the Memorial Gardens

This almost looks like someone we know.  Trev will know who.

Lunchtime sees the square filled with construction workers in fluro shirts

This is a very sobering place.  Never having known what it was like before the event, we could only imagine the devastation.  Ten years on, New Yorkers have done well to reclaim their space.

Time to work our way back, so we caught another train on a different line.  This one took us through Grand Central Station.  This was another place that we wanted to see.

Grand Central Station's Main Hall

and no one to give me a shine...

It started to rain, so we stopped in a park in the shelter of a statue.  There was a piano player entertaining a small lunch time crowd.  This seemed to part of a number of events celebrating the onset of Fall.

We weren't far (in the scheme of things) from our hotel, so we walked.  I spotted a shop that proved to have some fabulous clothes and a chair for Clint while I looked around.  A new top and a pair of trousers later, we were on our way.

A slow wander back and we joined a very long queue of people waiting to check in.  We chatted with a young fellow who had arrived from Alaska where he had been hunting moose!

Much happier

Finally, we were re-checked in, collected our luggage from storage and found our room.  First things first, Clint opened the curtains and saw the view he had been waiting for - Times Square.  Happy birthday!  Bags stowed and settled in for the remainder of our stay.  We should sleep well tonight.