Day 30 - New York City

This morning we made our way down to 55 Wall Street where we had reserved some spots on a guided walking tour. The guide was extremely energetic and seemed to know her stuff. I didn't realized that back in the very early days there was actually a wall from one side of Manhattan to the other about on the location of Wall Street (hence the name). Right from the start of the different colonies trading had been done around the wall and continued I get done there from then on in. I didn't realize that back in the day New York City was actually the capital until a couple of politicians one of them being Thomas Jefferson agreed to help each other out. One wanted the large state loans to be pulled in as federal loans and Jefferson wanted the Capitol moved south further. The tour went past the New York Stock Exchange, the Lehman Brothers old headquarters and a few other financial related locations.

We also stopped and talked about the raging bull which is kind of seen as a symbol of Wall Street. It was originally put under the stock exchange as a

prank. However the executives on Wall Street saw it as good luck. Apparently when bulls attack they hook you by their horns and throw you upwards (stocks rising), bears are seen as bad luck because they go up on their hind legs and slash downwards at you (stocks decreasing).

The tour ended at the site of the twin towers where their appears to be a lot of construction going on. We will probably go to that another day so won't talk about it here.

We caught the subway and made our way back to Time Square to grab some lunch and then went to the Discovery Channel Museum where they had an exhibit called Bodies. Until we got in there I didn't realize but all the exhibits in it were real preserved bodies. That made it kind of weird but it was still interesting seeing all the different parts of the body dissected etc. a couple of the more memorable examples were the 4-month old fetus, the fetuses at varying stages of a pregnancy and also an exhibit of just the main veins pulled from a body hanging as though they were still in the body.

We then grabbed a drink (to help stomach what I had just seen) and

made our way to Rockefeller Center where we did the 'Top of the Rock' which is an observation deck at the top of the Rockefeller Center which is about 70 stories high. This was a great view of the city, in particular Central Park.

I then made my way to see my second broadway show. Tonight it was 'Rock of Ages'. I haven't seen the movie so it was going to be good to see a show and not going in with any knowledge. It was fantastic! Better than Chicago last night. The set had a bit more to it, there were costumes, and most of the songs were classic rock songs like: We Built This City, The Final Countdown and Hit Me With Your Best Shot. I look forward to checking out the movie when I get home bit hopefully it lives up to the extremely high standard that the broadway show has set. After seeing two shows now the one thing that has surprised me is the size of the stage and the theatres I expected them to be a lot bigger than they have been. It might just be the shows I have been to but it is something ill be thinking about as I see more shows.

Anyway check back in tomorrow!