We took the E train and got out of the subway to find Rock Center but not Top of the Rock. We walked all the way around where the skating rink is in the winter and saw the Jeff Koons venture into topiary-dom. We walked up and down steps. We found a security guard to ask where we were going, and he said quite magically, Find the red carpet around this corner. Ooooh. Fancy!
We found it very easily, went right inside, and the guy tells us to take the stairs because it's easier and faster than the elevator. That's true for people who can run up circular staircases, but not for people who can receive senior discounts. We did make it up the stairs before the elevator did, though, and we breezed through the security line.
Then came Photo Op 1. While waiting on line, you can sit on a bench in front of a wall sized photo of the city as if we were those construction guys sitting on a beam. You know the one. The photograph has the greatest job ever. These were his instructions: get together like you like each other! Okay, okay, now be Charlie's Angels girls!, yes, yes, now act like you're falling! One two three ahhh! Okay, there you go thank you.
He zipped through it really quickly and later on, we saw in the first picture we weren't even ready to take the picture, but it was really funny.
Pretty soon, we go on the elevator up to the roof. It takes somewhere in the 40 second range to shoot up many many floors. As we went up, there was a movie show on the ceiling of the elevator. No joke.
We got out of the elevator to enjoy three levels of oohing and ahhing.
And tourists pushing people out of the way. Not to be one to be pushed, my mom very loudly said, Excuse you! To which the tourist responded, excuse me. Heh heh. Little lady is a firecracker.
Around and around we walked, taking in the city as it lit up, orienting and reorienting ourselves as to where we were and what we were looking at. Really, it wasn't that crowded, yet people have a way of making it seem that way, like setting up a tripod when they are forbidden or staring at the same building without moving or allowing other people to see. Also, some people were holding their iPhones out between the safety glass and hoping not to drop them as they took selfies. People? Are dumb.
Photo Op 2 came. This photograph was on the very top of the top. She asked where we were from. We laughed and said, New York. She was from London. She had us do a whole lot of poses. Once she told me to hold my hand up high and pull my fingers together. I figured she was trying to make it seem like I was holding the Empire State building from its spire, but upon seeing the photos later, as I'd figured, I wasn't tall enough to do so and it looked like I simply have an odd way of pointing.
We'd went around and around and decided we'd had enough, so we went to redeem our photos and then got on the line to go down to the street on the elevator. We were jostled into a line on which there were some very nice people but also some people who were very annoying and somewhat loud. They were speaking German, so I kept asking my mom if she knew what they were saying. But because they were tall and murmuring, she couldn't even hear them.
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| Too close for comfort |
For two New York gals, one who's lived in the city, Top Of The Rock is still an amazing experience. Sometimes it's fun to be a tourist in your own home state. You have to be ready, though, for some people to break basic ettiquette of the public transportation system.
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| No. Just, no. |
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| A middle seat taken up by a drink? Really? (This is my mom breaking the rule). |
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