New York - Day 2

Started off by taking the city bus tour (on the same ticket as the previous night's tour) winding our way to downtown (lower) Manhattan. The tour guide lost any chance of a decent tip by stopping the bus outside Macy's for long enough to arouse the interest of a certain tourist.

Hopped off the bus at the WTC site but we didn't stay long - with construction underway on the new towers, there was little to see and difficult to get close to the site at all. Passed quickly through Wall Street (before we could be hassled by traders to buy some stocks - they looked more desperate than the street vendors in Mexico) before making it all the way down to Battery Park.

Next was a river cruise out past the Statue of Liberty, as well as a quick trip up both the Hudson and East Rivers. No chance of any pics with either of us in them, as it was too cold for one of us to head out of the heated cabin ...

Took an hour to find the Deli that one of us read about and wanted to test their menu - made it eventually and the pastrami sandwich was very good. I'll leave it at that - not everyone was impressed with a) the menu and b) the journey there.

Did stop in at Macy's on the way back and the credit card is still in one piece. Considered catching the subway back to the hotel, but as it was approaching 5pm, we thought better of battling locals in rush hour. Ended up back at Times Square and after a pit stop at the hotel, ended the day with dinner nearby, as well as a bit of shopping (extending the shoe range somewhat, which is hopefully a good investment for later in the holiday).

Central Park in on the agenda for tomorrow morning, after which we head to the airport for a late afternoon flight to Puerto Rico. Going by our traffic experience getting into Manhattan, we'll make sure we leave plenty of time to get to JFK - we're thinking 4 hours.

---

---