Sunday, October 09, 2005

Chinatown fun

Today was cooler but dry at least. We took the tour bus up to Central Park and spent the morning walking through it. It is such a gorgeous, peaceful place, and the morning mist and fog was beautiful. All of the leaves have started to turn from green to bright yellow, orange and red. We gave Tavern On The Green a miss, as well as the Guggenheim (which we now regret) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, both of which had huge queues. We walked along 55h Avenue for a while, then crossed over to Central Park West and walked along the huge mansions to Columbus Circle, stopping for a bit of window-shopping and a great Tex-Mex lunch at a cute upstairs restaurant.

We then took the subway to Chinatown. During our entire stay in New York, there were threats of terrorist bombs on the city’s subway system. Supposedly all bags were to be searched, and security was to be increased. However, we never once had our bags looked at, nor did we see any security. We did see some guys in HazMat suits outside one station, but it was a false alarm.

In Chinatown, we walked along Canal Street as I was looking for a handbag. . We were able to give Marie and Lindsay a taste of what some of our experiences were like in China. I ended up buying a few bags. I bought one from a guy who offered to take me to the back room for all of his Louis Vuitton stuff, and I had to go to the back to get the designer label stuck on like a sticker. The other bag I got from one of the “take it and run” guys who stop on the street, quickly open up a huge sheet full of his wares, then bundles it all up again for a quick getaway when police are spotted.

We wandered back to the hotel for a coffee and a bit of relaxing before walking down the street to an Irish pub for drinks and a great meal. It was nice to get a bit drunk have a chance to chat to Marie and Lindsay about the two family members we lost while we were gone.

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