Day 16 - New York

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Up early this morning and headed for the bus that would take us express to the Statue of Liberty ferry terminal. As the NY Giants parade was scheduled for later on, we were told that the express was cancelled today and we just had to take the normal bus. That normal bus proved to be a disaster, the driver was terrible, the staff were very rude and you couldn't understand the tour guide.

Anyway we arrived at the terminal and were run over by a flood of people who were dressed in the Giants gear, there were thousands of them who had arrived from the free Staten Island ferry and on their way to the parade.

We took the ferry and got some good photos of the Statue although due to renovations it was closed. The ferry took about an hour and was definitely worth doing. The statue is huge although I guess once you see it, you don't need to spend too long looking at it.

With the parade on, unfortunately the Brooklyn bus tour was not operating today so as we were close by we decided to do the Ground Zero 9/11 memorial. It was a short walk and because of the parade, they were letting people in for free which was a bonus. I've heard a lot of people say that it is very eerie however neither of us felt that, not too sure why however in saying that it is very powerful and what they've done in memory is great. Where the two buildings were, they have turned each into a pool with a big fountain running into each. Around each pool are the names of every person who died, it's very simple but well done.

After a lunch break we ventured back out onto the streets and back to the parade. While we made every effort to avoid it, it was impossible. There were people everywhere and we actually thought it could've been a public holiday. Almost everyone was wearing their colours and walking down the streets chanting "let's go Giants" and "Brady sucks". The local news tonight said there were close to 1 million people there and I believe that.

We started to make our way back towards Time Square and stopped for another look at Macy's after using the subway to the famous Penn Station. Lauren found a winter coat that will come in handy over the coming weeks and then we walked back to Times Square. The worst thing about New York in the winter is that you are fairly cold outside and then once you go into a shop, you are boiling hot because of the heating. We are constantly putting our jacket on and taking it off.

We were going to go to Central Park however we decided to head to the 5th Avenue shopping strip instead. We went to the famous Tiffany's and Sak's Fifth Avenue. Lauren kept saying that we could only afford the buttons off everything she liked so luckily she didn't ask me to get a second job because finding one was hard enough. We did find Australian Ugg boots being sold for $150, crazy! Abercrombie & Fitch was another store we went into and maybe it's just me but I was a little put off by the male model welcoming customers at the entrance wearing just a pair of pants with an open blazer but nothing on underneath!

We got back to the hotel at about 6pm and there weren't any good broadway shows available for tonight and we were both too tired to go out to dinner so we ordered up room service. I know it's lazy but we've had a few very busy days and we're both stuffed. Sometimes dinner in bed with the TV on is just as good.

Early night tonight and then another big day tomorrow in the last day of our first New York trip. We're off to Boston Thursday and then back here for another three nights. Still no photos to show but we are taking plenty, we just can't put them up until we get back.

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