Suggeted Itinerary March 8-15

First trip to NYC between 8-15th March, 2005. Would be grateful for any thoughts on improving this itinerary. Iv%26#39;e left a day free as a %26#39;wild card%26#39; - would appreciate any suggestions here - possibly a day trip, suggested walk, anything really??

Tuesday

Arrive JFK at 4:30pm (Taxi to Manhattan - $45). Staying at Hotel Thirty/Thirty for 3 nights.

Wednesday

Purchase a 7day Metro card ($21).

* Trying to secure a %26#39;big-apple greeter%26#39; for first day. This is still unconfirmed so will follow Thursday锟斤拷锟絪 itinerary if this is not possible.

Thursday

(am) Take subway to Battery Park (at the top of Whitehall St) and catch Staten Island Ferry.

On return visit Ground Zero, St Paul锟斤拷锟絪 Cathedral, Century 21 (22 Cortland St).

South Street Seaport for views of Brooklyn Bridge.

Take subway to Little Italy with the aim of getting something to eat on Mulberry St (Pellegrino锟斤拷锟絪).

(pm) Pre-booked tickets for ESB in evening.

Friday

(am) Transfer to the Ameritania Hotel (230 W 54th street - 4nts).

Stroll down to Times Square to get bearings and grab some lunch, before returning to the hotel to change.

(pm) visit MOMA (11W 53rd street) - free entry from 4pm.

Tickets booked in advance to see Chicago @ 8pm, Ambassador Theatre (North side of 49th Street). Walk along Columbus Ave after the show - look for somewhere to eat/drink in the area (??).

Saturday

(am) Central Park 锟斤拷锟?Boathouse Restaurant (located on the north eastern tip of lake) for 锟斤拷锟絙runch锟斤拷锟? Bethesda Fountain then hire a rowing boat to view the Bow Bridge and lake. Walk west to Strawberry fields and Upper West Side. Visit NY Public Library before returning to Hotel.

(pm) BB Kings (Jazz club) located on 42nd street.

Sunday - %26#39;sports day%26#39; :-)

(am) Watch Wales versus Scotland 6Nations Rugby at Baker Street Pub on 1st Ave, corner of 63rd St (Website confirms that the game will be televised 锟斤拷锟絣ive锟斤拷锟?from 10am).

(pm) Maddison Square Gardens. Booked tickets in advance to see the Nicks vs Sonics 锟斤拷锟?starts at 6 pm.

Monday - Shopping day to keep girlfriend happy following sports day :-(

(am) 锟斤拷锟?Either 5th Ave or bus out to Woodbury Common.

Visit Cinema at AMC Empire (42nd Street).

Tuesday

Check out of Hotel and get subway to Grand Central Station. Juniors for cheese cake.

Return via subway and Air-train to JFK. Flight leaves at 6pm.

Suggeted Itinerary March 8-15

The MTA just raised the price of the 7-day card from $21 to $24.

The itinerary is pretty loose, which isn%26#39;t a bad thing. Notice you don%26#39;t have a lot of the usual suspects listed, such as the Empire State Building, MoMa, Museum of Natural History, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, etc. Have you done these previously?

Also, just out of curiosity, why are you changing hotels in mid-stream. By designb? Or did the 30-30 not have a room for your entire stay?

Suggeted Itinerary March 8-15

Ruffian - thanks for responding and happy %26#39;St David锟斤拷锟絪 Day%26#39; to you and everyone else on the forum.

I have scheduled a visit to the Empire State Building for Thursday evening and MOMA on Friday around 4pm. I appreciate we won%26#39;t have much time to see all that MOMA has to offer as we have Theatre tickets booked for 8pm, but I guess we can return later in the week if we like!

I haven%26#39;t visited Greenwitch Village or China Town before.

I recall a posting by %26#39;Carpenter%26#39; suggesting a walk from the Financial District - North along Broadway towards Union Square (with a detour left on Bleecker Street). I%26#39;ll look to include this on Thursday afternoon if my legs can handle it. I%26#39;ll hopefully have time to take a stroll into China Town after eating in little Italy??

I couldn%26#39;t secure any accommodation (in my price range) for a full week during our stay - 30/30 being fully booked over the weekend period. Ordinarily, I would have avoided the move.... I锟斤拷锟絤 looking at it positively though as it锟斤拷锟絪 a bit closer to the Theatre district and Central Park. I%26#39;m hoping your curiosity isn%26#39;t fuelled by any concerns with the Ameritania??

I%26#39;ve tried to keep the itinerary quite loose, however, any direction you or others can offer is much appreciated.

Funny your wishing me a happy St. David%26#39;s Day. Back at you as well. This morning I turned my calendar from February to March and there, in the March 1 box, in small letters, it said ';St. David%26#39;s Day-Wales.'; Okay...my curiosity is up. Who was St. David and of what importance is he to the Welsh?

Back to travel-related matters. My query about switching hotels had nothing to do with any concerns about the Ameritania. I know nothing about it. It was about the fact that having to switch lodging in the middle of a vacation is generally a pain in the butt.

Since you mentioned you may have lunch in Little Italy, here are a few recommendations since I used to live there.

For pizza, Lombardi%26#39;s, 32 Spring Street.

For pasta, Pellegrino%26#39;s, 138 Mulberry.

For non-pasta Italian, Il Palazzo, 151 Mulberry.

For white tablecloth elegance, Il Cortile, 125 Mulberry.

For a tiny place that looks non-descript but nonetheless serves up surprisingly good food, Rocky%26#39;s, 45 Spring Street.

I%26#39;ll just mention that the lines at MOMA for the Fri. free admission have been very long. Since you%26#39;ve got theater planned for that night, might not best time to go OR, get there much before 4 to get at the front of the q. Somehow I have the idea you don%26#39;t really want to do this ;-)

I%26#39;m confused about your walking Columbus Ave. after your show. Columbus ave. is on the UWS and the show is midtown. It certainly can be done, but if you%26#39;re eating after the show (around 10 or later) I don%26#39;t think you want to be strolling around.

I don%26#39;t think row boats will be available this early in the season. The water is probably still frozen.

Ruffian, Thanks for your advice.

Dewi Sant (St. David) in the Welsh language was the grandson of Ceredig, King of Ceredigion and son of Non, who was said to be King Arthur锟斤拷锟絪 niece. In his life he was a Celtic monk who helped to spread Christianity through the West of Britain. He founded many religious centres in Wales and even travelled on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he was made an Archbishop. He has recently been acknowledged as a major player in helping to keep the Welsh language (the oldest language in Western Europe im told) alive and kicking.

Although he lived in the 6th Century most stories about him were written over 500 years later. One famous story describes when he was speaking to a large crowd in Llandewi Brefi (a village in Wales better known these days for its prominence in a sketch for the UK comedy 锟斤拷锟斤拷锟斤拷Little Britain锟斤拷锟?and its central character Daffydd 锟斤拷锟絫he only gay in the village锟斤拷锟? and he made the ground rise up so everyone could see him. Bit of a 6th Century David Blane.

I was about to suggest that St David锟斤拷锟絪 Day is a very similar to that celebrated by our Celtic cousins on St Patrick锟斤拷锟絪 Day yet with less international renown. However, I understand St David was given the name Dewi Ddyfrwr (David the Water Drinker) by his followers because he drank only water all his life. Not much resonance with St Patrick锟斤拷锟絪 Day there then :-)

Apologies if iv%26#39;e gone on a bit - learn%26#39;t most of this today myself which is a bit poor really!

Full points to him for keeping the language alive...but couldn%26#39;t he have done something to clear up the spelling a bit? I was always concerned about driving in Wales because if I got lost and needed directions, I was convinced I couldn%26#39;t have pronounced where it was I wanted to go...or where I was.

NYWhiz -

Thks - I got the %26#39;Columbus Ave Walk%26#39; from a posting on the forum. Will look for somewhere a bit closer to the Hotel me thinks.

Thks also 4 the frozen lake pretext - it was a suggestion tabled by my girlfriend. Think you might have saved me a bit of elbow grease there.

Ps. you锟斤拷锟絭e got me sussed re: MOMA :-)

Fair point Ruff.

Donny Osmonds just been over here having the same problems trying to find his Great Grandfather in a place called Merthyr Tydfil.

So you%26#39;d be in good company.

Actually, it%26#39;d be Donnie who%26#39;d be in good company.