What a Ball!

During the morning of New Years’ Eve we visited a few of our old haunts ………..

…….the Warldorf Astoria, where we stayed last February, had some wonderful Christmas decorations.  Here’s Doug by the clock in the central lobby.

We took a walk down to the Rockefeller Centre – the queue for “The Top of the Rock” was horrendous and waiting 2 to 3 hours in the cold was not an option. Here’s Doug (again!) next to the ice rink with the Christmas tree and the Rockefeller Building in the background. 

We’ll leave the caption to you!

Walking down to towards Times Square ……..

……. at 3 o’ clock in the afternoon the crowds were getting very dense (and there was still 9 hours to go!)  The police were yelling “When you get in the pen you stay in the pen – if you don’t want to, back off!” So we backed off!

The police were out in full force – just what they like doing best.  This was just one of many groups of police getting their instructions.

Walking back to the hotel (for some R and R before going out for the evening) we couldn’t resist a quick browse in this second hand book shop.  It was huge.

We popped into our local liquor store for a couple of bottles of wine.  It was like going back in time – the shelves were groaning  with weight of years of use. Each bottle is packed separately for you and the door is opened and closed by hand by an assistant – a brilliant experience.

We were fortunate to get talking to a local resident in the hotel and were invited to a private function for the evening celebrations. Located in a penthouse apartment just down from the hotel we were greeted by the hosts who were expecting us and from 10 o’ clock to 4 in the morning we had a great time.  We lost count of the number of attorneys, doctors and hedge fund managers we chatted with and we’re now much wiser about the ‘moving and shaking’ of New York City now. At midnight we were treated to a ‘confetti’ drop of dollar bills (which the guests all shared between them!) We can afford to eat today! There are no photos of the party as we chose not to take camera, wallet and phones with us while we travelled during the evening.  That said, everyone on the streets and subway were very well behaved.

We had a great, great time and we’re very glad we came to NY for New Year.  The people are so very friendly and kind. We also hope you all had a great time and Happy New Year again!