The visit had been quite food and drink heavy so far so we decided it was about time for some culture. The great thing about New York in the summer is that the city suddenly decides all events should be free, including the annual Shakespeare in the Park performances. There’s something special about watching theatre outside, and this year’s production of The Tempest was no exception. We took our chances in the online ticket lottery and then settled into the heart of Central Park to be transported away by Shakespeare for the evening in a fantastic play.

There’s even a theory that the English accent at the time of Shakespeare’s writing sounded closer to the American accent than the current English accent so you could say we had a more authentic experience by seeing it here!

We continued to make the most of being able to go out and about in the middle of the week by visiting places which have crazy queues on weekends including Buvette, a famous French brunch place in the West Village that lived up to its reputation. Becca arrived on slightly more glamorous transportation than Hannah and I…

Definitely some of the best food we had, we nestled into a cosy room with exposed brick walls and feasted on granola, steamed eggs with prosciutto and a waffle sandwich…

I found my perfect form of transport just around the corner …

and then it was time to burn off our brunch with a spot of rowing / turtle spotting on the lake (also to snoop at The Boathouse which we were planning to go to on the last day):

You may be thinking today has been somewhat lacking views after the top of the Standard in the previous post. Well, fear not. We used my corporate membership for free entry to the Met Museum, with the sole intention of going to the roof garden to marvel at Central Park and the skyline beyond – this definitely called for a panorama:

And then after a quick dinner at Shakeshack, we took a trip up the newly opened Freedom Tower. You whizz up to a height of 541m in a very speedy lift, and are rewarded with uninterrupted views that come from being the tallest building in any direction:

Not forgetting the token sepia photo:

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With the view made even better when the sky turned all moody and the setting sun filtered through over New Jersey:

It was back to work on Wednesday and Thursday for me, but Becca and Hannah’s adventures continued to Washington DC and beyond! Check back soon for a 4th July update!