New Yrok

Travelled through Philadelphia where we had the worlds rudest guide. Glad to see the end of him.

Arrived New York - what a culture shock!!!! Cannot believe the noise, the people - they are like cockroaches they just keep coming out of the buildings.  The hotel is right on Times Square and the area is madness,  Probably the best location but absolute madness.  First people I ran into were George and Gary from MasterChef - no idea why they were in hotel but I kept bumping into them.

Did a night tour of Manhattan and Brooklyn on the hop on hop off bus(good value for 2 days and they gave you a really got look at everything)then crashed.  Up early and on the bus again doing downtown manhattan including ground zero (couldn't see anything as all closed off for construction), there is a small memorial with plans for the new construction but couldn't find anything else.  The Empire State Building took 2.5 hrs and even then we had to climb 6 flights of stairs to save time.  Lorraine do not buy ticket to 'skyride' its a rip off and adds nothing to the experience, others said best time is first thing in the morning without the crowds and they only had to stand in line about 10 mins.  We did the Statten Island ferry, which is free, to see the Statue of Liberty.  So many people about we decided not to do the dedicated tour as it would have taken half a day.  We left the hotel at 9.30 and didn't get back till after 4 and only managed the 3 attractions.  We did have at least 2 hrs on bus inbetween the attractions.   Had farewell dinner, which as usual was awlful so went home to bed early.

Must have been tired out as we didn't wake up till 0800, had breakfast and hit the bus again.  This time we did Uptown, which is the residential part, harlem and central park.  More relaxing morning and then went shopping - didn't hit any of the famous stores like Macey's etc, just couldn't handle it.  Just went to Foot Locker and got new cheaper sneakers,

Wandering the streets in the heat and crowds and noise is exhausting.  Will be glad to leave.  I don't understand the 'NY buzz" I just wanted space and quiet.  The 2 days were more than enough for me.