We managed to sleep in today. It was nice to catch upon sleep after skipping a night. We got up around 10am and had some breakfast in our apartment then showered and dressed. We were waiting for the owner (David) of the apartment we are staying in to drop by. He had to grab fresh clothes for himself between trips.
David is a great friendly and bubbly guy and it was great to see him again after three years and to catch up for an hour or so. He is off to Kansas City tomorrow to stay with his family over Christmas whilst we enjoy using his apartment in Manhattan.
After he left we headed off walking down 9th Avenue through the old meatpackers district and Chelsea in lower mid Manhattan. We picked up a coffee along the way and just wandered around and soaked up New York life. It was obviously much colder here than in Hawaii: around 36° F (2° C) today so it was certainly jacket and hat weather. We wandered down to around 32nd Street and this is a classic section of New York that still looks much like it probably did in the 1960s or 1970s. Some great little bodegas and deli style stores in this area.
I was actually on my way to a very well known New York camera store called B&H Photo on 34th and 9th. I'm always looking at their website when researching new gear and have purchased several pieces of gear from their website. I was looking forward to actually going into this behemeth of a camera store. Unfortunately I forgot that it's owned and run by Jewish people and as such was closed on a Saturday, being their sabbath. Still I could look through the windows and now know exactly where to head tomorrow to get my new camera and a few other accessories.
We also poked around a few clothing and electronic stores in this great gritty part of Manhattan. I love the gritty 'real' New York. The hustle and bustle of people and the slightly run down buildings really make you feel like you are in the real New York City. Cheap products, food and clothes everywhere too.
We made our way further up 9th Ave and then across to 8th Ave and eventually right up through the tragically awful, horrendously busy, noisy and excessively lit and electronically billboarded Times Square. This is arguably the worst part of Manhattan and we walked through it as quickly as possible.
We stumbled upon and old collectable record and sheet music store on the northern edge of Times Square and spent some time looking around before heading on to an electronics discount store where we bought a set of really small travel speakers for connecting an iPod, iPad, computer to. Decent sound for such tiny little speakers. This should be good for the rest of our trip and future travelling.
We then returned to the Amish supermarket to buy some supplies for cooking dinner tonight and I stopped in to the great little Vintner store across the road from our apartment and grabbed a bottle of Californian Pinot Noir.
We'll be cooking pasta tonight whilst enjoying the throng of traffic noise, sirens and blasting horns that is the soundtrack to life in Manhattan.
Today's Weather
Wind: Variable at 6 MPH (5 KT)
Visibility: 10 mile(s)
Conditions: clear
High Temperature: 37.0 F (2.8 C)
Dew Point: 17.1 F (-8.3 C)
Humidity: 43%
Pressure: 30.14 in. Hg (1020 hPa)
