On our last day in New York City it felt like we walked every inch of Manhattan.  When we got off the subway we went to the Empire State Building.  They charge $21 for an elevator ride which didn’t seem a great deal, so we checked out the main floor.  The foyer ceiling, which has an mechanical pattern in it, has an odd coffin-like shape.  Everything on the main floor is really beautiful, but go up to the second story and it’s plain walls, a rough black ceiling and  the duct work shows.

On to the Theater District and Times Square, where the crystal ball sets up on top of the One Times Square building, changing color and waiting for New Years Eve.  Times Square is a big open area where lots of tourists mill around.  It has over sized electric signs advertising current theater shows (similar to London's Piccadilly Circus), plus a huge screen that shows everyone in the square, from overhead cameras.  So everyone moves a little bit to find out where they are on the big screen, then takes pictures of the picture of themselves.  Me too, of course!

Rockefeller Center is not as large as we thought it would be.  The part that is an ice rink in winter is currently set up with little tables under blue awnings.  At the corner is the NBC News building where the Today Show is filmed, although it was too late in the day for that.

We walked down 5th Avenue, home to some fabulously expensive stores: De Beers, Cartier, Harry Winston, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Versace.  Trump Tower is also on 5th Avenue; we used their restrooms.  

Radio City Hall is nearby, and just off 5th Avenue is the Cathedral of St. Patrick - absolutely beautiful!

Madison Avenue has Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, Prada and the Waldorf Astoria.  Nearby is FAO Schwarz, where the doorway greeters are dressed up as toy solders.  Inside are zillions cool toys, including the Big Piano from the movie BIG.


We walked through some of Central Park, with it’s Delacorte Clock, but didn't go through the whole thing.  We also went to Grand Central Station, with it’s beautiful, wide use of space and a ceiling full of constellations.

During the day we got a hot dog from a street vendor, and a pizza roll at Liberty Deli, but after all that walking it was time to find something more substantial.  We went to China town but the streets were absolutely packed.  Since we weren’t looking for anything in particular, we left there and headed to Little Italy.  The bread at Giovanna’s looked good, so we went there.  Their specials start at $9, but when you add sangria, tax and a big tip, it runs over $50.  I really enjoyed that sangria.  I don’t drink much, so one glass completely did me in.  Randy got me home safely, although I fell down once on the subway; not my fault, it was a bumpy ride!

Today we left NCY and went to Philadelphia.  First stop - the Mutter Museum.  That's a lot of weirdness on display in one place.  They have bones and skulls of all sorts.  They have cross sections of body parts and wax models of facial deformities.  They have way too many babies, with every abnormality imaginable.  The “Soap woman” is here, too - a nameless woman whose body was converted into a soapy material by the chemicals in the soil she was buried in.  They even have part of John Wilkes Booth there, for pete’s sake!  Enough is enough - time to get out of there and find something normal.

Since our travels always include food, we couldn’t visit Philadelphia without getting a steak sandwich. There seem to be 2 worthy of note: Pat’s Steak, which claims to be the original, and Geno’s, which right across the street from Pat’s.  Both had long lines so Randy got in line at Geno’s and I got in line at Pat’s.  Pat’s is so busy they have two lines - one for sandwiches and the other for soda and fries.  The classic steak sandwich has Cheese Whiz (really) and it’s best with grilled onions.  So to order a sandwich at Geno’s  you ask for one “Whiz wit”; if you’re ordering at Ray’s, ask for one “wit Whiz”.  They were both good, but Pat’s gets my vote.  Not as good as Randy served in Lambert’s, but I would wait in that line again for another one!  

By the way, Philadelphia has the worst drivers EVER.  Most of the roads are one way and they use that as an excuse to ignore lanes and drive where ever they want.  And the center lane that normally would be a turn lane, is used for parking.  Seriously, they park and leave their cars in the center of the road, facing either direction, between the yellow lines.