I woke up quite late today, well maybe that was because I got into my room around 2am! That’s not late, that’s early! I got dressed for the cold weather, and went stepped outside of one of the New York top hotels in the city. I went for a walk along Broadway, and even with this cold weather, there were tons of people out on the streets and in the shops, it was pretty manic if you ask me. I bought a ticket for the City Sights Tour Bus and rode the upper open deck, it was freezing, but how else could I get a true feel for the city?
The bus tour was terrific, we went around Times Square, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown and then back to Times Square. I found it interesting how all of Broadway was filled with food vendors, which I thought was pretty cool market stalls. I had a corn-fritter and a delicious chocolate crepe, both were very tasty. I then went shopping for the usual souvenir gift to bring home to all my friends and family, like an ‘I LUV NY’ t-shirt, small Statue’s of Liberty, a Yankee’s and a Met’s baseball cap and other great New York trinkets.
I went back to my hotel and dumped off my shopping bags, and headed back out to Central Park. I was cold, but again, that didn’t stop anyone from being at the park; it was full of people. I sat and people watched, and then walked to a ice-skating rink and watched people enjoying themselves in this wonderfully cool weather. It was beginning to get too cold for me, so I found a bar not far from the park and warmed up with a nice shot of bourbon. This did the trick, several times. I had a very nice conversation with an Australian, who just flew in today. She was staying at a hotel not too far from me, she asked if I’d be interested in meeting her tomorrow to go see a Broadway show. I said sure, I’m not much of a Broadway kind of person, but she was really fun to be with and I really didn’t have any set plans. Even though she’s not a New Yorker, I can’t help but think just how friendly everyone is in the vast city.