Day 6 was our second last day in New York and another busy day. On this day we visited the Rockefeller Centre, saw the view from the Top of the Rock Observation Deck, visited the Natural History Museum and had dinner in Little Italy.

The Rockefeller Centre

Before visiting the Rockefeller Center, O and I had breakfast just around the corner from this attraction. The Bouchon Bakery Rockefeller location is one of a few Bouchon Bakery, opened by Chef Thomas Keller. The first was opened in the Napa Valley in 2003. You can also find other locations at the Columbus Circle in New York and Las Vegas. They offer fresh-baked pastries and viennoiserie, cookies, cakes, sandwiches, quiches, soups and salads. Since they are known to have some of the best pastries in New York, we just had to try it.

I ordered a few items to share, including a Wild salmon bagel, Plum and raspberry Croissant, soy cappuccino. The bagel was so fresh and delicious and the croissant was probably one of the best filled pastry I have ever had. Coffee was also pretty good.

To top it off, we met a nice elderly New Yorker, who serenaded us with a beautiful broadway song. It was just one of those spontaneous unexpected experiences. He didn’t ask us for anything, just sat down and had a chat, sang a song and left. He reminded me of the actor Wallace Shawn.

Unfortunately during our visit to New York all the late-night shows, the Radio City Rockettes show and NBC Today show were on holidays. I had planned to go really early by myself to be one of those tourist standing outside the Today show. However, while I was in New York they were airing in a different location. I guess for that reason, and also because we were there so damn early it was pretty quiet.

Before going up to the Observation deck on the top of the Rockefeller Centre, we began on the lower level of the and read about the history of the Rockefeller family and this building. You can read more about it here.

Top of the Rock

I know most people go to the Empire State building to see the elevated view of New York, but we did the Top of the Rock instead. I can’t remember exactly why, but it may have been because we wanted to also see the Rockefeller Centre. If your not sure what to do, see this article by Our Escape Clause, Empire State Building or Top of the Rock: 9 Crucial things to know.

The Top of the Rock observation deck offers a 360 degrees view at 70 floors. The view is just spectacular and if you go early enough you won’t find many other tourists to obstruct your viewing pleasure. It was so windy up there though.

Natural History Museum

Our next stop was the American Natural History Museum, on the Upper Westside. I took so many photos, so I will do a separate post for this. It was definitely one of the highlights of my trip for the nostalgia and the amazing Human Origins hall.

After visiting the museum, O and I relaxed back at the apartment, while Marco and Sally went to see another Broadway show. They won the tickets in the Broadway Lottery. They saw On Your Feet!, which is the story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. They really enjoyed it and I was a little jealous. I had already seen two shows, so I had to be happy with that.

Little Italy

In the evening we visited the famous neighbourhood of Little Italy in Lower Manhattan. It was nothing like I imagined, but then we did go on a quiet night. I just loved the hanging street lights and wide streets lined with Italian restaurants. Its definitely somewhere I would have to revisit.

For dinner, we went to Rubirosa Pizza, since I heard it had some of the best pizza in the city. They are an Italian-American family-run restaurant and pizzeria. The owner was the son of the well known original Joe & Pat’s in Staten Island. He has continued using old family recipes and added some of his own creations. For dinner, they offer Pizza, handmade pasta, soups, traditional appetisers and sides, as well as hearty main meals. You can also do lunch and brunch here.

We ordered Lasagna (mozzarella, tomato, sausage and meatball filling), Tuscan kale with fried onions and the Fresca pizza (mozzarella, tomato and basil). The pizza was enormous, but tasted just as good as it looked. The lasagna was the ultimate comfort food and the kale was a taste and healthy bit of vege, we really needed. The restaurant itself was a little pokey, which made us feel like we were having a delicious meal in someones dining room.

Tomorrow is our last day in New York. We will be seeing Grand Central Station, Central Park, visit the MET, walk down 5th Avenue.