When visited: April 2014      Weather:  6C one day, 23C the next

Having left cold wintery Boston, we arrived in wet wet wet and cold cold cold NY…only one word for it…the weather was just vile. Nothing for it but to go shopping and visit the theatre….we managed to get half price tickets at the booth in Times Square for ‘Bridges of Madison County’..not expecting much, the often maligned story was made into a gem of a musical with outstanding singing performances of an easily likeable score. Go see it whether it’s raining or not!

It was a day for using the subway…the jams when using cabs were just unpleasant…

NY subway train

A dull grey NY day…

And after two days of torrential shoe soaking rain and cold, our last day in the big apple at last saw the rain stop and the sun finally appear….

the sun came out at last

we only had an hour at Central Park….so much as we would have preferred to walk…we went with the tricycle ride…expensive though at USD120 for an hour.

view from Belvedere Castle

strawberry fields and the Lennon memorial

The Dakota Apartment building where John Lennon met his untimely end

feature near the fountain

The path leading up to Belvedere Castle was resplendent with flowers

tulips in bloom

and yet more tulips

pink tulips

garden bench amongst the bluebells

a magical corner of Central Park..

We had time to visit the Steinway Gallery in 58th Street…what a wonderful treasure trove of beautiful grand and upright pianos, large and small.

foyer of Steinway Gallery

they don’t come anymore iconic or better than Steinway

And lunch was at the most famous deli in town..the Carnegie Deli, home of the pastrami sandwich and classic American cheesecake….the walls were plastered with pictures of celebrities and exuded a great NY institution vibe.

dining room at Carnegie’s Deli

giant gherkin in window

Oh,,,and the pastrami was quite nice here although I still think that salt beef sandwiches in the UK at Selfridges Brass Rail restaurant are still superior…

So the final sunny day saved the day for us and it was truly a shirt sleeves day as the temp hit 23C from 6C the day before!  NYC always rocks and we enjoyed it