Update - Empire State Building!!

Ah, at the top of the Empire State Building!

It was my very good friend Kara's Birthday a few days ago, and she'd never been to the top of the Empire State Building, so at her request, we shot up there to finally tick off one of those NYC things most tourists hold high on their lists of things to do! As locals, it was quite fun to 'act the tourist' for a few hours!! 

The last time I was up there, I was about 13 years old and with my Sister, Brother and Dad on a trip to the city. I remember being up there and calling my Mum in England from a cell phone you could purchase for a few minutes to make a call anywhere you wanted - and in those days, cell phones were no where near as prevalent as they are today!! It was like a huge novelty item back then!!

So returning once again, put a touch of perspective on my life, and made me think back to all thats happened in the last 'few'(!) years!!! Back then, I never had a clue I would be living in this city now, or how far I've come... sometimes life plays those funny tricks on you!

We had a great time, and of course, as one could imagine the city looked somewhat beautiful from so high, all sparkly lights and the rows of streets and avenues that stretch out below you.

And as a local, there are of course parts of the city one tends to avoid, one of those for me is Times Square. I hate it! Too much tourist bustle, flashy lights and not enough NYC for what it really is (sorry tourists!! - I'm sure you think the same of me when in your towns and cities!!).

At any rate - from the top of the Empire State Building, Times Square looks better than one could hope.. and even possibly quite pretty with it's glowing lights rising in between the buildings! Check out the above left pic!

Above right, and below right, are some pics of the streets to the east and west, and in the below left picture is the view all the way downtown! Bridges, avenues and all - I live down there!!!