Dec 27 - Our last full day in New York

Today was not an early start! We ventured out at 930 in the morning to find snow everywhere. Many roads of the city had been reduced to one treachourous lane where we saw numerous cars get stuck or skidded. Others were well and truly snowed under. The stairs to the subway were also snow laden and going down carrying Jonah was rather tricky.

The aftermath of the blizzard

Difficult to tell where the road ends and the pavement begins

Luan demonstrating just how much snow fell overnight

The children at Times Square where traffic was reduced to 1 lane

Our destination today was the American Museum of Natural History, the largest institution dedicated to natural history in the world. We donated $30 for our entry tickets and wondered around. It didn't disappoint. There were 4 floors of very interesting displays. We could have spent hours there but were limited by tired little feet. Another bonus of travelling all the way uptown was the opportunity to get a glimpse of Central Park covered with snow with blue skies and the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop. It was just magic!

Our destination for the day!

Braving the snow to get there...

I guess the owner of that car will be shovelling for a while

C'mon Dad, hurry up!

The one exhibit that I REALLY wanted to see, the diamond with flawless clarity and brilliant colour. Oh the disappointment when I discovered it was on loan!

A gorgeous Christmas tree with origami ornaments

View of Central Park from the museum

An amazing canoe made around 1878 by American Indians

Check out how long it is!

Trying to brush up on our Central American knowledge before our cruise

Lara seeing how much she weighs on Jupiter

The children ready to go home

Malcolm retired to the hotel with Jonah while I made a quick dash into the Disney Store. I just couldn't leave New York without taking a peek! They had so many cute Disney New York souvenirs but I had to be strict. I managed to walk out without buying anything. I bought the rolling duffle as planned to stuff the rest of our shopping in as we prepared and packed for our train trip to Washington DC tomorrow.

For dinner, we had ourselves some Cuban cuisine at Victor's Cafe as recommended by Steve, our tour guide. It was only 3 doors down from our hotel. It was great! The atmosphere was lovely and the food very flavoursome. We ordered a Cuban corn tamale filled with chunks of savory pork on a corn husk, jumbo shrimp sauteed in a zesty Creole sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, thyme, and white wine, served with a white sweet potato mash and Victor's House Specialty, which consisted of shredded Black Angus skirt steak simmered in garlic, tomatoes, onions, and peppers nestled in a plantain basket. Mmmmm...

We went home after another wonderful day and sad to have to say goodbye tomorrow after what has been a phenomenal 7 days in an amazing city. What has spoilt it in some ways have been the French tourists. Malcolm finally lost it today and told a couple off at the museum. "You are a disgrace to your country". We have had people push in in front of us, they were French. Then there were those who barged into lifts without letting people get out first. They were French. A man got into a lift that we had pressed the button for and then tried to close us out! He was French. A family intentionally stood in front of us while we were trying to take a photo so they could take their photo. One guess...French! I couldn't believe there were so many of them around. Hope they don't all follow us to Washington DC!