New York - Day 14

And suddenly two weeks are over, this is the final day. However, we went sightseeing one last time.

Somewhere in midtown west, around 47th street, we discovered a diamond road, with countless jewelers side by side, even people trying to talk you into some of them.


They looked so nice, but I didn't bought one this time :-)
Then ahead through the streets. It was a sunny day, although the tall building created lots of shadows...
Passing my dream car...
..we arrived at the UNO-building. Well, nothing more to see here than just an old office building...
Next stop was supposed to be the highlight of today's tour: the Empire State Building.
The interior is remarkable once more. We mainly saw elevators from the inside, though.
Then there it was: the stunning view over New York City at night. AWESOME as the Americans would say it :-) Unfortunately the small camera wasn't able to catch too many details, but at least the mood of the moment.






After leaving the cold observation deck in the 86th floor of the ESB we went home to the Times Square. On the way we stopped for the famous Macy's Christmas shop window decoration.



For our last evening we had dinner at Hooter's, a nice place with famous BBQ wings :-) Then, back home, we made another exciting discovery: seriously there's a sport called Lingerie Football! We found out that we liked it :-) and so we watched a game having a last Budweiser...

New York - Day 13

Today we started along the 42nd Street, eastbound.
Shops, shops and shops, and a smal park were the sights on the way.
Then we reached Central Station, the most famous train station of New York City. The station building is exceptionally nice, they even offer audio guides for it.
The inside is typical NYC interior design: marble and brass. However, somehow impressive this large hall with all these lights.



We took the 4 train to 86th street and went some more block up to the Guggenheim Museum with its Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. Since we don't care overly for Modern Art it was just one picture from the outside and then we moved on.
Way more interesting is the Frick Collection where the art collection of Henry Clay Frick is presented as he left it when he died in 1919.
Unfortunately it wasn't allowed to take pictures inside so I post here a picture of my favorite painting taken from a postcard.
It was a very special museum which I can strongly recommend to any NYC visitor. Besides the art it shows the spirit of the Gilden Age which is so important to understand the city.
Then back to midtown, using the Madison Avenue once more, with all these designer stores.


Last stop today was the Rockefeller Center. The skating rink in the middle is one floor lower than street level and has many spectators from the inside. That was funny to see.
Around the rink there is a shopping and eating concourse in the lower level of the Center. Again it is this interior design of marble and brass, maybe brought to perfection here...



Every year a large Christmas tree is presented here next to the skating rink, maybe the most famous Christmas tree of the whole US, it even has a Wikipedia entry. The highlight is a huge Svarowski cristall star on top of it. The star is already on display...
...while the tree is still behind curtains..

New York - Day 12

Wednesday already, so now was the time to visit world's lagest collection of art: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pieces from this museum became Berlin's most visited exhibition a couple of years ago, and now I'm even here were they came from! :-)
Weather was stormy with glimpses of sunlight. Central Park is still a colorful place these days, although the storm took a lot of leaves away..
They even have a zoo in the park.
Then up the 5th Avenue along Central Park East, through Upper East Side. Passing the famous Frick Collection, certainly worth a visit, too.

Then there it was. I was lucky, it wasn't as crowded as I had expected.
First I headed for the European paintings, later I explored some more of the several breathtaking exhibition areas. Of course this museum isn't to be seen in just one day..
Following a series of some of the pieces I liked most..






Then I entered the American Wing, where, besides other art, they have an exhibition of American living room through the centuries.






I closed the day with some rooms of the Egyptian department.
I chose Madison Avenue as the way home, to see some more of the Upper East Side. I guess this is the most expensive fashion shopping district of NY. I admired a pair of shoes for only 5000$, for example :-)

Back on Times Square there was a road block by the NY Fire Department, don't know what was happening. Our apartment building was still there, though..
For dining we went to Dave & Buster's, where we had burgers and played some rather tiresome action games.