3rd December New York

Today I decided to buy a hop on hop off bus ticket so I could get to see more of the city that I just would not get to on foot. I first took the downtown loop so I could connect with the Brooklyn Tour. Normally it departs from Battery Park, but due to Hurricane Sandy there is so much work going on down there that we joined this tour at the World Trade Centre. It was a two hour non-stop tour of Brooklyn which pointed out sites such as Fulton Mall, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Bridge. As we passed the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens many fallen trees from the hurricane could still be seen.  We also drove through Chinatown in downtown New York which has the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere. We also drove past the dock area on the Lower East side which parts of are still closed after Hurricane Sandy.I also got a glimpse of the United Nations building....and I also got my first glimpse of the Plaza Hotel and Central Park. I was planning to do the 'Top of the Rock', which is going up to the observation deck of the Rockefeller Centre, to take in the views over New York. This was recommended rather than the Empire State Building because from the Rock, your view of New York includes the Empire State Building...and I figure I could always do that next time! By the time I got to the desk it was starting to get dark and there was going to be about another 30 minutes before I actually got to the top. The girl at the desk said she could book me in for 4pm tomorrow and then that way I could get daylight views as well as the sunset. the weather forecast was reasonable so I agreed to do that. She also said that a walking tour of Rockafeller Centre was just about to depart if I wanted to join that. After doing the walking tour on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh I agreed because on that tour so many things were pointed out that I had missed just walking there on my own. A very enthusiastic art student was our tour guide and I must say that I really enjoyed the tour. Again many things I had walked past over the last couple of days gained a whole new meaning. This included the fact that I had been walking past the NBC Today studio and I hadn't even noticed! We also stopped to watch the light show (a bit like Vivid in Sydney) on the Saks Fifth Avenue building. I decided not to go to a show tonight and instead joined the hop on hop off bus Christmas Lights tour. Again I thought I would get to see more this way than trying to cover it on foot. On the way home I stopped at the Cold Stone Creamery (our Cold Rock equivalent) and chose the 'Founder's Favourite'...sweet cream ice cream, pecans, brownie, fudge and caramel...mmmmmm! Tomorrow 'Uptown'.