After spending yesterday getting our first bearings on New York City, today passed in a much more controlled fashion. We had breakfast in our hotel room (supermarket remnants from two days ago, still not too bad), then took the car to Secaucus train station and took the next train into Manhattan. Our primary event for today was the New York City Zoo, which is located in the Bronx. The subway ride takes a while, but the zoo makes up for it: A large area with extremely varied attractions and animals. A mouse house, reptiles and amphibians, all sorts of bird, asian large animals, giraffes, african wild dogs, a tiger park, an entire house dedicated to nocturnal animals (photography: difficult). The entire thing was varied and cool, and we ended up spending over four hours there.
After our return downtown, it was pretty much too late for any museums, so we went to the Empire State Building instead and went up to the observatory on 86th floor. A little bit pricey, but a great view over Manhattan. We’d finished thoroughly disecting the view to East, South and West when an incoming thunderstorm forced us inside and spoiled our view to the north. Despite some waiting, no lightning struck in the vicinity. Eventually, we went back down and had dinner. Transit back was uneventful, although we did discover an interesting candy store that sold unusual stuff like sour candy spray. Uhuh.
Tomorrow will bring a meeting with a friend and some more museums. Hopefully, it will also bring a slightly earlier start. We have already booked accomodation for DC and a one-night stay near Philly.
