I love it! This is only our second visit to the Big Apple (our first was in 2000) but it is as magical as I remember it. An iconic city which is associated in one way or another with every form of American culture - history, literature, art, music, film.
We spent a lot of the day on the Gray Line's Downtown Tour, hopping (if it is possible to use such a word in reference to a 66 year old with an athritic knee) off and on again. First we went to Ground Zero and saw how it is in the process of being redeveloped. We also visited the exhibition that charts the destruction of the twin towers and the plans for renewal of the site. This was quite moving because it reminded us that the last time we were here we went to the top of the North Tower and it starts you thinking of the people who served you in the cafe and the souvenir shop and who would undoubtedly have been among those that perished in the devastation.
We also visited Washington Square and walked along Bleeker Street (Dylan connection for the unitiated).
We experienced three very different tour guides on the buses during the day. The first one was a very earnest woman who spent a lot of her commentary wondering aloud what she had done with her sunglasses and shouting at people to sit down. The second was the tour guide equivalent of Davina McCall - totally hyper, squealing and jumping around - but I forgave all this when she sang most of "The Times They Are A'Changing" as we arrived in Greenwich Village. The third one was probably the most informative but he had a very strong, undoubtedly East African, accent and some of his pronounciations had to be worked at. I think this diversity illustrates one of the attractive aspects of New York.
I love it!
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