New York

On top of the Empire State Building

A week ago Lesley and I were in New York for a 6-day holiday. We did all the usual tourist things, like visiting the Empire State Building (sensational views from the observatory at the top on a perfectly clear early morning), and we did lots of other things like walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, visit Grand Central station, take a ferry past the Statue of Liberty to Staten Island, walk in Central Park, shop in Macy’s and Tiffany’s and have a wander around Times Square.

We spent some time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which together must have the most impressive collection of famous works of art anywhere in the world.

While Lesley spent the day on a Sex and the City tour, I visited the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum which is perhaps not something that a lot of people go to New York to see or even know about, but has possibly the most incredible collection of diverse historical military hardware I’ve ever seen in one location (and a British Airways Concorde too).

One of the highlights of the trip for me was spending an evening in 230 Fifth, a bar on the roof of a skyscraper, drinking expensive cocktails underneath the Empire State Building. We visited as many bars and restaurants as we could during the trip and we got a great sample of Manhattan food, drink and nightlife.

Our hotel room in the Affinia Dumont on East 34th Street in Manhattan was excellent with an amazing view northwards towards the Chrysler Building. The flights with Continental Airlines were very comfortable (direct from Scotland to New York – the first time I’ve ever been able to do this) and cheap too. The personal in-flight entertainment system with a huge film, TV program and music library is the best I’ve ever seen and made the long transatlantic flight almost enjoyable.

You can see all my photos from the trip on my website here.