NYC Day 6: Downtown, Madame Tussaud's, and fireworks
We woke up and Clare was still overwhelmed by all the people from the night before. She didn't want to go out at all and wanted to stay in the hotel. It was our last day, so I suggested she come with us for the morning and we'd be back at the hotel for the afternoon
We grabbed the subway down to World Trade Plaza, to see the new building that's going up. Mark wanted to see the bull statue on Wall Street. The statue was surrounded by people wanting to get their pictures taken--some at the front by the head, and a surprisingly equal number of people at the back! The statue was right next to Bowling Green park, which was nicely shaded. We sat on the benches and Clare took pictures of birds while I took advantage of the free Wifi in the park.
Then we wandered down to Battery Park. As we were watching some pigeons bathe in a puddle, a gunshot went off and scared them away. Right at 11 am, and then another went off. We walked towards the sound and soldiers in old-timey costumes were setting off shots, as another soldier read out when each state joined the union. It was a fun little celebration that was unexpected.
While we were in the park, we saw a bus going by that was advertising Madame Tussaud's museum and an Avenger 4-D attraction. We had initially dismissed the wax museum as Clare would find it creepy, but she said it was something she'd like to do. So we grabbed the subway back uptown.
Mark decided he wanted more than one Game of Thrones t-shirt--he had bought the Stark sigil one, and wanted the Greyjoy and Targaryen ones. The HBO store was only a block from where were going, so we popped over there again. While we were there, I saw one that I hadn't noticed before, with the Hand of the King pin on it and Clare found another Baratheon one that she liked. Mark decided to only get the Greyjoy one, even as I told him he should get Targaryen one too. (This is foreshadowing for Day 7.)
We walked down to Madame Tussaud's and we quite enjoyed our tour through. I loved the Avengers 4-D movie (and I haven't even seen the actual Avengers movie!).
On the way home, we decided to pop into a comic book store we had seen a few days earlier. Clare found a Black Widow comic, a Hawkeye comic, and a Zombies in Camelot graphic novel. Her favourite character from the Avengers is Black Widow and she laments how hard it is to find merchandise with her. She had to settle for a Hawkeye figure (her second favourite) and she was quite excited that the store was giving out Captain America pins for free (if you bought something).
Mark and Clare went back to the hotel while I went to find some food for us. We hung out in the hotel for a few hours, and then went back to Capizzi's for pizza. (Clare had been clamouring to go back all week!) It was like walking into a sauna when we walked outside, it was so hot and humid. The restaurant was quite a bit busier, because of how close they are to the where the fireworks goes off. The service wasn't quite as personal as it was the first time, but the waitress did recognize us and welcome us back.
Then we went back to the hotel where we had a glorious view of the fireworks! Mark and I had a discussion as to whether the building we could see was the Empire State building or not. I was right and it was!
Then Clare watched her new favourite show--Futurama--before we went to bed.
We grabbed the subway down to World Trade Plaza, to see the new building that's going up. Mark wanted to see the bull statue on Wall Street. The statue was surrounded by people wanting to get their pictures taken--some at the front by the head, and a surprisingly equal number of people at the back! The statue was right next to Bowling Green park, which was nicely shaded. We sat on the benches and Clare took pictures of birds while I took advantage of the free Wifi in the park.
Then we wandered down to Battery Park. As we were watching some pigeons bathe in a puddle, a gunshot went off and scared them away. Right at 11 am, and then another went off. We walked towards the sound and soldiers in old-timey costumes were setting off shots, as another soldier read out when each state joined the union. It was a fun little celebration that was unexpected.
While we were in the park, we saw a bus going by that was advertising Madame Tussaud's museum and an Avenger 4-D attraction. We had initially dismissed the wax museum as Clare would find it creepy, but she said it was something she'd like to do. So we grabbed the subway back uptown.
Mark decided he wanted more than one Game of Thrones t-shirt--he had bought the Stark sigil one, and wanted the Greyjoy and Targaryen ones. The HBO store was only a block from where were going, so we popped over there again. While we were there, I saw one that I hadn't noticed before, with the Hand of the King pin on it and Clare found another Baratheon one that she liked. Mark decided to only get the Greyjoy one, even as I told him he should get Targaryen one too. (This is foreshadowing for Day 7.)
We walked down to Madame Tussaud's and we quite enjoyed our tour through. I loved the Avengers 4-D movie (and I haven't even seen the actual Avengers movie!).
On the way home, we decided to pop into a comic book store we had seen a few days earlier. Clare found a Black Widow comic, a Hawkeye comic, and a Zombies in Camelot graphic novel. Her favourite character from the Avengers is Black Widow and she laments how hard it is to find merchandise with her. She had to settle for a Hawkeye figure (her second favourite) and she was quite excited that the store was giving out Captain America pins for free (if you bought something).
Mark and Clare went back to the hotel while I went to find some food for us. We hung out in the hotel for a few hours, and then went back to Capizzi's for pizza. (Clare had been clamouring to go back all week!) It was like walking into a sauna when we walked outside, it was so hot and humid. The restaurant was quite a bit busier, because of how close they are to the where the fireworks goes off. The service wasn't quite as personal as it was the first time, but the waitress did recognize us and welcome us back.
Then we went back to the hotel where we had a glorious view of the fireworks! Mark and I had a discussion as to whether the building we could see was the Empire State building or not. I was right and it was!
Then Clare watched her new favourite show--Futurama--before we went to bed.