New York City, Nov. 1 & 2, 2012

Both of us had a good sleep and a relatively poor breakfast compared to the ones we had in South Africa. The city is in very rough condition after Sandy. It doesn't have the "bombed-out" look that we expected but there are lots of areas still without hydro. As well, the getting around town is really difficult with bridges closed, the lack of gas, and tunnels shut-down and in terms of the subway really sketchy! On our first morning, as we were walking towards the subway stop when a limo driver stopped and offered us a ride to Manhattan. Shirley says sure and jumped in!! As we drove along it hit me that for cars to get across the bridge directly they had to have at least 3  people in the car. So I asked him how much time we were saving him by riding with him? He just said well where ever you want to go in Manhattan I will drop you off at it. Anyway he did drop us off where we wanted which was near the threatre district. We bought tickets for the one show  we really wanted to see "The Book of Mormon", which cost over $400 per ticket online and was only $175 per ticket at the door. So we will be going to it on Sunday night. While in line to get the tickets we started talking to the girl in front of us. She is an actress and gave us some ideas on buying tickets and where to have a cheaper lunch. We then walked to the Empire State Building and had a great tour. With the City Passes we got on line, thanks to Colleen Epp, we went straight to the front of the line, which was very short because of the storm. We also got these headphones for no extra charge. Anyway, the last time we were in NYC the line to go up to the top of Empire State Building was over two hours long (so we didn't go up) and this time we went straight up without any delays!! It is a great way to see the city, although a little on the windy side.
After this we wondered back to the Edison Hotel for the lunch that the actress had told us about. Both of us had soup and a drink for less than $14.00 and this is in a city where it is impossible to have an appy for less than $!5.00!  Walked around some more and bought tickets for the other two performance we wanted to see and had a beer at an Irish pub. Getting late so headed to subway station and discovered that the subways are free because of the storm and the fact that they are only partially working. (And you never know when they will show up - the schedules are all a mess!). Decided to have a glass of our wine that we bought in South Africa, but our cork screw had been confiscated by the border guards so John had to go out to the local service station that has everything you would ever need, except gas!! Had a great day in the Big Apple.
Next morning up and at it early. Had breakfast with a couple from Germany who are here for the marathon and again the breakfast was only passable. However, when you see how many people don't have hot water or heat or in some cases have lost their homes completely, we can't really complain. I think at this point they are talking about 100 people losing their lives because of Sandy.
Once again as we were walking to the subway, Shirley heard a cop telling a guy in a car that he couldn't get on the bridge unless he had three in the car - Shirley yelled and said we would ride across with him and the cop let us get into the car. The guy was pleased, but when he saw we had concern for his plight, he suggested that we could help pay for his gas. We both said no we had already saved him time and gas by riding with him! He agreed and let us out at the next cross street!! We walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spent over 5 hours in it. YET, we probably didn't see one quarter of it!! It is an amazing place and well worth the cost. But once again it was part of the City Pass. The only down side was the cost of lunch in the cafe. For two beers, a hamburger and a pasta plate, and a shared salad it was $88.00 US. We left the museum and headed to the theatre to see "Peter & The Star Catcher." A prequel to Peter Pan. Shirley really enjoyed it, however John couldn't keep his eyes open and saw maybe two-thirds of it.Caught the subway back and got a little confused at the Queensboro Station and got turned around. After a few words with each other we finally got on the right street and back to our hotel. Some times it is hard to believe we have been together for 39 years and haven't murdered each other yet.

 Gas station line ups are long and not happy places - this line up went right around the block!

 Just another head!

 Some of the people are as strange as the art work!

 This line up for the bus went completely around two full city blocks. One waitress in a bar we were in told us it took her two and half hours just to get on the bus!!

 One of Canada's retailers that is being successful in the USA