The Big Apple & its hidden treasures

After partying well into the night/early morning with Jordan I really wasn't surprised when we were woken by the maid wanting to clean our dishevelled room - it was 11 am!

We slowly started to wake and reminisce on what a great night we had both had but we had vowed to make our first full day even better. Heading out around 12 noon to commence seeing the local sights, we first caught up with Patty, a family friend who helped us out with some local knowledge on where to eat, where to go etc.


Walking along 8th street, I spotted in the distance the Ed Sullivan Theatre, a historic building and the location for the filming of the Late Show with David Letterman - one of my personal favourites. Patty, gave us a "secret" number to call to try and get tickets, but as they tape the shows Mon thru Thurs we may not get a chance - but fingers crossed.





After a late breakfast/lunch we continued west along Manhattan Island and as the rain started to fall we hit Central Park, we walked through the park for quite a while just soaking (no pun intended) in the fantastic photo opportunities and calmness the park offers given its location so close to the hustle & bustle of New York City life.




Feeling energetic, I decided to go for a quick run (one of my goals during the NYC leg of my trip) which I can happily say I've now completed.


We continued through the park and came across the famous Central Park Carousel which has been in operation for many decades - seizing on the opportunity it wasn't long before I was atop a carved wooden horse laughing like an idiot.


We headed for the westside exit which was also the location of Strawberry Fields (dedicated to the past beatle John Lennon) we listened to a tribute presented by a 5 strong John Lennon devotes paid our respects and headed for the subway.





Riding the subway is really what you've heard - and what you'd expect.... it's dirty, dodgy and above all risky..... but it is cheap and both Jordan and I didn't really want to walk the 20+ blocks back to our next destination the Rockefeller Plaza.

The Plaza is pretty cool, but unfortunately given it is summer over here at the moment, both the ice skating ring and famous Christmas Tree was nowhere in sight. We did however walk around the plaza and read some of the plaques dedicated to John D Rockefeller Jr.




It was now approaching 6pm and we still wanted to have something to eat before we headed out to the Comedy Club tonight where we will hopefully see Flight of the Concordes and Chris Rock. As we headed back to the Washington Jefferson (our shoebox of a hotel room maybe 4m X 3m) we decided to grab some Mexican (I have a great appetite for it now for some reason) and sat at the front window watching the world pass by.

We didn't have to wait long as Jordan alerted me to a man running along the road being chased by 3 other men. As they crossed our path the man being chased dropped what appeared to be a wallet!? It turned out we had just witnessed a mugging (or part thereof - what a welcome to NYC!).

It's now 7.45pm and we are heading out to Comic Strip Live which starts in 45 minutes or so, it shouldn't be a late night though (hopefully) as tomorrow will see me meet up with my parents to climb the Statue of Liberty and visit Ground Zero and Wall Street.

James.