Day 6 NY Big Bus Tour, Flatiron, Grand Central Terminal and home

Our last morning!   We woke about half 7, and finished off the packing we had started last night.  We had brought a slice of New York Cheesecake last night but hadn't eaten it, so Sarah, Grandma and I had some while we were getting ready.  It was delicious but we didn't finish it!

Our flight wasn't til 9pm so after packing we walked back to the Tick Tock Diner for breakfast.  Sarah and Chloe had crepes s'mores and nutella cookie, Grandma had blueberry pancakes and I had a bowl of fruit with yoghurt and nuts.

Sarah's s'mores crepes

Feeling very full we headed back to the hotel, sorted ourselves out and took our bags down to reception to store them til later.

We still had a free attraction on our explorer pass so I had a bit of a think about what to do.  I decided on a Hop on Hop Off bus tour to hopefully see some of the sights we had missed.  We needed to pick up the bus behind the Empire State Building so we walked the few blocks to the bus stop, found a tour person and exchanged our passes for bus tickets.  A few minutes later the bus appeared.  It transpired we only wanted the next stop that was in view but oh well it saved our poor sore feet a few paces!  We hopped o at the Flatiron building as I was really interested to see it.  After a few photos we walked the couple of blocks to Klienfelds, the wedding dress shop from Say Yes to the Dress!  Not so secret guilty pleasure!

heading to the bus stop near Empire State

braving the open top deckin the cold!

Back to the Flatiron and we hopped on the next bus which took us down through Soho.  We got off again at the Little Italy stop as I hoped t find some wall art for Chloe.  To be honest I don't think our feet and hearts were in to too much more exploring.  Chloe did spot a Moma gift shop so we stopped here for a while having a look at all the home design stuff.  Back on a Hoho bus and we travelled through Chinatown, the financial district, past the Bull, Bowling Green, Customs House and Court house before taking in the Staten Island Ferry terminal and the Statue of Liberty in the distance.  Next we drove past the World Trade Centre buildings including the Little church that remained untouched by 911 despite being right beneath it.  Also the cemetery where Alexander Hamilton is buried.  The tour buses were great with guides giving a running commentary on what we passed via free headphones.

Wall Graffitti

The weather today was drastically different from yesterday having dropped nearly 40 degrees f from yesteday, so from a sunny  26°c/80°f to a very chilly 4°c/40°f.  Layers, coats, gloves and hats were the order of the day.  Grandma and Chloe opted for the warmth of downstairs on the bus, Sarah and I headed up to the open top deck!  Slightly mad especially when we headed back up Manhattan island next to the Hudson River.  It was bitter but we braved it out.  Getting off the bus near Times Square we walked one block to pick up another route to take us to Grand Central Terminal. 

What a stunning building.  The interior is cavernous and opulent.  We took some photos then headed down to the restrooms and dining area, where we got some hot food and warmed ourselves up.

We then walked back to the hotel where we collected our luggage and ordered a taxi.  The journey back to the airport was quite quick compared to our journey on arrival. 

Boarding passes and bag drop was quickly sorted but security was mental.  We were told to go up one staircase but there were so many people we ended up back at the top of another set with seemingly no end to the queue for security.  People were panicking about flights and getting stressed.  Once staff sorted out a couple of lines the queue started moving quiet quickly, they had stopped asking for shoes to be removed and electronics taken out of bags, I assume just to moved the queue quicker.

Once through we brought ourselves some drinks and settled in to wait for boarding.
We brought some food from the Bazaar food court, pizza and sub to share, both of which was nice and fresh.

Our plane board on time at ten past eight and we departed on time at 9pm.  It was a fairly quiet flight, a few minor areas of turbulence but with a tail wind we were landing half and hour earlier than planned.

It has been an exciting and very interesting week, which we have all enjoyed enormously.  It is fantastic to see all and sights and experience New York in person.