NYC part two -- what we did
Feb. 19th, 2008 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhuMy niece was sick, so my sister and her family had to cancel coming in to my parents' house. So instead we took the kids in to midtown on Sunday.
We took the E to 5th Ave. and started walking downtown. The kids were amazed at the shop windows (to be fair, the Faberge eggs were amazing). We showed them the exterior of St. Patrick's but it was noon on a Sunday so we felt it would be inappropriate to play tourist in an active house of worship. Instead we talked about Atlas, and then went via the Promenade to the ice-skating rink. The kids took lots of pictures, and I told them about one of my favorite pictures that I took from that very spot. They thought that was cool, that they were doing what I had done when I was younger. And they were blown away by the idea of the skating rink.
We then went over to Times Square. As we were approaching, a caravan of cars drove by with horns blaring, people leaning out of the windows screaming, and large red-and-black flags. A pedestrian asked a street vendor what was going on, and (I love New York) the vendor replied, "I have no idea, but those were Albanian flags." Sure enough, we got to Times Square and there were hundreds of people carrying flags, signs that said "Thank you USA", and "KOSAVA" banners, all converging on the triangle where the military recruitment booth is. And overhead the zipper read "Kosovo declares independence from Serbia" and all was clear. What a great day to show the kids Times Square!
We noted that the Marquis's marquee was dark. Drowsy Chaperone apparently closed on Dec. 30. Bob Saget must have done them in!
We walked down to Mr. Broadway for lunch, passing by Parsons on the way so Tani could see where Project Runway is filmed. After lunch, we proceeded to the Empire State Building. We felt that it was too expensive to take the kids to the top on a cloudy day and when they're still really too short to see over the railing, but we walked around the lobby which they thought was cool. I felt a little guilty simply describing it as "the tallest building in New York City" but they're still too young to learn the whole story.
After that, we offered them their choice of Grand Central ("where those people froze in that video you saw last week") or fabric shopping. My son proudly announced that he had brought his $6 from his piggy bank and he wanted to go fabric shopping! So off to 7th Ave. we went. We found an open place on 38th, just off 8th Ave., and he fell in love with a navy velvet. He went up to the proprietor and asked "Excuse me, how much does the blue velvet cost?" The reply came back: "That's $6/yd." Tani asked Heather: "Mama, is one yard enough to make a purse for Alissa?" Heather said it was, so Tani turned back to the shopkeeper and said "May I please have one yard?" I was so proud of him.
Then we got back on the E and headed back to Queens for dinner.
We took the E to 5th Ave. and started walking downtown. The kids were amazed at the shop windows (to be fair, the Faberge eggs were amazing). We showed them the exterior of St. Patrick's but it was noon on a Sunday so we felt it would be inappropriate to play tourist in an active house of worship. Instead we talked about Atlas, and then went via the Promenade to the ice-skating rink. The kids took lots of pictures, and I told them about one of my favorite pictures that I took from that very spot. They thought that was cool, that they were doing what I had done when I was younger. And they were blown away by the idea of the skating rink.
We then went over to Times Square. As we were approaching, a caravan of cars drove by with horns blaring, people leaning out of the windows screaming, and large red-and-black flags. A pedestrian asked a street vendor what was going on, and (I love New York) the vendor replied, "I have no idea, but those were Albanian flags." Sure enough, we got to Times Square and there were hundreds of people carrying flags, signs that said "Thank you USA", and "KOSAVA" banners, all converging on the triangle where the military recruitment booth is. And overhead the zipper read "Kosovo declares independence from Serbia" and all was clear. What a great day to show the kids Times Square!
We noted that the Marquis's marquee was dark. Drowsy Chaperone apparently closed on Dec. 30. Bob Saget must have done them in!
We walked down to Mr. Broadway for lunch, passing by Parsons on the way so Tani could see where Project Runway is filmed. After lunch, we proceeded to the Empire State Building. We felt that it was too expensive to take the kids to the top on a cloudy day and when they're still really too short to see over the railing, but we walked around the lobby which they thought was cool. I felt a little guilty simply describing it as "the tallest building in New York City" but they're still too young to learn the whole story.
After that, we offered them their choice of Grand Central ("where those people froze in that video you saw last week") or fabric shopping. My son proudly announced that he had brought his $6 from his piggy bank and he wanted to go fabric shopping! So off to 7th Ave. we went. We found an open place on 38th, just off 8th Ave., and he fell in love with a navy velvet. He went up to the proprietor and asked "Excuse me, how much does the blue velvet cost?" The reply came back: "That's $6/yd." Tani asked Heather: "Mama, is one yard enough to make a purse for Alissa?" Heather said it was, so Tani turned back to the shopkeeper and said "May I please have one yard?" I was so proud of him.
Then we got back on the E and headed back to Queens for dinner.