New York, New York

My big tour of the world concluded with three days in New York. That really wasn't enough to see the whole city, but I saw quite a lot by undertaking some speed sightseeing.

Sadly I lost quite a lot of time on Wednesday afternoon, as my flight from Buffalo was delayed by four hours due to snow. Nobody could have foreseen that, what with it still being winter on the East Coast of the States. Then when I did arrive at JFK airport, I had to wait nearly an hour for a subway train to take me to Manhattan. Then when the train did arrive, it took nearly an hour to get to Manhattan. Humph.

So, first thing on Thursday morning I caught the ferry to Liberty Island. I climbed up inside the statue as far as you can get (admittedly not very far, only to the top of the pedestal below the statue). Then I went to Ellis Island and got a quick flavour of what immigrating to the US would have been like. Back to Manahattan where I saw Wall Street, then made my way to 'Ground Zero' to see where the Twin Towers used to be. I took a walk over Brooklyn Bridge and then back again, then made my way to Little Italy for a very nice pizza at Lombardi's. Then I caught a show on Broadway - Avenue Q. It's very funny, and comes recommended if you like musicals and aren't easily offended!

On Friday, I went to the Rockefeller Center and saw the famous outdoor ice rink which is always in movies. Then I walked to Central Park and spent most of the day wandering around the park. Then I went back to town and went up the Empire State Building. I was hoping to catch it at dusk time, so I could see the city in the light and then in the dark. But the queues to get to the top were so long that I only saw the city in the dark. It was very impressive though. After that, I rushed across town to go to Chumley's, a bar which used to be a speakeasy during the prohibition days. As a result of this, the bar doesn't have any signs outside, so the fun comes in trying to find the right door. I'd already walked into five families' houses before I got the right one. They did proper beer inside though, so it was worth waiting for.

And then on Saturday I spent a very rushed four hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, looking at the Greek and Roman art, the Egyptian art, the Cypriot art, the Indian, Chinese and Sri Lankan art, some armour and guns, some Salvador Dali, and then some bizarre modern art. And then I inadvertently got involved in some black American hip hop dancing as I was in the way of two guys doing their act on the subway.

Phew, I'm exhausted. I need a holiday.