When we did Top of the Rock it was totally unplanned – or rather it was a later return back from our Uptown Bus Tour and we had decided to veto doing it that day as we were sweaty, tired and getting hungry. 

Strangely when you are over tired but weirdly buzzed by the energy on the street you find yourself doing spontaneous things. We were walking past the general area of Rockefeller so despite our weary bodies we thought we’d see what the lines were like. 

Side note: Also we probably haven’t mentioned that prior to us arriving we’d bought NY Passes which basically means you pay a set price and then there are hundreds of sights and attractions that you can go to with the pass. 

So if you are a resilient tourist you could effectively save hundreds of dollars. We are not resilient and instead bought them and made sure we’d go to the attractions we wanted and get our money’s worth – the bonus for us is that you get to bypass lines for some places. 

Back to the story – we were able to use fast tracking at Top Of The Rock and that was awesome – although there were still lines it wasn’t very bad at all so we found ourselves up on the observation decks in no time at all. It was stunning.

We’d obviously already seen the city view at night from the Empire State Building which was insane but seeing it in that beautiful afternoon sweet spot just before sunset was kind of emotional. It’s just so surreal to be in this place that we’ve seen a million times on tv or in the movies and it still doesn’t feel quite real! Weirdly while it’s been intense it’s actually not been as overwhelming as we thought it would be. I think Hollywood Boulevard was a lot more intense and it prepared us for this experience. Also, quite honestly the weather reminds us a bit too much of Auckland. 

Luckily on this afternoon, it was warm and beautiful but not stifling or sweaty balls hot. We even sat for a bit and just contemplated the fucking amazing view. Super peaceful and surreal, it was a great way to end the afternoon and get into the evening. 

Oh New York. You’re pretty awesome. 

PS. Right after we went and blew our load at Magnolia Bakery by basically eating our body weight in sugary treats. WHAT A DAY. 🙂

Ju. xxx