11/1/07 - Day 15

Sean arrived at the hotel, and I was absolutely overjoyed to see him. I'd been feeling really depressed since arriving in NYC; I think the contrast between the two cities couldn't be greater. London was easy to get around, had smallish buildings and was generally less "frantic" than New York. All the bloody honking of horns and background din of "living" was really getting to me. I felt alone in a big city. I know I shouldn't have felt too alone, travelling with a group, but I did. A few tears were shed on my part, before we ventured out into the wide world. We walked north to Times Square, where I was accosted by a camera crew. Some of you may have seen it on tele in Australia (I think both 9 and 10 broadcast the snippet). Essentially, they were asking what I thought of David Beckham's move to the US (reportedly for a figure of $250m). I said, quite plainly, that "I thought he was a tosser", which I think confused the US journalist woman somewhat! I was then asked what I thought about Posh/Victoria Beckham, to which I replied I thought she was very ugly! I bought a nice shirt in Element, too!



We made our way down to the southern end of Manhattan Island, intending to go to Liberty Island, but due to my dodgy direction instructions, we ended up on the wrong side of Manhattan Island and needed to consult Sean's Lonely Planet guide for NYC.




We walked along [the!] Wall St, and down to Battery Park, where the boats to both New Jersey and Liberty/Ellis Islands depart from.



Yet more security measures meant stripping off, removing metal objects, only certain sized backpacks permitted, and everything being X-ray'd before we were allowed onto the boat. Some stunning views were afforded us as we journeyed across the harbour.








Manhattan Island, as seen from Liberty Island

We purchased a "walking audio tour" thingo, which explained how the statue was built, and the thinking behind it. All very interesting. Then it was time to go back to Manhattan to find food and drink.

After consulting the gay section in the Lonely Planet guide, we decided we were ready for Marie's Crisis, a showtune-only piano bar, in the Village. As we arrived at 5.30pm, the place was pretty much deserted, but it wasn't long before people started arriving. We got chatting to a nice youngish guy (whom we thought wanted a threesome or something - I don't know what gave him that idea) - but he took us to a converted speak-easy for dinner, which was certainly welcome after the amount of alcohol we'd consumed! We said our goodbyes, and I went back to the hotel, and Sean continued onto his digs in Harlem (5th Avenue!).


The bar that is Marie's Crisis