So long New York

I've left the Big Apple behind and made my way to Washington DC. Well technically I'm near there. I won't be there until tomorrow.

New York was a great city and of all the places I've been, it's the one I'd really want to go back to. The size of the city is daunting, and up to and including today I was still getting confused which way uptown and downtown were, but it feels easy to get used to.

I was crossing streets, dodging traffic like a pro. It's odd to jaywalk in front of police but it's the NY thing to do! On the downside there were a few too many people walking around with their bluetooth headsets for my liking (it looked like the Cybermen or the Borg were silently invading).

I got to see Central Park (huge) and the Statue of Liberty (huge queue, not that big) and the big landmarks.

I loved being at Times Square. I ended up seeing seven Broadway shows. I figured who knows when next I'm going to get the chance to see something on Broadway. On top of the three I've already mentioned I saw Mary Poppins, Tarzan, Spring Awakening and Curtains. All good shows although I think I liked Curtains the best of these.

I also saw a movie today (28 Weeks Later) in the time I had to fill between checking out and getting picked up. The drive to the airport took ages and was an adventure and a little more scary than the film.

At the airport I was told my bag was 8lbs over weight. I've got no idea what 8lbs means and the guy wasn't very helpful. I've checked up and its about 3.6kg. Not much. I should be able to fit that into my carry-on for the next flight. For the trip home Qantas are more generous with their allocations.

I flew JetBlue for this short leg and I wonder if our cut-price airlines will introduce personal TV sets for passengers by default anytime soon? Maybe that new Tiger Airlines will do it?

New York part two

I've continued my roll of musicals by seeing Avenue Q last night. It was extremly funny and well peformed!

This morning I headed down to the Statue of Liberty but the queue was so long and there were no 'time passes' left so I gave up on it for today. I've learnt a 'time pass' is if you want to go into the monument so I will go back (probably over the weekend) and just tour by on the ferry. That's all I really need to do.

I made my way uptown and to the site of the World Trade Centre. When the WTC was mentioned in the video at the Empire State Building it was quite emotional for me. The actual site though is just rubble and it's hard to comprehened that two huge buildings once stood there. There are still a lot of workers there cleaning up debris nearly six years later! On one of the memorial plaques I saw a casualtity (a "hero") with my surname which was a little confronting. Life has gone around the the site but the horror of that day and those images stick to your mind.

For something more fun, I moved on and saw some TV locations. I visited the apartment building from Friends and 'Monks' from Seinfeld. The latter meant I got up to 112th street. The city just keeps going on and on. It's so big. You could spend a month touring and never see everything!

New York

I'm loving New York. It's really great here. Lots to do and see. It was raining yesterday but it was still very warm. I haven't explored too much yet. I was at the Empire State Building today and I've seen a lot of Times Square. My hotel is well located right in the middle of the city, but it's still quiet enough at night to sleep.

I had a lot of trouble getting here. My flight from Vegas was delayed, then my connecting flight was cancelled, and I just got the last seat on the next New York bound flight. That plane then sat on the runway for about an hour because a storm had come into Chicago and all planes were grounded. But I got here eventually.

On the shuttle bus from the airport this loud Italian woman from Brooklyn was entertaining the passengers. She tried to set me up with this french girl who was also travelling solo. Upon learning I was Australian she described me as a 'young Russell Crowe' which made me laugh! She also missed the comment when the driver picked up his wife and was trying to set the two of them up too. It was a very entertaining way to end the day.

Yesterday I did my bit as a broadway audience member. I saw Les Mis from front row centre. It was a great show. I didn't know that it was a tradegy; three times the tears came to my eyes.

It put me in the musical mood so I went to the half price ticket booth and got a ticket for Legally Blonde. This seat was in the mezzanine but it was a good view and a very entertaing and funny show. I may however be singing "Oh my god, oh-my-god you guys" at random moments for the next few weeks.