The New York subway

I got up, and went to McDonalds for breakfast. After that I went up to the tours office and bought myself a ticket for the downtown tour. This is a guided tour by bus, and goes to all the major sights. I went to the bus stop and got on. The tour was interesting, but I found that I was gradually getting more and more tired. By about half way through, I was practically falling asleep, so I got off and went back home via the subway.

The New York subway looks like the London Underground about 30 years ago. There's quite a lot of graffiti, and the trains are old and noisy. They do have air conditioning though, which makes a change from London. When I got back to the hostel, I dozed for a few hours, and then decided to try the tour again.

The Flat Iron building was the first to be given the name 'skyscraper'.

I was getting quite hungry by this time, and when we got to Chinatown I asked the tour guide if I had time to get off and have a meal, and he said that the last tour bus goes past this spot at about 7pm, so I had plenty of time. I got off, and found a nice Chinese resturaunt which served me chicken with crispy noodles, which was delicious. After that I bought myself a phonecard to call home with, and took a stroll down through Chinatown.

There were tons of stalls selling ripped-off films and fake watches really cheaply, and I bought myself some nice Chinese ornaments. Then I went back to catch the rest of the tour, and got there in plenty of time, as 6:40. By 7:00 there was no tour bus. By 7:20 there was still to tour bus, so I gave up, and took the subway back to the hostel.

Broadway from the top of the bus.

After a shower, I tried to get to sleep, but the room was as hot as last night, and even noisier thanks to some piece of machinery that sounded like it was just outside the window.