Roosevelt Island
Even today we left early to go to Roosevelt Island and pig dog is nice cold!
My nose freezes.
From the metro we take the cable car that offers a wonderful view of the streets full of cars, which slice the skyscrapers like knives.
We fly over the river and for the first time enjoy the Manhattan skyline from the island.
On the sidewalk there is ice water and the sky is clear; some duck that sneezes and the first squirrels of our trip, are two and really chubby. I got excited, I thought I wouldn’t see more, and I couldn’t be more wrong; I would have seen so many.
We wander quietly waiting for the park dedicated to Roosevelt to open.
Near the entrance there are the ruins of the old psychiatric hospital where they also put the contagious sick for quarantine.
To me it is such and such is Batman’s home.
The memorial is beautiful, bare and very simple, a perfect place to meditate away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Before returning we pass by the church of the island, but it is closed, ouch.
At the moment we return to the cable car to head towards the Radio City Music Hall where the Rockettes show awaits us.
The Rockettes
At the entrance, after passing the usual security checks, we enjoy the hall of the theater: immense, warm and with a huge candlestick, but really huge.
We go to our places, the pigeon house, together with a quintal of children.
Children who miraculously were impeccable; no one broke the boxes, in fact there were no Italians.
Will it be a coincidence?
It was nice to watch them before the show started: there were so many Orientals along with those of color and americans; they are still quite divided in their small groups but there is undoubtedly more integration than in Italy.
The show is magnificent, the dancers are one body and the whole stage is motorized; the atmosphere that is created smells of the magic of Christmas.
The Rockettes were born in Missouri in 1925 and in 1932 they found their home here, at Radio City Music Hall.
On stage you can see 36 dancers, all equal tall and with very long legs; but the whole troupe consists of more than 175 dancers!
We paid for our ticket 60$, of course it is not cheap, but I am glad to have seen this magnificent show.
You can find tickets here.
Run Forrest, run!
But look a little, Times Square!
I had anticipated that we would go back several times, today to go and eat shrimp at Bubba Gump!
I must say that I imagined them bigger, instead they are like those that are also found here; those breaded with coconut, however, are a delight.
The waitress is very kind and, as they do with all the tables, she comes back in the middle of lunch to ask us questions about the film.
For every correct answer we win a mint!
Among the questions he asks us the one about the point where Forrest is wounded in the war; I did not remember him but Matthew did and he replied with “butt”; answer for which he was rebuked!
He said that certain words are not used in a family restaurant, oops!
On the table you will find a sign that you have to change from “Run Forrest” to “Stop Forrest” when you want to call the waitress; what a nice find!
It’s not New York without superheroes!
After lunch we go to Midtown Comics, the most central comic shop in the city, and drown in the middle of all the American albetti. What a paradise!
I asked the clerk with my bad, and help me to say bad, English a comic in which Stan Lee appeared or in which he was honored, I was told that it does not exist.
Now, I certainly expressed myself badly.
It is impossible that there is no such thing in memory of the creator of American superheroes; the one who has a cameo in every superhero movie.
Cooooomunque, in the end I took a random book of Supermen and we came out of it; not without having admired the beautiful action figures and looked for Rat-man, but unfortunately without success.
Il Top of the Rock
In the early afternoon I booked the visit on the Top of the Rock, one of the three panoramic points of the city which has the entrance fixed at a certain time.
This is the second attraction of our Explorer Pass, remember to book the slot in advance, you can not arrive and enter at will.
You may wonder what is strange; nothing if you know where to go!
Compulsively looking for the right side of Rockefeller Center from which you can access the Top of the Rock we arrived just in time.
In this city if you make a mistake on the side of a building you risk taking ten minutes to go back!
We go up with a cool elevator to the 70th floor, I have never been beyond the 10 of some hotel; we also put very little!
In addition, the ceiling of the elevator is equipped with a screen on which there are images accompanied by a music to entertain you those two minutes necessary for the climb.
Arrived at the top it is almost sunset time, there is still half an hour left; the view, however, is something truly unique.
I think I was right to choose this point because I really wanted to admire the Empire immersed in the city skyline.
If we had climbed the Empire we would certainly have had a better view of Lower Manhattan and maybe Ground Zero, but as a first experience in my opinion the Top of the Rock is better.
Brachi’s tip: for a first view from the top of Manhattan go to the Top of the Rock!
Behind us is Central Park with its immense green lung and in front of all the skyscrapers and the river. Unfortunately we can’t go out on the back to take pictures because it’s all frozen, damn!
After taking some photos, surrounded by tourists and many compatriots, it happened … a short snowstorm has arrived!
We saw her descend inexorably from Harlem to cover the park until it enveloped us.
A wonderful moment!
In a moment we find ourselves right inside the cloud of snow, with all the flakes that revolve around us, one might think it’s a shame but for me it’s not really like that.
There is so much wind that you just need to have a little patience…
Everything passes leaving before our eyes a truly magical spectacle; okay the sunset we lost but on the other hand we won the skyline all whitewashed with the lights of thousands of windows peeping into the snow.
I love nature and its magic, but I can’t deny that that sight will remain forever in my heart.
At the exit of the Rockefeller we pass by Fao Schwarz, a famous toy store that is also seen in the film “Mom I lost the plane”.
I enjoyed being hugged by a giant teddy bear, drool over hundreds of candies and watching the shop assistants illustrate all the various new mechanical toys; after all soon it will be Christmas and there is always someone ready to make the last minute purchase.
In the end I got a puppet of the Statue of Liberty for Elena, cute (and quite cheap); if I had been a child (but in reality I was hurt even as an adult) I could never have afforded even the padding of those puppets given the prices; but who sews them?
Blind orphaned children?
To end our day we take another nice walk to the Crysler Building (that of Will Smith in Man in Black 3 to be clear) to admire the hall; really really nice in full Art Deco style.
You can see the entrance quietly during the opening hours of the palace.
Officially it was built to house the headquarters of Chrysler, but rumors say that it was a personal monument to Walter P. Chrysler (built for itself in short).
From 1929 to 1931 it was the tallest skyscraper in the world.
From there we were shown where to go to see the building of the old Daily News where there is still the globe that was at the entrance of the old newspaper and from which they drew inspiration for Superman’s Daily Planet (obviously Metropolis is actually New York).
Macy’s and pizza for a dollar
At the exit we go to take a look at the Macy’s department store, a must for those who visit the Big Apple but of which I would have done without I must say.
The reason we ended up there is that they are open late and in order not to return to the hotel at 7 we found a way to pass the time.
In the meantime it started to snow again but we couldn’t care less, New York under the snow is too beautiful and we are super super lucky to see it like that; the trinomial New York + Christmas + Snow I do not think they can afford it in many (apart from the New Yorkers obvious).
On the way to Macy’s we caught a hole where they made slices of pizza for a dollar and since we arrived we have proposed that we could not leave without tasting it.
In the end it is not really margherita as a pizza with generic cheese but it is also not bad, for a dollar this and more; it would be my downfall if I lived there because I would eat it all the time given the price.
Arrived at Macy’s we wandered around the escalators, among which there are the wooden ones that are now 100 years old.
Barchi’s tip: even if Macy’s doesn’t interest you, take a ride up the centuries-old stairs.
However at the top we found a surprise, a train that takes up the Polar Express of Santa Claus with the village attached.
We discover that it is possible to see Santa Claus (indeed categorically Santa Claus in America and rightly so) but you have to book online; I note it, you never know, it can be a nice thing.
Another noteworthy thing about Macy’s are the external windows, here are those are very beautiful; there are interactive games, a kind of karaoke, and some series of showcases that tell stories with moving puppets.
The style is purely childish and perhaps a bit like a cartoon, very different from the windows of Harrods in London to be clear, but still beautiful.
Matteo played for example with a steering wheel that came out of the window and allowed you to move a car left and right and collect the gift packages that came down from a screen.
Back home we made our classic noodles with miso soup and then a lettuccio.
Run Forrest, run!
If you do not know where we started and where we will end, click below!
