Snot Icicles Anyone?

Charming aren't I? But it's the reality of sub-freezing weather. Your nose runs. Then it freezes. And you get wee booger icicles. And they hurt too.

As well as the frozen nose, I have very, very sore feet. I have walked and walked and walked today, I don't know how far. A long way!

But despite the cold (which I am enjoying, really) and the sore feet, it has been worth every moment. New York City is the most amazing place, it's incredible. It's also insane, but in a nice kind of way. I think a lot of people think of it as dirty, or rough, but other than being crowded and noisy, I haven't felt at any way nervous or intimidated by it. The crowds and the noise wear you out pretty quickly (that's why it's nice to sit in this quiet, warm internet cafe, even if it is expensive) but you see and do so much with it, it's totally worth it.

So what have I done today? Well, I managed to work out how the subways work (it's really easy once you get the gist of it) and took myself uptown to 77th Street, so I could see Central Park and go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Had a look around the posh area of Park and 5th Avenues, walked along the outside of Central Park (too cold to stay outside too long so I didn't go through the park) and then went up to the Met. It's HUGE, you could spend all day there and still not see everything. I tried to see everything but realised how fast time was going so I dropped some areas right off so that I could concentrate on the stuff that interested me the most. I loved the Greek and Roman/Ancient Near Eastern exhibit, the Armor and Armory, and the Egyptian art. But the best exhibit for me was without a doubt the 19th and early 20th Century Paintings and Sculpture. Mostly because they had several of my favourite artists works... Pierre-Auguste Renoir. As well as other Impressionists (Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Matisse, Manet, Gaugin... all artists who's work I adore). I spent a lot of time gazing lovingly at those works, and got some beautiful photographs too.

From there I caught the Subway again at 77th Street and headed downtown to Grand Central Station. It looks exactly as it does on television. And for Christmas they have a light show thing projected on the walls of the main concourse (which is what you see in movies and TV with that clock in the centre) which was rather pretty.

I then walked along 42nd Street down to Times Square (more like fought my way down there - it's insane for Christmas) and then made my way back down 6th Avenue to the Radio City Musi Hall (home of the Rockettes). Again, it was a battle at that end of town. Back to Grand Central Station and on the subway again (I'm a bit of a subway expert now, LOL) back here to Union Station on 14th Street to head back towards the hotel.

Tomorrow I am off to Michigan (catching a bus out of here at about 3.30pm) and I will arrive there early Sunday morning. I'm there for Christmas with the lovely Mandie and the lovely Terri, until the 28th when I head back to Chicago for my last leg of this trip. Phew!