NEW YORK CITY (NYC) - Saturday 14 December & Sunday 15 Sunday December 2013

We all decided to take a mini break from our hotel at Newark Airport and pack an overnight bag and catch a train into the city.  We found a cheap rate on a hotel in the city, so in effect we took a mini vacation inside the main vacation.  When we originally booked our New York accommodation the rates in the city started about AUD 400 per night.  The rate we picked up was AUD 110 at the Holiday Inn Express including breakfast.  It was a steal.

Waiting for a train at the Newark Liberty International Airport train station.  45 minutes journey time.

Arrival at Penn Station New York City.  A major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in NYC.  Very busy indeed, on multiple levels, mosaic's on walls around the station. A taste of busy to come.

Times Square - A major commercial intersection and a neighbourhood in Midtown Manhattan, NYC, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets.

If you're familiar with Marianne Faithfull's song - Times Square she sing's..........

In a tough part of the city
looking from some fast talk
Watch "Don't walk' to 'Walk'

Take a walk around Times Square
With a pistol in my suitcase
And my eyes on the TV

Suffice to say that we did take a walk around Times Square but our suitcases were packed with warm clothes.  The temperature for our visit was about -2C.  Wind chill factor about -1C.  It was very cold indeed and with the tall buildings and wind racing along the corridors it was quite an experience.

You might think that it is Christmas time.  Lovely decorations adorn the city everywhere you look.

Radio City Music Hall - is an entertainment venue located in Rockefeller Centre in NYC.  Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city. Address 1260 Avenue of the Americas, NY 10020

The Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre.  Huge complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st streets in NYC.  If you move towards the Christmas tree and look down you will see the ice rink.  It's known at The Rink at Rockefeller Centre.

Gravitating towards the snow, YET AGAIN.  You'd think they've never seen snow.  By this stage the snow had turned to ice and it was getting very slippery.  The streets were awash with water as the ice was melting and the slip factor was starting to get up there.

Bryant Park - a 9,603 acre privately managed public park in the borough of Manhattan. Located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan.  The slim light coloured building in the background is the Empire State Building.  As we walked past one of the entrances we saw someone wearing shorts.  They must have come direct from Siberia or Alaska!

On Broadway and West 35th Street.  Empire State in the background.  Broadway is a street, avenue and boulevade.  Broadway is known worldwide as the heart of the American theatre industry.  Quiz time - name the longest running show on Broadway................... The Phantom of the Opera - 10,767 performances.

Time for another song........

On Broadway - George Benson.............

They say the neon lights are bright on broadway
They say there's always magic in the air

Macy's - originally RH Macy & co, mid-range to upscale chain of department stores.  Competes with Bloomingdales.  Absolutely busy to unbelievable inside with people milling around like ants doing their Christmas shopping