As New York is 5 hours behind London (12 hours behind Perth), Thursday morning had us both awake by 6.00am. After a quick Skype call home, we were off to see the Big Apple. The Port Authority bus station in NY is a short walk from Broadway, here we found our $320.00 tickets to the musical "Aladdin" for the evening show. Looking like the typical tourist, we walked, heads forever pointing upward (wondered why I was getting a sore neck), to Times Square. Greeted by a curious mix of Disney characters (who seemed intent on gathering in packs and splitting the photo op spoils at every opportunity), an 80 yr old woman wearing not much more than a G string and a guitar (added another dimension to the word "saggy"), a break dancing crew with a megaphone, about 5 spider men and many others.

Stopping on the red steps for an overall view of the area produced more than a few giggles. Off to Laurens target for the day, the M&M store! Three stories of marketing genius, that never ceases to amaze.

With some unreliable directions from a bum at the bus station (cost me a dollar), we headed off to find the Empire State building. You would think it would be hard to miss, but unless you're standing on the right corner, it is completely hidden by all of the other sky scrapers (hence the sore neck). Eventually finding it on 34th street, we coughed up our $120.00 bucks for the elevator ride to the 102nd floor. Grabbing a late $60.00 lunch that consisted of a 1 burger, 1 nachos and 2 drinks, at least we wouldn't need dinner.. As you can see, nothing is cheap in NY !

Aladdin was spectacular (we still can't work out how the flying carpet actually flew), with great characters, a live orchestra and fabulous sets.

Next day we set out for a cruise on the Hudson river, around the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the bay area. We opted for the City Clipper, an 80' sailing ship as opposed to the somewhat crowded ferries. Heading up Broadway, we found the "Bull of Wall St" and a mass of eager tourists, just dying to polish his scrotum (makes no sense to me), one woman was even attempting to get under the bull and polish from the front… Bizarre.

Moving on to the 9-11 memorial and museum, now a peaceful garden environment, it is hard to imagine the destruction that took place on this spot in 2001. I actually played a YouTube video for Lauren once we returned to our apartment, so she could try to grasp the immensity of the World Trade Centre before the attack.