Last time I was here I missed the Empire State Building so that was a good place to start yesterday. I got there early, but even so, cattle about to be branded have been treated with less pressure and better humour than I was at 9am yesterday..... a good example of "when you know you've been in the job too long" - the ESB people need a refresh.
Looking downtown.... my apartment is on the left there somewhere!
Still getting used to my new hair - I've stopped in my tracks everytime I've seen myself in the mirror....
Looking uptown - too gloomy to pick out the park, but it's there.....
Looking up from down the bottom....
Cannot get over the 500 million bulbs that have been diligently planted all over the city... it's beautiful.
Then, it was gloriously hot (low 30's) so I shopped up and down Lexington and then took lunch to the Park. All 8 million New Yorkers and some were there, so it was a lot of fun to watch kids playing baseball and all other sorts of strange American pastimes (mostly rich snobbish looking couples pashing (no petting though)).
I found a big lollipop and tucked in.
Lots of cool stuff to look at in the park.....
The source of NYC's drinking water until modernisation.... now a running track....
The Great Lawn, jam packed in the heat.....
The blossoms are falling and it looks like snow! Great photo op's.
More culture - Guggenheim. Surprisingly good exhibition there. They had one of Yoko Onos works which was a series of paintings, that wasn't. It was the written instructions for the what the painting should look like and you painted it in your head. That was cool...
Even so, the building was more fun to look at than the actual art....
I hit some bars last night. I hung out with some guys from the Neighbourhood and then ended up stuck with this drunk English guy (seriously.... you go all the way aorund the world and get stuck wtih something that you can see any day of the week for free) - I finally shook him off and headed home, probably as drunk myself now I think of it. Found a great bar in an old laundromat called "Drop Off Service" (cool). The American obsession with preventing underage drinking has meant that I hate to tote my passport EVERYWHERE - irritating.
This morning - off to church - and not a moment too soon. I got handed a flyer in the subway yesterday saying that God knew I was a sinner and I was going to burn in hell in eternal damnation etc etc etc... the singing was awesome, though Harlem was a bit overwhelming - more so than Brooklyn.... the congregation were very welcoming (and being slightly cynical, they were also pleasantly asking for donations....).
I hit up 125th St for the Apollo Theatre and some shopping (rueing the moment I walked into H&M - my bag is now fit to bursting).
Last stop, the Lower East Side for some cafes and bars before I headed back here, home, to get ready for my flight.... Found some great bars and had one last Champagne before I head to the driest part of the world (yes, desert AND alcohol free) at 'intoeca... but not before J'Lo (I kid you not, that was his name), followed me into the candy store across the street (he actually told me this) to ask me out. J'Lo looked like Kanye West, complete with ear-bling and fortunately once I advised I was leaving not only the town, but the country in a couple of hours, he sh*gged off... Question: why has this happened all over South America and NYC, when I spent 6 years unnoticed in Melbourne???? The irony of this is not lost on me.
So here I am, after Matzo ball soup and an egg cream for good luck at Katz's Jewish deli.....
(the site of the orgasm that wasn't in When Harry Met Sally - I found this out while I was eating my lunch), writing for the last time from NYC.
Here's my front doors....
Mango, one of the resident pooches.....
Blanquita, another resident pooch.....
The common lounge..... 
...and common kitchen.......
...and common kitchen.......
I sad to be leaving......
Next update - from Amman, in Jordan. And God only knows what I'll find there.
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