Rainy day in NYC

We finally got our act together and did some of the things we have been talking about doing. It's about time too, because Mom is leaving tomorrow night. 

Yesterday we went to the Captain Lawrence brewery for a few samples.

We also got a couple of growlers filled to go with our dinner.

This morning we convinced Mom that she couldn't come all the way from Alaska and not go into NYC, and took the train into the city.

She liked the train ride.

We had lunch at Lombardi's.

 And Tom taught Mom how to correctly eat NY pizza (for those not in the know - fold it!).

We stopped by the 9/11 Memorial, which is beautiful and extremely sad at the same time.

And checked out One World Trade, which disappeared into the clouds.

Our last stop was the Holiday Shops at Bryant Park. They just opened this week, so we had perfect timing!

We had fun looking through the shops, and I got the waffle I was thinking about all day. If you go to the Holiday Shops, look for the Wafels & Dinges cart and get a Liège waffle. Tom and I get ours plain, but they have all kinds of toppings you can get too. 

So good!

After the waffle Holiday Shops, we walked back to Grand Central for the train home.

As a continuation of our super healthy eats for the day, dinner is going to be Chinese takeout. What? We're on vacation or something. ;)

Have you been to NYC? Do you like big cities?

Sightseeing

We originally planned on doing a little less walking today, and talked about taking one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours. Instead, we did a lot of walking again. 

We went by Harrod's, which we quickly learned wasn't really our style. 

Super-shopping madness. 

We found some tasty Lebanese food for lunch and ate way too much. It was really good. 

Some sights from around town. 

Part of Westminster Abbey. 

We missed the cutoff to actually go inside, which was a bit of a bummer, but it was cool to walk by anyway. 

Big Ben and the Eye. 

Parliament

We also stopped by Paddington Station to buy my train ticket to the airport. The train I took when I got here doesn't run as early as I need to be at the airport, which I didn't think about when I bought my ticket. 

So I'll take a short cab ride to the train station (early!) in the morning and then the train to the airport. 

Hampton Court Palace

We managed to leave the apartment relatively early today so we would have plenty of time at Hampton Court. 

It was a really nice day for it, and not insanely crowded. The audio tour was free so we grabbed little handsets and wandered around. 

We were pretty much ready for lunch by the time we got there so we stopped for a snack before we got too invested. 

The kitchens

A Henry VIII sighting

This fountain is for wine. Seriously. And they still occasionally fill it up for special events. 

The Great Hall

Some of the flowers in one of the gardens. 

And I got a rare chance to take a picture without people in the way because we were there close to when they closed.