It's a (tourist) trap!

And to think that I thought my feet were sore yesterday – today puts things in perspective. It’s like foot genocide. I’m fairly sure that by the time I get home I’ll have the sculpted calves of a Greek demigod, that’s how much walking I’ve been doing.

Anyway, after writing up my account of the day’s activities last night I was too tired to do anything, so I turned on Tom’s TV and gazed in wonder at the 800 channels. I ended up watching commercials for about an hour, marveling at the American hard sell. I quickly passed out.

I was up super early this morning, and walked with Tom up St Marks street (punk kiddie central, I believe) before we parted ways, him to work, me to head uptown. It’s only day two but I’ve got the subway figured out – I managed to get everywhere I needed to go today without getting lost or missing a connecting train once.

My first stop was the American Museum of Natural History. I decided to get off the subway one stop before the Museum, so I could walk the remaining distance and explore a bit. I’m glad for it – the apartments on West 81st street, like most of the buildings in the area, are truly beautiful, including one that was wreathed by vines that was especially spectacular.



I eventually arrived at the Museum a bit early, so while I waited for them to open I chilled in the Roosevelt Park nearby. It’s strikingly pretty, especially after the rain. There were little squirrels running about everywhere – very cool. The view from the park was amazing - I could have happily sat there for hours with a book, just soaking in the ambience of the city.



The Museum itself was amazing; a truly mind-blowing experience. I checked very major exhibition hall on each of the five floors, a feat that took me no less than four hours. There’s way too much stuff to mention anything specific without droning on forever, but the cosmic collision show in the Hayden Planetarium was positively breathtaking. It’s this massive show inside an enormous sphere, with the movie projected onto the ceiling use state-of-the-art technology. It’s positively amazing.



I bought a few souvenirs and headed out, unsure of what to do next. I figured WTC was as good a bet as any, so I headed downtown. WTC was a bit of a bust to be honest – you can’t see much, although St Paul’s Cathedral, which is just nearby was quite something, even if the years of neglect have taken their toll. The Chapel directly opposite the site of the WTC was also nice – they’ve turned it into a shrine of sorts for the rescue workers of 9/11.



I spied Century 21 in the area, so I went in and did some shopping. The prices were ridiculous, as were the throngs of bargain-hunting shoppers, so I grabbed some gear and some thick socks and got out before I got crushed.

I wandered around a bit and tried to find Majestic Pizza but couldn’t, so headed back uptown to grab some food and rest my weary feet. At Tom’s recommendation, I grabbed a cheeseburger from Paul’s (“Da Best Burger in NY”) and I was glad for it. I was initially worried when I went in and saw a signed poster of the Kardashian sisters raving about the burger they had, but it was every bit as good as advertised. I took it back to Tom’s place, where it was swiftly devoured. It’s easily the best burger I’ve ever had – nothing I’ve ever had before compares.

So now, I’m sitting here, chilling on the couch and going through pictures of today. Tom and I are not going out tonight because we’re going to be going large tomorrow morning watching the rugby. Should be a blast!

I've also got my first few pics up - you can check my Picasa album out.