Return to New York - Day 4

Image by Ginger DJ via FlickrSaturday and the weather is wet. For breakfast we head uptown to Broadway for some breakfast by taxi. The Red Flame Diner was a favourite the last time we visited New York. being a weekend and raining it was busy but only for the more than 2 per party suckers so waltzed in for an instant table. Made the mistake of not having French Toast but went for the yoghurt and granola. The yoghurt had the consistency of whipped cream, not that pleasant.

We wanted to see a Broadway show in the evening so poped along to a ticket agent, the Times Square Visitor Center. Nothing on at a bargain so bought seats for Phantom of the Opera at top price for our evening's entertainment. Before leaving, Kerry made the smart choice of buying our Guggenheim museum entry tickets. For the same price as on the door and no booking fee we overtook the round the block queue who were getting drenched in the rain (couldn't help laughing at that one).

The Solomon R. Guggenheim museum is definitely an impressive building. The current exhibition wasn't that inspiring though with modernist/cubist artists on show. The side galleries hosted a 'Found in Translation' exhibition which was more interesting with multimedia. Kerry spotted Andy Warhol's ghost as we rested in the cafe but our tracking skills failed us to find him (or his lookalike) again.

The Wright Restaurant (pictured) just at the back of the museum was a culinery treat for lunch. Like its main building the decor was pure white but with a dash of coloured strips. The food also were a rich gallery of masterpieces to behold and tasted amazing. Bit pricey but hey, we deserved it.

After lunch we headed into Central Park since the rain had stopped.

We give the hotel bar a visit for some pre-show drinks and snack. The portions were huge and regretted buying one too many portions. Another taxi for the Majestic Theatre in Broadway and the crowds were really building as it seemed everyone was heading for a show. The theatre was quite impressive and the show itsel was amazing. I really thought it was going to be a cheesy affair since I try to steer clear of Lloyd-Webber TV related stuff. The first scene was set up the darkness of the story very well as the chandellier came alive being pulled to the ceiling. The decent to the catacombs and punting through the dry-ice was also very impressive. But it was the animatronic skull mask worn by the Phantom and masquerade scene that really left an impression on me.

After the show we walked back through the buzzing crowds back to the hotel. There were an army of police waiting in their cars enroute. I really thought US movies and TV shows exaggerated the convoy of cop cars but they really do it with 10 cars blarring their sirens off to the next crime-scene or chase.