Another glorious but chilly day dawned so thought why not go down to the world’s largest open space to warm up. Given that the weather forecast was suggesting deterioration over coming days thought it best to try for Central Park once more on a glorious morning. And glorious it was. However, on a Saturday morning around 8 am you need to either have a dog on a leash or be wearing spandex and running shoes or else you stand out, well like dog balls I guess. I had the Sopranos tour at 09:45 so planned to stay out until then but my Little Collins was not open today. Bloody Victorians! Luckily there was a café of sorts in middle of Central Park so ordered a fairly ordinary coffee and Ham Cheese croissant. Many cafes have bottles of mints or lollies on the counter – this one had Dog Treats. To be fair they weren’t bad. (They were free duh!). Then headed up to the Garment district to meet at the big needle and thread and await the bud. Seriously there were women bowing at the statue and praying for guidance or at least the love of a good man. Of course having been out for two hours and in this weather a bathroom break was needed before hopping on a bus tour of uncertain duration. Hard to take a pee in Central Park – unless you have 4 legs of course. 3 wasn’t going to cut it ……….. I ordered the smallest coffee I could at Gregory’s just to use the bathroom! It was actually a Cortado and pretty good.
Tour was rather full with about 60 people and unlike foodie tour this was full of every nationality. Some quite elderly people too which was surprising but when one of the oldies asked when does the singing start the penny dropped she didnt see the gun in the Sopranos title. I am amazed we came home with 120 hips intact given some of the ice around when you hopped off. The alarm bells were ringing but have to say the whole day went pretty smoothly really. The guide was a bit time/failed actor who had done a couple of scenes in Sopranos. The tour has two highlights for me – sitting in Tonys booth from the last scene and going inside Bada Bing. But before that there are plenty of minor sights to see and a lot of great info and background. After seeing a sight or two a clip is played from the show displaying what we just saw. Much like The Untouchables tour in Chicago not a lot of stops which of course would not be manageable in a suitable time frame. Mind you when we did get off the bus I reckon NJ was a good 5 degrees less than Manhattan – it was numbing. All the ties in and asides to Goodfellas and Godfather were highlighted and the time on the bus went along quickly. It was a well oiled machine really as we got in and out of the Ice Cream Parlour in 15 minutes including free onion rings (as Tony ate that night), picture in booth and buy a T Shirt! Bada Bing is of course a functioning Gentleman’s Club – Satin Dolls – and as such strict rules about behavior inside including dancing on bartops (damn), phones and cameras etc.. If u need to use phone move well away from bar or else a bouncer will molest you in case you are trying to take a photo of semi clad lady. So had a very cold Coors and watched the ladies do their thang and then thought well can move over to that dark corner and see if I can check in online. As approached corner heard some moaning and realized there were some chairs there behind a low wall – and this was where the lapdances were given! Ok, lets check in outside. Then it was time to get back on bus and head back to Times Square for drop off.
As a Sopranos fan it was a definite treat both for chances to visit some iconic sites and also get so much interesting info along the way. Now it is time to relax for rest of day – and do some washing. Next 3 days are “free” so time for some planning. Cloud should increase along with temperatures so may be a trade off but have to say last two days have been magic weather.
If the weather gets too bad I may have to find a pub or 3 just to rest in and dry off. On the outside anyway.
flashman181 