New York: First Weekend: Sunday

I'm staying right by Fifth Avenue and it seems to be the dedicated parade route. When I started out this morning, the road was already closed off for some parade (the staff at one of the stores guessed that it was Hispanic Day parade). [The next day, the Columbus Day parade would be held on the same road.]

Went for the NBC studio tour. I didn't find it that interesting, but probably because it was similar to the CNN tour I took in Atlanta two years ago. Anyway, I did get to see the set for Saturday Night Live, and learned about the careful measures they have to take with makeup and sets for high-definition TV.

Took the subway to Chinatown. You should've seen the oceans of people overflowing the sidewalk! Make sure you read the map before you get out of the station - I had trouble finding Chinatown coming out of the one of the Canal St stations.



Just north of here is Little Italy. The weather was really warm, so outdoor Italian dining lined both sides of the street.



From there, I walked all the way to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Now that the weather's warmer, I actually saw a few folks dipping their feet into the water in the fountain. I half-heartedly followed the walking tour in my AAA tour book around the neighbourhood.



At some point, I realized that I was only a few blocks away from the waterfront on the west side. So, I found myself in Hudson River Park. There're bits of green space on the piers and you can see people taking the opportunity to lay on the grass.



Next weekend, I'll be going to Toronto! I'm staying on the east-side of the continent to avoid the long flight home.