New York: Sunday & Saturday

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Sunday:After a fitful night, thanks to a combination of noisy air-con and lift, we had a really nice breakfast at the supermarket on the corner!! We sorted a room change (so packed again!!) and headed off to do a hop on/off bus experience - something we thought we'd never ever resort to!! Our view is that the hop on/off experience is influenced significantly by the bus guide - ours were very varied. It was a misty damp morning, but expecting the weather to pick up we took minimal cold weather gear - bad call!! The open-top buses proved to be a tad cold and draughty, particularly when crossing Manhattan Bridge!! Anyway we took in the Downtown Manhattn (Ground Zero), then Brooklyn before heading back via East Village (home of the trend setters in the 80's). We had thought of taking in a high building trip, but as they were all shrouded in mist, we took a rain-check. Hot showers were the order of the day on our return and then our thoughts turned to food. We didn't compromise and went for comfort food, namely a burger each in a local bar. Now feeling human again we wandered over to Times Square and back to the hotel (via a Herscheys chocolate shop!!)

Monday: Again the weather in NYC is not great. We grabbed some breakfast and then headed-off on an uptown trip (North NYC to you and I). We were soon making use of the rain-panchos, but still braved the elements on top of the open-top bus. Worthy of note, we passed John Lennon's apartment and drove through Harlem - the latter showing little signs of being the no-go area of its reputation. Fearful of the weather taking a turn for the worse, we decided not to take-in the Bronx loop - it would turn out to be a wise call. We hopped off the bus early and strolled down Madison Ave, clearly not fitting in with the ambiance of the designer shops. Lunch was fun - a 'tossed salad' - we ordered our leaves, our toppings and our dressings and they chopped/tossed the lot!! Please note this rare instance of healthy eating!! In the afternoon we took in the Public Library and Grand Central Station - both rightly renowned for their architecture. At this point the drizzle became a downpour and so plans for the Chrysler Building were abandoned in favour of a hot chocolate in the station food complex. The storm did pass and we set out on the hunt for evening food - settling for a fast-food Chinese restaurant, that served up decent grub which we tackled with chop sticks. No trip to NYC is complete without a drink at a bar and so we perched ourselves on a pair of bar stools, ordered a pint and some house red and took in a a few innings of the Red Stocks v Tampa Bay match - avoiding the array of large TV screens is not really possible.

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