New York
22:45 - Washington DC - Benji & Alec
On our first day in New York Alec went for a run in Central Park getting slightly lost and ending up running for a little too long! We then walked down a market street where we had breakfast (Michael had his best crepe EVER!). We mustered the energy to climb up the empire state building where Zihao overheard an old man telling his grandson that a few years ago a plane had flown into it! We had magnificent views from the top overlooking the entire city and being able to see some of our destinations for the next day, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
That evening Alec set out to find a healthy, cheap, and oriental restaurant, but on arrival, after a long walk, it was closed, so instead we had a burger, in a wonderful bistro called Georgios.
For our second day we set out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. As we bordered the ferry there was a 50 gun salute because of the 4th of July. It was a touristy day but well worth it, although Alec did suffer under the sun. Ground zero isn't too far from the Statue of Liberty, so we went there. It made the events of 9/11 shockingly real.
We met with one of Michael's friends, Kevin Levenberg, who took us to a Korean restaurant where the food looked interesting, but was defnitely worth the experience.
The fireworks display for the 4th of July that evening was reputed to have cost 80million dollars, and was definitely the biggest diplay seen by any of us, including some 'smiley face' fireworks. Kevin then tried to prove to us that American beers were as good as, if not better than English beers, but the fact that they didn't come in pint glasses meant this was a lost battle.
On our last day in New York, we met one of Benji's friends, Rupert Cadbury, who was also in Rendalls with Alec. We had a great late brunch, despite having had some complications on the subway. Tourism having proved tiring, we spent the rest of the afternoon with Vincent Sadlak (A fellow Oxford student having studied E+M) lounging around Central park.
That evening, we got given tickets for a comedy club by a fellow hostel resident who claimed the event was being covered by the ABC network. There was a two drink minimum purchase and we were dubious about it being covered by the ABC network but it was a fun evening. We were shown to our seats which were a little out of the way, Alec having seen a pretty blonde enter before us stated that he would find us another place to sit. Alec returned trying madly to wave us over which we preceded to do. We sat down and saw that Alec had nessled down next to this pretty bolnde who turned out to be an Aussie. The comedy commenced though was slightly drowned out be the nattering of Alec and his new found friend. Having endured some entertaining act and some not so entertaining acts Alec's lass left without a fairwell, the poor chapp was devistated at this sudden departure and needed some comforting.
We woke up very early the next morning in order to the miss the New York rush hour which as we later worked out actually lasts 24/7, but the exit from New York was nonetheless easy enough and we were well on our way to arrive at Billy's house on our hottest day yet, 39 degrees celcius. We decieded to have a picknic outside much to Michaels annoyance who insisted that there was a McDonalds across the road. Michael then picked out some cheese and some chocolate buiscuits and we then proceeded to find a table outside. With the suns rays buring down upon us we made a hasty picknick with the bread toasting itself in the sun and Michaels choclate.
We pushed on to arrive at Billy's house just after lunch, to the wellcome surprise that there was a pool. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and regaining our energy after a hectic few days in Manhattan. In the evening we watched the film "The Hangover", which Alec hadn't seen, to remind ourselves what is in store for Vegas.
