Its amazing how one baby with enthusiastic lungs can turn an, otherwise pleasant enough six hours into a total nightmare. I think its something about a sound which has evolved over several million years for the purpose of attracting attention. Present situation aside, I just made a quick visit through New York!

What an interesting and vibrant city! Manhattan is 13 miles long and 2 miles wide, and, there is so much stuff there that everyone else wants to move in. Nearly the entire ground floor of the city is commercial property, and most of that foundation is covered by high-rise apartments. Cookie has got a really nice place in the East Village.

On arrival we went to say hi to the New York branch of the New College alumni. Ash, Nell, Sasha, Karen, Gavin, and a couple of their friends were all over Sasha’s housewarming. A really great place! After a beer and catch-up, Cookie took me for a tour through Greenwich Village, the meat packing district, etc. So nice just to soak it all up slowly! First NY food experience: hot dogs wrapped in bacon with guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. After a quiet beer in Union Square, we headed out to dinner with Santi, Andy, and the rest of the crowd (who, by this stage, had done themselves proud on the beer front). After heading along to one of the million bars (that ground floor comes in really handy for something!) I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and, I’m very embarassed to admit, had to pike, in New York City, at 11:00. I hang my head in shame. (Well... Sort of... I had had 3 hour sleep).

After breakfast today, Cookie had to go to work (yeah... on a Sunday!) and I did some more touristy stuff. Headed up to the top of the Rockafella centre, which gave an amazing view of NYC. Also walked up 5th Avenue, and in the absence of my fashion advisor, decided that buying clothing was too risky. Safer was a trip to the Apple store, which is _enormous_ and had a queue to get in (which fortunately only started after I left). (I bought an iPhone case). Then went for a wander through central park, checking out the mall, the Pond, and some random wildlife sanctuary which was very beautiful. There were so many people compared with last time I was there! (middle of winter). A rather different experience.

I left NYC a little bit frustrated because I’d wanted to really go nuts, and hadn’t had it in me to do so. And there’s just too much to see in a few hours. I will return!