Those were Kim’s words when she realised we had to head straight for Central Park for today’s bike tour. A 9am start, 1.5 miles from the hotel wasn’t very well thought through. As Kim had done all the bookings, she only had herself to blame.
Our cycle tour was lead by Joel, a wannabe actor and didn’t it show. The tour was informative but hammy and delivered at about 100 miles an hour. The sun shone and the park was beautiful. The tour finished with a visit to Strawberry Fields and the ‘Imagine’ memorial. It’s interesting that, although this is where Lennon was assinated, Yoko still lives in the Dakota building opposite. It is also interesting that the real estate value of the park makes it too expensive for Donald Trump to buy if it ever came up for sale ($300bn). It would be good to see a lot more of the park at a more leisurely pace but we are are starting to feel a bit walked out. We’ve worked out we’re averaging a good 10-15 miles a day, which is fine for Matt but hard work for the rest of us.
John became hero of the day when he spotted a great place to eat, just a few minutes walk from the cycle hire. We sat on the sidewalk, had a leisurely brunch, watched the world go by and almost felt like locals as we asked for the check when we had finished.
New York has become a real dilemma for us, some of it we love and other things have us desperate to come home, which has prompted some entertaining conversations. It was summed up neatly by an Aussie we met in a queue on Friday – we thought we were speaking the same language but, quite clearly, we’re not.
Matt was in his element in 5th Avenue so he was left there while John and Kim went and did culture. We visited the Frick Collection which is a lovely little museum housing….the Frick Collection! Consisting of some amazing paintings, furniture and artefacts but the bronze frogs in the pond stole the show.
We don’t have a picture of the garden room because Kim was too busy trying to work out how to steal the frog. Not for her a Turner or Van Dyck, all she wants is a frog fountain! There was almost a tantrum when she couldn’t purchase one in the museum shop..
ps (for concerned grandparents): Matt arrived back at hotel safe and well
braysabroad 