Travels with Gail and Rob: New York Landmarks

It rained overnight but cleared a bit by the time we set out. We needed an indoor venue so headed for Macy's, the largest department store in the world. It was certainly large with 2 buildings joined together but not over the top classy apart from the 1st 2 floors.

After late morning coffee, it had cleared enough to head for the Empire State Building. The rain had just cleared and we were ahead of the crowds. Took a series of lifts to the top and spent over an hour looking at the 360 degrees views. It brings home just how large New York is. We have never seen so many skyscrapers. In the far south, we could just make out the Statue of Liberty and had close up views of iconic buildings like the Chrysler. Even the photos won't tell the full story.

After lunch, we headed to the Morgan Library and Museum. This was a magnificent building with marble upon marble and one of the world's great collection of rare books. It has a major focus on manuscripts ranging from cuneiform to begging letters from Mozart for financial help. The library holds 3 copies of the 50 copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the world.

There was also an exhibition of recently acquired painting including some real gems.

The building and the collection were in total harmony. A magnificent sight!

We walked up to the Chrysler Building that pre dates the Empire State by 1 year but is still as modern as the day it was built - the city's top architectural gem.

Our next stop was the New York Public Library with its old world charm - huge public reading rooms that don't appear to have changed from the day they were built. We all enjoyed the special exhibition on children's literature.

In nearby Bryant Park, there is a fascinating open air reading room where you can borrow books and magazines and read in the sun. By now the sun was out. A modern concept for an old world library.

We walked down to Times Square and marveled at the rush hour buzz and crammed onto an express Metro to go back home. We unwound with a bottle of bubbly and a home cooked meal.