New York. Sunday November 27 2022.

​We were both still a bit jet-lagged so we weren't up-and-at-em as early as we'd hoped. Still no matter.

Rain was forecast but the weather looked ok as we started the day with a bus tour of downtown.

It was when we switched to the uptown tour that things started to unravel....

Yep, It started to rain. We'd been issued plastic ponchos for just such an eventuality, but as we huddled inside our ponchos on the open top bus (there were no more seats under cover), people in the streets were pointing, and laughing, at us and we saw our plans for a leisurely stroll through Central Park dashed, I was glad we could  grab a slice of pizza & retire to our room to eat, dry out, and recover.

But then, the absolute highlight, later in the day - the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular – and spectacular it was. 90 minutes of high kicks and kick line brilliance. All remarkably perfect and fun. A definite theatre highlight. 

New York, New York it's a helluva town

We started the day at Times Square - sidetracked initially by the M & M's  store - but then into TS proper. TS wasn't what I expected (don't know what I expected tbh) we wandered around snd then headed (vaguely) in the direction of the highline. The weather was glorious; cold and sunny - perfect tourist weather.

We got sidetracked by the Morgan library..

Extremely impressive library and perhaps inspiration for the chateau penthouse library?

An exhibition on The Little Prince by Antoine du Saint-Exupery was interesting and had me borrowing the ebook from my library for a refresher read.

We continued on our merry way and soon stumbled across Library Way which leads to the New York Public Library (NYPL).

A series of plaques in the footpath (sorry, sidewalk) led us to the front of the NYPL.

we explored the "Treasures of the library" exhibition - highlight the 'real' Winnie the Pooh among other things. I'm pretty sure Kylie enjoyed the 'accidental'  library themed day; even though it wasn't what we originally planned to do.

Tomorrow the forecast is for rain and then in the evening we head to Radio City Music Hall for the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.

NYC, just got here this evening…

The view from our  hotel. We are staying on west 48th street; within walking distance of absolutely everything (theatres). It was a long, oh so long, flight from Dubai but so excited to be here. 

In prep for NYC, on the plane from Dubai, I watched all 10 episodes of Law & Order 2021 so felt ready to  tackle anything New Yorkish. I consider it important to research everything in case you hadn’t realised…

Tomorrow we start exploring/touristing in earnest.

start spreadin' the news

I'm leaving today

I wanna be a part of it New York, New York.

At Dubai airport waiting to board our flight to NYC.

Dubai. Round 1. Day 1.

After a good night's sleep & a filling breakfast we headed off to the National Library of Dubai (The Mohammed Bin Rashid Library to give it its full name). 

The exhibition Treasures of the library was awesome - it contained books going back to the 13th century, some amazingly bejewelled pen cases, some beautiful hand drawn maps. Just wow. Security is tight - a security guard swipes you in to the exhibition; another one swipes you out. 

The library itself is huge. 7 floors and each floor has a specific purpose. Exhibition floor, periodicals floor, business floor etc. 

The automated returns system which looked like an oversized electric train kit, or the automated returns shelves where you put the books on the shelves and they return automatically.

Lots of gizmos and gadgets and plenty of varied study spaces. 

Definitely worth a visit.

On board the QE2

On board the QE2

So our hotel in Dubai is the (former) Cunard Liner the Queen Elizabeth 2. As prep for this stopover I read the Jessica Fletcher/Murder she wrote novel Murder on the QE2 which gave me a very good idea of what our accommodation would be like ( minus the dead bodies hopefully). So far so good - ie. no dead bodies). 

Leavin' on a jet plane...

tooth fixed - check

taxi booked - check 

hair cut - check

remove scrunchies from luggage - check

start panicking - check

It's important to have a plan.

All my bags are packed (no they're not), I'm ready to go (no I'm not)

 

I saw a cartoon on insta the other day which kind of sums up where I'm at...

It went something like "I've mastered crastination so I've gone pro..." 

Plans derailed slightly yesterday as I broke a tooth which meant first thing this morning I was on the phone to my dentist. His earliest 'emergency' appointment is December 8 - not much use to me.

K remembered seeing a dental surgery that has walk in appointments - they can see me tomorrow so hopefully that's sorted 🤞

Also wondering how long this blog will last - my track record for travel blogs is not great.