Helicopter ride, Brooklyn Bridge and 'Funny Girl'

Hello all,

We had the best sleep we've had in weeks last night. Our room is so high up and has good soundproofing, it's very comfortable!

This morning we walked to Grand Central station and caught the subway down to Wall Street where  we wandered past the Stock Exchange building and towards Battery Park. The 'Fearless Girl' statue has been moved to face the Stock Exchange since I last came here. We then walked through Battery Park too, seeing the Statue of Liberty. We read on a sign that much of Battery Park was made of reclaimed land in the 1850s.

After our walk we headed to Heli NY. Mum, Dad and I had all chipped in and bought a helicopter ride over New York City for Rob for his birthday last year. The weather was weird today, sort of clear, but with a strange sort of smoke haze around. We could still see quite clearly though so that was good. I was relieved when they weighed me to see I weighed the same as I did at home, because we've eaten so much crap over here I had wondered if I had been walking enough to counteract the food! It seems I have - hooray!

Inside the helicopter it was the two of us (Rob in the front and me in the back) and two other couples. We both had a window which was good, and enjoyed views of Governor's Island, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and of course Manhattan Island. We could see many familiar buildings such as One World Trade, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. I knew Central Park was big, but it was still unbelievable seeing just how far up and down Manhattan Island it stretches from above. I was also surprised by how full of trees New Jersey was on the opposite side of the Hudson River. Overall, we really enjoyed the perspective the views from the helicopter gave us of just how big the city is.

Afterwards, we walked north along the East River and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was very busy with lots of tourists around. Then we walked to Grimaldi's Pizza and shared one of their pizzas. Delicious! I had been here with Alisha, Jess and Shannon last time and it was just as good as I remembered. We then shared an ice cream down by the water and wandered around a little here too before catching the subway back to our hotel.

Crossing your fingers and toes for me a week ago worked, as 'Funny Girl' and Lea Michele posted today whilst we were eating our pizza that Lea Michele was officially back tonight after a week off due to having Covid. If you're not sure who she is, Lea played Rachel in the TV show 'Glee', one of my favourite shows. In the show her character's story line is all about making it in New York after high school onto Broadway, and her dream role is to play Fanny Brice in 'Funny Girl' which she ends up doing. So being a huge 'Glee' fan that has watched and rewatched the show since I was in high school myself, I was so excited to go "full circle" and see and hear Lea Michele play the role in real life. How amazing, seeing/hearing two of my favourite voices within 48 hours of each other.

We set off about 5.30pm and walked towards the theatre district. Rob went to the Eugene O'Neill theatre to see 'The Book of Mormon' and I went to the August Wilson theatre for 'Funny Girl'. Rob really enjoyed his show, and I really enjoyed mine too. Lea's voice is just magnificent. So beautiful that it brought me (and many others around me as discussed at interval!) to tears. The kind of voice that gives you goosebumps because your ears are so amazed at what they are hearing. There were some ladies behind me that had seen 'Funny Girl' when it last ran on Broadway with Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in 1964 and they said Lea Michele in their opinion was the only other person that could play the role as well as she did. As well as Lea, Tovah Feldshuh was in the show playing her Mum. She's a 50 year Broadway veteran. There was also a man in the show from another TV show I've watched too. The man next to me said "you've picked a good show to come to, most of these actors are veterans" - so there you go! Afterwards when Rob met me outside I waited at the stage exit and met Tovah Feldshuh and also Paolo Montalban who played Florence Ziegfeld. I got both of their autographs on my playbill.

We walked back through Times Square and both agreed today was a fantastic day! I still can't believe I got to see Lea perform live.....amazing!

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox