Day 2: New York City

For the first time in a long time, our trip was not planned before we arrived.  We did have hotels planned so knew where we had to be each day/night.  I had a list of things for us to do but very few confirmed tours.  I knew what I wanted to do but wanted to wait until the last minute to see what the weather was going to be for the day.  Last night I booked a Central Park Pedicab tour.  The weather was suppose to be good with afternoon showers so booked a 10am-12pm tour.  We met our two guides, Alex and Bach who were both friendly and very knowledgeable.  We explored a large part of Central Park which was so nice since we just rode and did not walk!

I was surprised at all the movies and show that have been filmed in Central Park.  It is an amazing peaceful space just steps away from the hustle and bustle of a huge city!  Just as our tour was ending it started to sprinkle which was perfect timing.  Before we headed back to the hotel, Colin gave the pedicab a try . . .

. . . and then it started raining so we made the three block walk back to the hotel quickly.  As we were walking back a huge multicultural international parade was starting so we watched for a few minutes.  The Albanians were rocking the parade with loud music and dancing!

The parade was suppose to last for a few hours so getting a taxi for lunch was difficult.  So I decided we were going to take the subway/metro/train (whatever they call it in NYC) to our late lunch at . . .

It worked out perfect and was super easy.  We met Brandy (my cousin) and Jackson for lunch!

It was oh so good . . .

. . . the pickles . . . the pastrami . . . so yummy and nice to see Brandy and meet Jackson too!  For the record, I only ate half the sandwich and was stuffed!  We made our way back to the hotel for a rest after such a big lunch.  It was too early to call it a day so we headed to FAO Schwarz to check it out and another quick stroll around central park as the sun was setting.