The Wilsons wander the world: New York

As those who have been to New York know, it's impossible describe the city. Too many superlatives are needed! It is exciting; it is busy; it is dirty; it is smelly; it is expensive; but it has character; it has quaint scenes; it has so many people; it has so many options; it has culture; it has amazing shops; it has buildings like nothing else. So much to love!

I have tried endlessly - like all day - trying to put a slide show into this blog, but I can't. I do feel like a technological dufus, but I'm giving up! (All my computer menus and instructions are in French - try as we might, we haven't been able to translate into English). There will be a long line to photos at the end - the challenge got too much for me. I'm assuming most people are familiar with the sights of New York so I don't need to explain them.

The adventure started in a mad rush. While I was sitting at the hairdresser last Wednesday, I received a text from the airline, advising that our Thursday flight had been cancelled and we were bumped back to Thursday night, due to a predicted snow storm. With our time in NY limited, and knowing that the predicted snow storm could actually push our flight out to Friday, we got worried. I contacted Tony, who rang the airline, asking if we could go earlier. At one stage, Tony was on-line booking a hotel room; on hold on the phone to the airline and on viber to be at the hairdresser. Luckily, we were able to get a flight on Wednesday afternoon. The children were quickly pulled out of school, I rushed through the hairdresser and packed in a matter of minutes and we were off!

The snow storm arrived and all flights were affected - many at the hotel in NY couldn't get home as flights were cancelled. We didn't want the snow to affect us, but it was unavoidable. Public transport was slow, the streets were slushy and the snow was falling right in our face. We headed indoors!

We covered all the big sites and sights of New York. Some of the things we did:

climbed the Empire State Building;
shopped on 5th Avenue (some of us)
visited to the Museum of Natural History (the rest of us);
gaped and marvelled in Times Square;
ate pretzels from the street stalls;
loved the places that offer kids audio tours;
experienced culture from Museum of Modern Art (our find of New York);
rode the free ferry to Staten Island to view the Statue of Liberty and admire the Manhattan skyline (that took two attempts as it was snowing when we arrived and there was no visibility;
walked around Central Park to see it covered in snow;
celebrated Valentines Day with three children at the table;
admired the Empire State Building coloured pink for Valentines Day;
photographed many famous sights, rarely doing justice;
spent Christmas money at FAO Schwartz, a huge toy store on 5th Ave;
attempted to not let the snow affect us (failed somewhat);
saw the Lego movie, which is fantastic;
fell asleep on a very crowded bus (Sophie);
rode the subway a lot; we watched ice skaters at Rockefeller Centre; and the big one...
saw Matilda the Musical, based on the children's book by Roald Dahl, just off Broadway.

The children were in awe of the buildings, the traffic, the people they saw on the subway ... everything. Most things worked smoothly and Tony and I only lost each other once, due to a miscommunication. We stayed right on the edge of Newport, New Jersey and took a 20 minute train to mid-town each day. That made our accommodation cost about one half of the cost of staying on Manhattan Island and worked really well.

The weather was cold, but not as cold as Montreal so we we didn't find it too bad. I only needed one pair of gloves, so it was mild by the glove thermometre! We didn't need beanies all the time which was nice. The temps hovered around -8 to 2 degrees. The snow turned to slush very quickly and we laughed at how the city coped with the clearing of snow. As they don't get this much snow very often, their clean up procedures (compared to Montreal) were rather ineffective.

Our find of New York had to be MoMA. We wanted to show the children some art museums, saying that it was one of the things that you do in New York! Tony and I have been confused about MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and the Met (Metropolitian Museum of Art). MoMA had a great children's program, so we decided to go there. It was much better than we expected! The program was free, guided by an art educator and with only three families. It lasted an hour and we looked at three art works on the theme of movement. It was interactive and an appropriate level for the children. And best of all, it was free! We were happy with that and would have left the museum very satisfied. But there was more ... we were able to wander around the museum for the rest of the day, free of charge. Entry to the museum was $25 per adult, so at this stage we are happy with this bargain! Then ... we were handed a free entry pass for another visit! So generous and happy to focus on children. The cafe was fantastic, with decent children's menu (no hot chips) and the food that Tony and I ate was the best we had in NY. The audio headset tour was free, with a specific children's audio tour, so after refuelling, we set the kids up with their head sets. We also did this at the Empire State Building and it kept them so focused. Great inventions and kept the kids interested. We strongly recommend MoMA as a great way to introduce art to your children!

We left on Monday and took a train home. The train from New York to Montreal is called the Adirondack Train and is said to be one of the top 10 train trips in the world. It was long (11 hours) but it was beautiful and restful. The train went directly north from Manhattan Island, following the Hudson River for many kilometres. The scenery changed regularly and the snow increased the further north we headed. The train was fabulous and the children were able to snooze, read, play cards, walk around, eat, meet other passengers, so didn't get bored. We stopped at the border for over an hour, partly because we actually had some visa issues, but other than that, a lovely way to end a holiday.