playing the role of tourist

One of the best things about having people visit you is that you get to do all the tourist type things that you don't think to do on your own. Today a.m. and I decided to ride ferry over to Staten Island. We took the subway all the way to the tip of Manhattan, got on the Staten Island Ferry, rode it to the island, exited the boat, then reboarded the boat via the terminal and rode the ferry back to Manhattan. The first part of the trip wasn't too exciting. I mostly saw Brooklyn and some boats and industrial areas. The second part of the trip we were on the side of the boat that offered a nearby view of the Statue of Liberty. It was much more exciting. The best part of the trip was that I can now say I've been to all 5 boroughs of New York: Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island.
Once back at the Manhattan terminal, we caught a northbound subway up to meet nyc julie for lunch. She took us to the sandwich shop voted best in the city. It was pretty tasty. We took our lunch over to Washington Square park where we ate by the fountain. It was a perfect day for lunching outdoors.
We walked nyc julie back to her office, then a.m. and I went to explore Chinatown. In some ways, it's not too different from other areas of New York. They have a Starbucks and McDonald's and banks. The difference is that all these places have Chinese lettering above the English. After buying bubble tea, we continued wandering until we found ourselves in Little Italy. We passed restaurant after restaurant offering "the best Italian food" in the city. Another turn on another street and we were back in Chinatown. The fine dining restaurants were replaced with open-front stores selling raw fish and produce. Sadly, it was time to find the nearest subway station and head uptown so a.m. could catch the bus back to the airport.
It's sad to say good-bye to another friend just in town for a short visit. But it was fun to see her and go around the city experiencing new things together. I'm looking forward to hanging out with more people who come to visit the city and me- like my cousin m.a. who will be here this weekend.