NYC Day 2

It was 95 degrees in New York today. 95. I'm gonna let that sink in for a moment.

Basically, we were just barely short of dying. It was so hot -but we prevailed against the harsh forces of nature. We started out our day with a delicious pastry (once again) from Au Bon Pain- they really should bring this franchise to California. With energy from these scrumptious goodies coursing through our veins we headed down to the financial district.

The Subway was our relief from the heat today

Here we accidently stumbled upon St Paul's church: now a memorial spot for 9/11. We sifted through all the displays and photos of people who died on that day. It was quite something to be right where it happened and imagining what it must have been like for people who spent each day working in that area. We went and looked at the 9/11 memorial site preview and I recorded my story of where I was when it happened (they are gathering stories from around the world for the new 9/11 memorial museum).

From there we walked down to Battery Park to get a good look at the Statue of Liberty. Of course we first had to sit on a bench for about 20min just to try and cool down- it was so stinkin hot- both of us were dripping in sweat (gross, I know). We then made the almost fatal decision of walking Brooklyn Bridge- the WORST possible day to attempt this "hike". With lots of moaning due to the heat, we made the trek. It was still worth it though, and whilst there we saw a buddhist monk with a really nice camera- doesn't that contradict what they are all about? Anyway, after taking in the view we made our way back over the bridge and decided to visit Chinatown: Bad Choice #2.

Battery Park

Statue of Liberty in the distance

Drinking in the view of the city on Brooklyn Bridge

Mixing the odors of Chinatown (raw fish, garbage, urine etc) with sweltering heat is never a good combination. Add lots of people and soon I was very hot and bothered. We were actually on the hunt for little Italy but could not locate it: just before vowing to NEVER go to that part of town again and heading back to the cool subway we noticed a restaurant "La Bella something-or-other". We had struck gold! Little Italy was a timely relief and we thoroughly enjoyed walking down Mulberry st and listening to the "Luigi's" and "Frankie Cee's" chatter in their thick italian-american accents: we felt as though we were on a movie set. We even heard someone say :"Get outta here!". That was awesome. WE continued walking all the way to Greenwich Village to find a spot to have dinner. We discovered a great little gem called the Olive Tree and enjoyed the oasis of air conditioning and tasty food. Exhausted from a long hot day we decided to head back to our apartment- but first we just HAD to go back to little Italy to have Tiramisu for dessert. So, we navigated the treacherous subway system yet again, making about 3 transfers just to get some tiramisu. There was a little street vendor selling homemade tiramisu in cups that we had seen earlier in the day. With our tiramisu and cold water we sat down on a curb and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Little Italy yet again. A perfect ending to a not so perfect day. :)

Jono's cool new playing cards

One could write on the tables with chalk at the Olive Tree

Although it was extremely hot today, we still had a great time, and feel as though we saw and did a lot. So please don't misunderstand my "whining". Now to rest our weary feet.

Photo of the day:

Jono in the cemetery of St Paul's Church with ground zero in the background