I finally made it. I have been to the top, the Top of The Rock. After three attempts I got there.
I have now been to the three main observation decks in New York City. Firstly the One World Trade Centre Observation Deck which is the newest and the tallest. For sheer whizz bangery it is pretty damn impressive and for that end of Manhattan there is no finer view. Secondly the Empire State Building, truly spectacular architecture forms this iconic building and it offers spectacular views, but you cant see Central Park. Thirdly the Top of the Rock which also has amazing architecture along with many pieces of impressive art throughout. You do get to see Central Park and the Empire State Building itself. It also has the best designed observation deck so for my money, if I had to rank them, Top of the Rock would be number one.
The pictures show the view from the top observation platform of the three available. There is no glass or fence obstructions for nearly all of it so while you are only on the 70th floor, as opposed to the Empire State's building 86th, you really cant notice the difference.
The top picture is of 432 Park, a new residential development where the top three floors were recently sold to a Saudi Prince for $95,000,000.00US. You can buy the sub penthouse for $90,000,000.00. I checked my credit card statements and couldn't quite squeeze that amount out. Maybe next time I'm in town. The next photo, with yours truly, has the Empire State Building in the background and the One World Trade Centre in the distance and if you squint really hard you might just make out the Statue of Liberty on the Hudson River to the right. The only really obscured skyscraper is the Chrysler Building and then only partially.
So that was my big ticket item for the day now it is on to the night and Something Rotten. Those of you who are familiar with Shakespeare's Hamlet will recognise the title from the phrase "something is rotten in the state of Denmark". The premise of the plot is two second string writers want to one up Shakespeare so one of them consults a soothsayer to get the low down on what Shakespeare's biggest hit will be. He advises that it will be "Omelette" as opposed to "Hamlet". He then works in references from Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, the Sound of Music, Sweeney Todd, Annie and whole bunch of others that I either missed or have forgotten.
Shakespeare gets winds of their efforts and infiltrates their acting troupe to try and subvert what they are doing but realises Omelette is rubbish, and at the risk of injecting my own poor attempt at humour, eggs them on. All the while the other brother writes Hamlet on the side but before he can get it produced they are arrested and deported to the New World (America) while Shakespeare takes the credit for Hamlet. All is fine though because they come to America and invent the musical. It was frivolous and fun and I can now say I've seen two plays on Broadway.
Tomorrow is my last full day in New York and the United States. My diary is empty. I may try and get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and if I feel so inclined see a more serious musical, something like Gershwin's "An American In Paris". The trip is winding down and so is the blog. I'm not sure what tune from the great American songbook best sums it up. I will think about it over the next few days and let you know.
The top picture is of 432 Park, a new residential development where the top three floors were recently sold to a Saudi Prince for $95,000,000.00US. You can buy the sub penthouse for $90,000,000.00. I checked my credit card statements and couldn't quite squeeze that amount out. Maybe next time I'm in town. The next photo, with yours truly, has the Empire State Building in the background and the One World Trade Centre in the distance and if you squint really hard you might just make out the Statue of Liberty on the Hudson River to the right. The only really obscured skyscraper is the Chrysler Building and then only partially.
So that was my big ticket item for the day now it is on to the night and Something Rotten. Those of you who are familiar with Shakespeare's Hamlet will recognise the title from the phrase "something is rotten in the state of Denmark". The premise of the plot is two second string writers want to one up Shakespeare so one of them consults a soothsayer to get the low down on what Shakespeare's biggest hit will be. He advises that it will be "Omelette" as opposed to "Hamlet". He then works in references from Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, the Sound of Music, Sweeney Todd, Annie and whole bunch of others that I either missed or have forgotten.
Shakespeare gets winds of their efforts and infiltrates their acting troupe to try and subvert what they are doing but realises Omelette is rubbish, and at the risk of injecting my own poor attempt at humour, eggs them on. All the while the other brother writes Hamlet on the side but before he can get it produced they are arrested and deported to the New World (America) while Shakespeare takes the credit for Hamlet. All is fine though because they come to America and invent the musical. It was frivolous and fun and I can now say I've seen two plays on Broadway.
Tomorrow is my last full day in New York and the United States. My diary is empty. I may try and get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and if I feel so inclined see a more serious musical, something like Gershwin's "An American In Paris". The trip is winding down and so is the blog. I'm not sure what tune from the great American songbook best sums it up. I will think about it over the next few days and let you know.
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