New York Day 38

Woke up around 6am and headed to Top of the Rock, had to wait a while to get in but the views are amazing. There is so much to see in NYC that I don't really feel like I have accomplished a lot in my short time. Robin and Dianne picked me up on 5th avenue and we headed to Long Beach in Long Island. Met up with a couple of their friends and walked along the boardwalk. You have to pay $10 to go on the beach. Apparently they do this to keep the riff raff out. Crazy times indeed. After a beer at the flat we headed back to Robin's house where I met her Mum, cousin and another friend. Robin collects Pez dispensers and has hundreds of them. I asked her why she did this and she said that when she started it reminded her of happy days as a child, fun.

Had to get back to the city in time to get back to Top of the Rock for sunset. After arriving in Penn station and lovely guy gave me his daily Metro card which was really cool as I could not find my change and was looking like a photographic equipment mule as per usual. So when I arrived at west 4th st I handed to the next person I saw at the machine, she was chuffed and it made me smile. Got changed quickly and jumped in a cab to go back up. I can't explain the frustration of one guy standing in front of me for 1 1/2 hours while sunset....patience is a virtue that I am still learning. When it was dark and he and his wife were finally leaving he turned and said, "now you can take your exposition". Quite rude as I had said nothing the whole time, I told him that I only need 1 photo, which turned out to be pretty average as I had lost my mojo by this stage.

I went back down and moved towards Times Square. While standing on a corner a fellow compatriate (photographer) asked me how the shots were going, I told him the story and he offered to buy me a beer. I have to say I am surprised by how friendly people are, of course I accepted. We talked photos, techniques, swapped cards, laughed that we knew some of the same people on flickr and talked to Olga the bartender. Arthur left me there and I kept going, got some shots along the way and then headed back downtown.

Went back to the restaurant that the B&B owner owns to say goodbye to the guys there. Mike made me a cocktail and once closed some of the kitchen and floor staff took me next door as I had not eaten since breakfast. Chips and chicken wings go down well when your hungry. Another beer, some more photos, 3.30am and I headed to bed.....long day....