Day 8 in NY

This morning I slept in until 11 am and felt very lazy... even though that's only 9 Utah time. I took it slow today and decided I just wanted to walk around. First I went to the United Nations Headquarters. They only offer tours every hour or so and I'd gone at just the wrong time so I only got to see the main floor exhibits. It would have been cool to see the caucus and assembly room things or whatever they are but I didn't want to wait around for 45 minutes.

When I exited the building there was some sort of Turkish festival or whatever going on just across the street. Almost everyone was wearing red and carrying around a red flag with white symbols on it. I guess that's the Turkish flag. I'm probably wrong though. I decided not to venture into the crowded park where said festival was occurring but instead took the subway to SoHo.

Except that the MTA is on a different schedule because of construction on the weekends for the next few weeks. So I had to get off at Union Square and just walked down Broadway--passing through NYU--to get there. At around the south end of NYU, I stumbled upon a random art display by students, I think. It was all very cool. If I had art to buy, I wild get it there.

I really had to pee all through SoHo, so I don't think I was able to enjoy the shops nor architecture as much as I would have had my bladder been empty. I made it all the way down to the World Financial Center plaza before I started screaming (not literally, mind you) and ran into a Rite Aid looking for a bathroom. NYC needs more public restrooms and that's a fact. I found a bathroom but it was locked so I peeked my head over into the break room and asked this dude having lunch if there was a key. He told me that it wasn't a public restroom and I told him it was an emergency and he told me where the key was "hidden" inside a blue shopping basket right next to the restroom.

Once I'd emptied my bladder I went outside into the northish end of Battery Park (or at least that's where I think it was) and I purchased a Fatty Dog and a can of cold Diet Coke. I took my time eating lunch slash dinner and then walked around the World Trade Center construction site and then walked to Wall Street. It was sooooo amazingly crowded down there. I made my way to the Bowling Green and saw the Charging Bull statue. I didn't get very close because it was surrounded by a tonnnn of tourists. So I found a bench to sit on while I enjoyed the shade. A little while later I walked to the Staten Island Ferry again and, luckily, the dancing guys were dancing again!

I only watched one song and didn't donate any money and took the ferry to Staten Island. At the ferry station there I had macaroni and cheese from Au Bon Pain and waited for the ferry back. I was pretty much the first person in line to get on the ferry since I didn't get back on after exiting the ferry from the trip to Staten Island. I got to be outside at the front of the ferry so that was cool.

When I got back to Manhattan I watched the dancing boys again for a while and contributed couple of bucks this time before I left. It was funny when the young kid was asking the circle of people to move closer in he said, "It's okay, don't be scared, we're only black." I laughed when he said that. Silly boy. Super cute though and a talented dancer. He was probably eleven or twelve.

After that, because of construction, the train that I normally would have taken wasn't running so I took a bus to the next subway station that had a train I could use and took that back to the hostel. I let my phone charge a bit while I went to the local theater to get a ticket to Midnight In Paris which is a 'limited release' picture. I really enjoyed it and recommend it as very entertaining and thought provoking. It's rated PG-13 in case anyone more selective than I am was wondering.

Now its time for bed. I've never been to mass before so I'm going to try to wake up early enough tomorrow to go to the one with a choir at St Patrick's.

Goodnight!