New York, New York

To all intents and purposes, New York and Manhattan Island are pretty much one and the same. The contrast having come from Grand Abaco Island in the Bahamas couldn't be greater. Apart from the obvious numbers of people and buildings, the people seemed more hard-nosed than elsewhere in the US. 

One example: A huge part of New York's history is linked to the waterfront so what better way to start our visit than a boat tour circumnavigating the island?

Only we couldn't. One of the storms that skirted the Bahamas turned up instead off the US East Coast. One of the features of such storms are unexpectedly high tides, and the captain decided that we probably wouldn't fit under the lowest bridge. 

The Tour Guide, Dave, carefully explained this problem before we set off and offered that anyone who really wanted to fully circumnavigate could rebook the next day at low tide. Nobody took that option so off we went on the Plan B route. 

On our return, one passenger complained loudly and incessantly to Dave that we didn't go right around and basically blamed Dave. In the end Dave turned around, pointed to the large sign on his shirt, and loudly and bluntly said "Lady, it says Tour Guide, not Tide God" . 

Everyone else literally applauded Dave's bluntness. 

I thought 'Welcome to New York'. 

The tour itself was actually cool, with an interesting commentary throughout. 

One of the 'must do' activities on our list was to go to a Broadway show. The possibilities were numerous to say the least, and if we lived in NY I think we'd have to set a strict entertainment budget. We selected The Book of Mormon, which proved to be excellent, hilarious, and very well done. A caution - it's very irreverent, so probably not a good choice for anyone with strong religious beliefs... 

Prior to catching the show, we checked out Times Square which was not as big as I imagined, yet more chaotic...

...and dropped into a gigantic Sephora cosmetics store to collect some items for Liz that were unavailable in Saudi Arabia. As we knew exactly what Liz wanted, I assumed we would be in and out in a few moments. Apparently we had to browse the other offerings first, which as you can imagine was a highlight of my evening:

Saturday in NY was equally memorable for quite different reasons. The aforementioned storm was by now drenching New York in steady rain, accompanied by gusty winds. We therefore decided to catch a hop on hop off bus to see the sights as we could stay dry inside. As we arrived at various sites we could then hop off, warm and dry, and nip into the shelter of indoor attractions. 

Yeah, right. 

As the bus moved off, a cascade of water ran through many gaps in the roof such that we were being rained on inside the bus! 

And pretty much every attraction had a long queue since everyone else had the same plan. 

We did visit the World Trade Center Memorial, which was sobering. More sobering was the knowledge that as many First Responders have since died from illnesses acquired during the event as died on the day. 

Then it was back on the bus, only to find that the only available seats were on the open top deck, in the rain. 

Changing buses to the Uptown Tour, the plan was to visit Central Park and the museum mile. 

 

Once more: Yeah, right!

The park was hosting multiple events so access to most sections was by ticket only, and queues were significant. Likewise, all the museums. Mary at least had a partially sheltered spot on the top deck, while I was again out in the open. Finally we abandoned the bus and walked through the few hundred metres of Central Park that weren't closed off, on the basis that it couldn't be any wetter. 

On the latter point, we were wrong. The wind and rain ramped up as we trudged back towards our hotel, raising the question 'How to spend the last evening in NY?' 

As it happened, Mary needed a haircut, and there was a hair salon close by that was still open. Perfect! 

I left Mary to it while I deposited some bags back in the hotel, then I returned at the arranged time. Mary's haircut had been done, but lo and behold they were now also doing eyebrow waxing and a manicure, so more time to wait. 

While waiting for Mary I was basically ganged up on by Mary and the three delightful staff, and was thus convinced I too needed a haircut. 

Which proved to include three separate hair washings, including scalp massages. Plus neck, shoulder and back massages. Basically every time I lay back my head was massaged, and every time I sat up everything from my waist up was massaged.

I was starting to wonder exactly what sort of salon I had stumbled across,especially when the ladies tried to talk me into being waxed... 

The haircut itself was excellent, all accompanied by constant banter from all the ladies, and all for a similar price to a basic haircut at home.

Ah, New York, New York!

We will have to come back with more time, and in a drier season...