We woke up to rain in New York , which I guess we would have expected earlier , apparently we have had unseasonably warm weather. Rick went for what he said was a short run , but says he got lost and exited Central Park on the west twice , so walked until he regained his bearings . The track round the Jackie Kennedy had nearly turned into a creek , from the look of his gear when he arrived back. We donned umbrellas and went to visit the Guggenheim Museum just up the road . The Museum had works form Van Gough, Picaso etc and special display of modernistic Italian Paintings from the early 1900’s , from the “futuristic ” movement who were clearly in their earlier days felt fascism was a positive thing . On our friend Shannon’s advice , later we decided to go to the west side to go to Zabar’s Cafe . Because of the rain , we took the subway which involved going north first towards Harlem then coming back south on a train on the west side. When we went to exit the station we came across the NYPD and a big sign saying “random searches of backpacks and other large containers may take place , you don’t have to offer your bag for search” . Anyway I couldn’t find a link a way to the other line – the policeman informed us to get back on the train and go one further station down . The train we caught downtown turned out to be an express that went past our intended destination , which turned out to be a bonus as just outside the station was the best priced fresh food we had so far found in New York . After shopping there we walked back uptown the next 8 streets to Zabars. This was certainly the cheapest and best coffee so far in New York , and old style Deli with sawdust on the floor! We were very impressed with the amount of food shops and fashion etc in this upper west side. The walk through the park to the apartment after the rain had stopped turned out to be quicker than the previous circuitous train journey. Cara turned up , after our home cooked dinner , and we again went shopping on the west side so we walked back and forth through the park .
On our last full day in New York the rain had stopped but it was still relatively warm and humid. We took the subway down to union square and there ate our picnic lunch. After a brief walk we took the subway to canal st and walked through Chinatown and into little Italy and somehow back into Chinatown . There are lots of small fresh food stores in Chinatown , mainly fruit and veg and seafood , along with those selling cheap trinkets. Little Italy seems to be a string of Italian restaurants with a few gelato sellers on the sidewalk . We had been informed ,by some Sydneysiders the previous day it was a tourist trap , which was confirmed by paying $5 for a small lemon gelato .Following this we took the subway to Bryant Park for afternoon tea . It’s a lovely park that was full of people taking a break. Lots of mature trees and a central lawn and fountain with heaps of seats and table and chairs, even a couple of table tennis tables.We walked back to the apartment through Central Park. Tonight 5th Avenue was closed to traffic between 80th and 110th streets and all the museums were open for free. We went and had a look but the queues were too long so we just went for a walk.
We are booked to go to Washington D.C. tomorrow on Amtrak which is a 3 hour trip.