Day 3 - A foodie day.

Still no lox bagels – seem to be finding every non-Jewish deli in NYC. Ended up just grabbing a Starbucks and having breakfast in a snowy Central Park. The park was full of joggers, as expected, but less expected was the lack of flat open space – everything seemed to be – very beautifully – landscaped and designated for a specific use.

The cold around the reservoir was just a bit too much and we took a bus back to midtown and had a wander around FAO Schwarz – smaller than expected and the Big keyboard didn’t look much like the one in the movie.

We then went to Grand Central Station and had lunch at the famous Oyster Bar – a ridiculous selection and the fish was amazing – we had oysters, scallops and mahi mahi. The Station itself was immaculate.

Took a downtown bus tour – Grey Line –the guide was fantastic – sounded like he was from the deep south but knew NYC inside out.

Evening was spent at the top of ‘The Rock’ – 67th floor of the RockefellerCentre – great views of the city and the Empire State Builiding – but at night, in high winds and -18 temperatures (taking into account wind-chill), virtually impossible take good pictures. Interesting that the iconic picture of high steel workers having lunch on a beam was men building this tower – unless ‘The Rock’ have just claimed it for themselves.

Wanted to go bar hopping in the village but it was just too cold. Instead we stayed local to the 51st hotel and found that 9th Ave (Hell’s Kitchen) had some great restaurants, bars and a fun vibe – you really felt this was where native New Yorkers chose to hang out. We ate in an restaurant populated exclusively by hip gay waiters, called 44x10. Phenomenal modern American food – and some very interesting mixes of tastes – a blue cheese stuffed olive martini, a lobster burrito and a fried chicken on a maple syrup waffle.

The night was completed by having a night cap cocktail in a 1920’s themed Thai bar/restaurant called Room Service. Lucy had a Key Lime Pie cocktail which tasted literally like its namesake.