Lower East Side

Day 2 in New York started with breakfast in a deli. Lots of options to order as well as a huge buffet with pretty much everything you could imagine eating for breakfast available. You pay for your food by the weight. I wish we had shops like this in Australia but I guess we just don't have the population to make it work. Ronan says he loves the fact that they have plain food and not the 'hipster' food he finds in every cafe in Melbourne.

We took our first trip on the New York subway down to the Lower East Side. We spent about an hour wandering around Chinatown and Little Italy. Ronan loved the grittiness of the area and the constantly changing character. I enjoyed seeing it but I think I like my neighbourhood a bit more gentrified.

Next stop: the Tenement Museum where we took, of course, the Irish Outsiders tour. We were expecting a tour of a tiny apartment showing the miserable existence that Irish immigrants experienced in the 19th century in New York. There was a little bit of that but, mostly, it was about how your experiences in life shapes your identity. We followed the story of one Irish family who lived in Orchard St in 1868. It was amazing how much the guide got us thinking about our own identity and how it has been influenced. Also, how we can influence the experience of other people who come to live in our countries and cities. We both loved it. Ronan even tipped the guide OUT OF HIS OWN MONEY!

Once the tour was over, we headed to Katz's Delicatessen for lunch. We sat right next to the seat where Harry and Sally sat. It is such a New York experience, completely unlike anything we see in Melbourne. Ronan had a Reuben which pretty well kept him going until well into the evening.

After lunch, we went to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Like our trip to the Peace Park in Hiroshima, this was an essential visit to make. The museum is built right on the site of the twin towers so you can see the foundations of the buildings and some of the structural steel. It is very well done but after a period of time, we started to feel a bit overwhelmed.

But as good as the museum was, the Memorial is seriously jaw-dropping. Describing it won't do it justice because it is just essentially 2 holes, one inside the other. The design, however, packs a serious emotional punch (at least it did for me) and it really gives you the sense of the enormity of the disaster.

We planned to head to the Staten Island Ferry afterwards but the weather had turned a bit gloomy so we decided to save it until tomorrow. After a short rest back at our hotel, we took a walk down to Times Square. New York seems busier at night than during the day. It is fun and exciting with all the light and sound but I started to get irritated by the fact that everyone was on the make.  Two Minnie Mouses tried to fleece us of $10 just for taking a photo. I realised then that New York is definitely the city of opportunity and everyone is trying to create one. For a lot of people, that is probably exciting and interesting but, for me, it is exhausting.