Overlooking Valley of the Waves, and completing the fantastical view from the Monkey Spring Plaza, are the domed towers of the otherworldly Palace of the Lost City.

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This leafy plaza, within view of the Thames, is where Pip, the main character in Great Expectations, was living when the convict Abel Magwitch turned up one night to reveal a life-altering secret.

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Nintendo also demonstrates the Mii Plaza app that lets you collect and view Miis from 3DS owners you pass throughout the day (even when the 3DS is sleeping), a home button for in-game access to web browsing even a book app.

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It was losing height, that was certain: for a second it seemed as if it would crash into the Plaza Hotel, but instead it slid into the corridor between two skyscrapers and disappeared from view in the direction of the Hudson.

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