Well here I am in Easyinternetcafe in Times Square New York City and no it still hasn't sunk in what I've let myself in for. I can hear some of you now. "Why is he stuck in an internet cafe when he should be enjoying himself." Well we've done loads today and now we're just killing a couple of hours before the movie starts.
On the whole I'm feeling much perkier than yesterday. Woke up at 5.30 am to prove that point. So we went for an early morning stroll in Central Park, don't you know. Returned to the hostel for breakfast, which consisted of a bagel and Frosties, but was included in the $35.
After breakfast we walked down into the centre of Manhatten, that was 10 hours ago and we're still here. First thing on the list was 'The Dakota', which was the building where John Lennon was shot, but there was nothing to symbolise this, which was a trifle disappointing.
The next stop was the Tourist Information centre, which we wanted to see to make sure we don't miss anything. Well we managed to find Columbus circus but not the Tourist Centre. It appears to be gone so we'll have to rely on the Rough Guide.
It was then off to have morning tea in Grand Central Station, via the NBA store. Grand Central is a pheonomenial building, very impressive, much better than Waterloo.
Next to Grand Central is the Crysler Building, which again looks stunning.
Then we walked through the Rockafella Plaza, which we could easily have missed, but that was on our way to the Empire State building. From the observatory, costs $11 to get to the top, the view of the skyline from above is amazing and must not be missed.
From here we moved on to Madison Square Garden. I arranged an all access tour ($16) much to the delight of Mx. Madison Square Garden will mean something to some of you and the others of you will just glaze over. Basically it's the most used arena in the world. It holds 300 events a year, these include, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Rock Concerts and Boxing Bouts. The tour gives you a view all round the Garden. You see the executive boxes, the changing rooms and we even got to walk on the hallowed 'concrete' (at the moment). I don't think you can miss the chance to see this, secretly I think Mx enjoyed it too. We even lunched in the Gardens restaurant.
Afterwards it was on to the Bus Terminal, to arrange our escape from New York. We're off to Boston on Thursday. Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero and the Circle Ferry tomorrow.
On the whole it's been good. Still not sunk in that I'm away for a year, but I guess it will soon.
Regards to all!!!
