Day 11 - More NY

Had breakfast at the Amsterdam Deli again. The coffee is very nice.

Great opportunities for shows.

 All restaurants by law have to exhibit a grading for their last health inspection. A means all is ok. B means that there were things to fix. C is a compliance problem and pending shutdown if rectification can't be made within the time limit. Certainly makes a difference when choosing where to eat. Today we saw a B on the way back from breakfast. McDonalds has sometimes been awarded B here.

Decided to ride the subway downtown to Times Square. FHISOT. The trains run basically north to south on Manhattan Island so it is very easy to get around. The trains are really long and the fee is $2.50 per ride.

I think Christine wanted to be a Rockette at some stage.

Trying to go an see "The Book of Mormon" by the makers of Southpark. From all accounts sounds like a very good time. Apparently the show is booked out for months in advance but cancellation tickets are available at he box office. Tickets range from $400 down. They offered us tickets for $130 but we decided to try our luck in the lottery out the front (if you win, you buy tickets for $32 but have no control where the seats are etc. We didn't win. We decided to keep trying.

Times Square is surprisingly easy to navigate and people move without congestion. But the traffic does not.

View from the top - Central Park

From there we walked up to the Rockefeller Centre to the GE Building (30 Rock). View from the top is spectacular as seen in the shots. I think my little camera is going a bang up job.

From there, we wandered around the streets just looking until we went to a Deli (I think Tim's finally worked out I won't eat in a fast food joint) where the offering was very similar to yesterday's lunch. $7.95 / lb for salads and meats and fruits etc - serve yourself buffet. Had some terrific sesame mushrooms.

View form the top - Empire State Building

Managed to finally get tickets for tonight for $99 (obstructed view - hope we're not sitting in the foyer.) Decided to come back to the room fro a rest before going out again to see the show. Will let you know later.

St Stephen's Church

Times Square

On the way out of 30 Rock, we visited St Stephen's Church (largest in NY) to see under construction. Beautiful stain glass windows.

We went on the subway again down tone to 49th street to see the Book of Mormon. Before the show we went for a drink  at the bar next door.

Times Square

The bar before the show

Met up with one lady who was seeing Cabaret. She had already seen Rocky - the musical, this week. Who'd have thought that something with no consonants could be so entertaining? But, of course, she is from Denver Colarado so possibly her taste is impaired from the lack of oxygen.

Our view from the theatre

We had the seats on the very side of the theatre in the first row of the mezzanine level. OK view but what an entertaining show. Would have been so much better with Sue to share it with. It was amazingly irreverent - put absolute shit on the Mormons and their whole way of life - and, of course, Zimbabwe-ans and their ability to be taught - very funny with a guy with maggots in his scrotum!

After the show, we caught the subway back to near our hotel and wandered across the road to a local bar and grill. We sat down at the bar and had a drink and a small flatbread pizza slice. Maybe twice as thick as lebanese bread with a simple topping but very nice.

The bar tender was a nice guy who is studying to teach Ancient at College. Once they finish their undergraduate, they can go straight on the do their PhD without having to waste time with a master's degree as they generally consider this to be a waste of time and money. Makes you wonder about the breadth of experience that their academics actually have about their subjects.