Temp 3 degrees C Overcast, rain developing
Grabbed an egg and bacon roll and four hot chocolates for breakfast at Starbucks around the corner. Grabbed a taxi around 1000 hrs and travelled the 33 blocks to the Upper Westside. Got out at the Museum of Natural history and went inside. Purchased a family ticket for $112 USD which included 5 special exhibits for the day. Visited some of the static displays while waiting or the first exhibition. This museum boasts the largest collection of dinosaur fossils of theoir type in the world.
The first special exhibit was the 'Race to the South Pole'. A self guided tour following Admundens and Scotts race to the be the first at the south pole. Managed to pick up a copy of Scotts Antarctic diary for $9.97 USD. Dad should enjoy reading that.
The second special exhibition was the butterfly exhibit. Not as large as the enclosure at Melbourne Zoo, but certainly an experience. The girls loved the butterflies landing on them.
The next special exhibit was the 'Journey to the stars' in the planetarium. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg this was a visual exploration of the birth and death of stars, galaxies and the universe.
A self guided tour of 'The Brain' included many hands on displays showing the functions of the brain and how the brain works; including senses and emotional reponses. Simple, technical and fun. As a T-shirt in the store implied; there are no apps for the brain. Referring of course to iPhone apps.
Caught the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond on display. Hmmm. Shiney.
The Imax theatre showed a documentary of the Hubble space station/camera and how its images have increased our understanding of star creation and death.
In between all the special exhibits we took some lunch and visited the huge number of themed displays. The dioramas are particularly well done. One could quite easily spend a few days in the museum, but by the end of the day we were keen to return to the hotel to make our dinner reservation at Gordon Ramsey's. This was booked months ahead, as it needs to be, so we didn't want to be late.
The museum was warm so jackets were checked. In the end I had to remove my thermal shirt, and found the weather warm when we left the museum even though light was fading. A sprinkle of rain meant finding transport a bit of a priority.
Normally catching New York taxis is easy, but we (and others) quickly found tonight that short trips are refused. 33 blocks not enough, or more to the point the $10 fare no-doubt. Anyway after a few refusals we decided to head west a few streets and chance our luck there. This seemed to work and the first taxi dropped us back at the hotel after spending quite some time negotiating the New York traffic. Thankfully the sprinkle of rain hadn't increased to any real drama.
One thing to note today were the mounting piles of rubbish on the foot paths. No rubbish bins, just garbage bags piled high. As we found out there hadn't been a collection since Christmas eve, largely because removing the piles of snow and ice from the recent storms was the higher priority. 18 inches of snow fell in New York, with parts of New Jersey recording 20 inches. .
We were dropped off close to the hotel. You need to be prepared to alight a taxi close to your destination as the traffic, one way streets, and other obstacles often prevent you getting to the door.
We headed off to Gordon Ramsey's at the London hotel with plenty of time. The taxi got us there quickly and there was a brief wait in the lounge while they made our table ready. I hadn't even had time to fully comprehend the wine list before we were shown our table. I did manage to digest the value of the wines starting at $13 USD per glass. In fact NZ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008 was more per glass than we buy in Australia for a bottle. There are two Gordon Ramsey restaurants in the London Hotel. We were boked in the Maze which is the 'casual' restaurant. This said the decor was very up market, and the staff the most professional I have ever experienced.
There were many choices on the menue and as the waitress explained each choice is designed as a tasting. Therefore for a full meal two or more smaller courses would be required. Kylie and I decided on the fixed menue. A complimentary small cup of soup started us off - with the obligatory piles of bread and bottomless water. Dinner consisted of Pumpkin soup (soup poured around the bowl when delivered), green salad with yoghurt, asparagus, beetroot slices and caramelised walnuts. Very nice. Then came the Grilled Spanish Octopus and the Grilled Scallops. yummmm. We ordered the octopus separately. Sliced loin formed the mains. Cooked to perfection. Complimented brilliantly with some glasses of Pinot Giglio from Italy. Desert was a chocolate fondant. Veeerrry nice. Finally a decent cup of brewed tea. All told, this exceeded expectations. Need to get the recipes!
Walked back to the hotel via Times Square again. Still lots of people, and the stands left over from the 31st were still up - and covered in people.
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