We decided on taking it a bit easier today. What with the wedding plans, then the wedding, then the post-wedding parties, then the honeymoon, and then three days of walking all over Manhattan, we were a bit shattered! So we had a bit of a lie-in, and set off about mid-day with no real plans on anything except wandering around midtown. We decided to take a walk down Broadway and check out the Manhattan Mall. Turns out that wasn’t a great idea, as it’s currently being renovated. It’s still open, it’s just that there’s only about four shops open in it, and it’s quite clearly a building site. So we ended up taking a walk back up 5th, where we spotted a wee pub on 36th street called… The Galway Hooker! We couldn’t pass up a drink in it, so we popped in for a crafty one. I’ve always found that Americans aren’t too big on drinking pints, so to find a pub that served them was a bonus. Well, it would have been, if it hadn’t been flat and poured badly. No wonder everyone over here drinks bottles!
After that, we carried on walking back to the hotel. It was too bloody hot to stay outside! Seriously, it’s almost 100 degrees here, and when you combine that with the humidity and traffic, around midday can be almost unbearable. We stopped off in the New York Library on the way back. I managed to resist the urge to climb on the lions outside (but only just). It’s a gorgeous building, and the interior is even more stunning. There was a great exhibition going on too, ‘Eminent Domain'which was a collection of photos of the city.
The walk back to the hotel took us past the HBO shop. It’s only small, but it’s got some great stuff. I picked up a good few presents for people there, as well as a The Wire t-shirt for myself. I had to eventually drag Johanna away from all the Sex & The City merchandise though…
I also managed to find Kinokuniya bookstore – it’s one of my favourite shops in New York. It used to be near Nintendo World, but when we got there on Tuesday, the building was empty. Turns out that they’ve moved, and they’re only a few blocks from the hotel. It’s gone all upmarket now, there’s three floors of Japanese stuff! Johanna wisely went and got a coffee in the new Café upstairs, leaving me to spend an hour rooting through manga and tiny Japanese toys.
We ended up spending most of the afternoon lounging and lazing around the hotel room. I know that we’re in New York and there’s loads to do, but sometimes there’s nothing better than relaxing! We popped out for a meal later on; to a big place just off Times Square called Fresh Mex. I had a giant meal called ‘Super Cinco’, which had five different Mexican dishes combined into one! Seriously, it’s no wonder this country has an obesity problem. If it wasn’t for the fact that New Yorkers walk everywhere, they’d all be 30 stone!
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