Okay, today was a heck of a day! We got up on our own accord around 8:30am ... after which we got ready and started out on our big day. Our plan was to try and hit some of the major tourist attractions that are "must-see" New York. We could've done this by transit for most of the way, but decided to instead do most of it on foot so we could also get a feel for the atmosphere of the city and see stuff we'd miss if we went on the train.

So after a short breakfast in a little bakery/deli, we started walking down Broadway with our first stop being Carnegie Hall. There wasn't much to see inside since the tour had just left and there wasn't exactly public access to the building. But we got some pictures of the outside of the building.

Next, we stopped at a ticket booth near Times square looking for tickets for a broadway show (we're aiming to see Spamelot, a Monty Python themed broadway show). The booth wasn't open until 3pm, so we checked a show schedule just to see if there was any shows for that night. Unfortunately, there wasn't any so we were forced to put that off until tomorrow. The advantage of this particular ticket booth is they offer discount tickets the day of the show - which we are a big fan of! So that's on the agenda for tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow evening as well.

The next stop was the Empire State building - but the wait there was over an hour so we decided to put that off until later on as well. So far, not a huge success rate on the things we wanted to do!

Tired, and out of gas, we stopped at a Mcdonalds (yeah, I know ... terrible). We were in a district that seemed to have a lack of snack/deli type food places that we could stop for a quick bite, a glass of water and get our wits back from the busy streets of Manhattan. By the time we found the Mcdonalds, I really really needed to sit down and take a breather. So that I guess is the reason for our stop there. From there, we caught a subway (being really tired and not willing to walk the rest of the way) to a stop near the NY stock exchange - which was yet another place we just stopped to take some pictures of the outside of and left.

Our next destination was a ferry to take us to the Statue of Liberty. Fortunately for our tired feet, this was really close by so we went there and got tickets for the next ferry. It is really a pretty cool sight, even if it really doesn't have a lot of meaning for us Canadians. We wandered around the island and took lots of photos. Unforunately, we couldn't go inside - apparently tickets for that are difficult to get and require more planning ahead than we were able to do. Oh wells.

After catching the ferry back, we walked through Battery Park on route to the World Trade Center site. This was a sobering place to go since it was obvious there was a gaping hole in the landscape. The area is under heavy watch, and construction has started on whatever they plan on putting there ... we didn't stay long, but it was kind of depressing just being there so I was glad to move on.

We had one more stop on our list ... Brooklyn bridge which was not too far away. But first, we needed to grab some food so we stopped at a little place next to the bridge for some pretty good Italian food. It wasn't Turin food, but who am I to complain? I got another chance to sample some juicy fresh shrimp. While not many of them, I was quite happy to have some! I totally have a new appreciation for shrimp!

Finally done, we wandered around trying to find a pedestrian entrance to the bridge. It took awhile, but finally we got on the bridge itself - it is a pretty magnificent structure and well worth the time to go see. We decided not to walk the full length of the bridge, partly because of our tired feet!

Catching a subway back to Times Square, we attempted to find a comedy show to go see (since that's apparently something to do in New York). Unfortunately, the only one we could find was half way into the show, the tickets were still a full $20 and there was a two drink minimum. Ugh - not too attractive. So we wandered a bit and found a Toys-R-Us that was pretty ridiculous. It was three stories tall, and had a FERRIS WHEEL in the middle of the store! That's right ... a ferris wheel. Pure, over the top, ridiculousness! Then again, I'm starting to really expect that here, particularly in the Times Square area.

Afterwards we decided to return to the hostel, perhaps with a stop for a snack and a drink. We stopped at a neat little deli where we got dessert and a beverage ... and there was a kind old man who gave us cookies as well! Yay cookies!

Finally, we're back at our hotel after a very long and full day. Typing this up even makes me a little tired ... and mildly impressed that we actually got through all of this. Amazing-ness!

But I need to go crash. We're sleeping in a bit tomorrow, and then we're going to check out fifth avenue which is reportedly the locale of the new Apple store here in New York. We really have to check that out, as well as some of the other shopping along the avenue. Perhaps I will be able to find gifts for some people even!

Take care! I'm going to go sleep for as long as I can!

Heraldk