Didn't get up until about 8:00 am. Slept OK. The bathroom is a mystery. Only one and to get any water pressure (we are on the 12th floor), you have to activate the pump. This means the entire flat knows, by the noise, that someone is up and running water. I tried to quickly shower. The toilet however appears to be busted. The tank does not fill after flushing. I did some preliminary tests and determined that it must be a faulty tank float/valve. I manually filled the tank and alerted Maria that we have a problem.
I started a "short" walk down West 26th Street. I arrived and sat for a spell in the Madison Square Park.
I read a bit of the newspaper and then determined where I was relative to everything else. I discovered I was not far from the Empire State Building. Maria had, the night before, told me I might want to check it out while she was recouping this morning. It was only about 0.5 miles from me, so, I'm off!
I arrived, went inside and was informed, in probably normal New York edicate, that I needed to go away and try somewhere else. It turns our I tried to enter at the exit of the tower.
I was prepared to just write off the cost and go on my merry way. But NO, the official told me to go over to another official and ask to get my ticket recovered. I did, and that second official could not read the confirmation number on my receipt. But, instead of just telling me "Sorry", as I would have expected in the Big Apple, the official told me to wait and she would go find a solution. This was to the chagrin of the people waiting in line behind me. Off she went. About five minutes later, I vaguely heard something like "Hey Mister...Hey, you without a ticket". Looking around, I saw the official in a herd of people waving to me. She had done something that put me into the Express Line, avoiding the long line to the elevators. Now tell me all New York people are evil, mean and malicious! I found one, and one on the public payroll, who was kind and considerate. Maybe she was just from out of town?
I made it to the 80th floor.
Then you had to take another elevator to the 86th floor where there was an observation deck.
I could have gone up to the 102nd floor, but I'd seen enough.
Maria made reservations for us to dine at the Flat Iron, next door to our building. We had drinks and appetizers. Then we were off to our Phantom of the Opera.
