Jack was pretty content to do most of the talking, which was just as well as I was tired from the early start, I learnt about his early life in South Dakota, including a brush with the law on Mount Rushmore during the dedication of the Roosevelt sculpture. His wife's battle with three different cancers, his 3 kids and grand children, and his siblings. Our chat took up almost all of the three hours - he was a sweet old man with a good story. Entering the city we could see the skyscrapers of downtown Manhattan before entering a tunnel under the Hudson River. Disembarking from the train in Pennsylvania Station we negotiated our way across a couple of streets and down onto the subway. London's Underground is a doddle compared to the rats nest that is the NYC subway - the Bronx Zoo must have been doing the city planning when this mess was concocted. Eventually we found our hotel and settled into our room - the 1st time I've been able to touch opposing walls whilst standing in the middle of the room.

Leaving our bags in the room we investigated our local area - China town, Little Italy (street cafes, bag shops and pushy waiters), SoHo and Greenwich village (relaxed pace with a 'village' feel - saw what we imagine to be a true NY scene - old men playing chess in the park) where we found a nice cozy pub - Chumleys which used to be a speakeasy - full of odd city types, serving good beer and easy on the ear music. After a couple of pints we took a stroll back to the hotel in the evening drizzle - tomorrow could be a museum day.