New York City: Day 2

 Despite New York being named "The City that Never Sleeps" I woke up in our little hostel near central park feeling refreshed and buzzing with excitement! The incredible night sleep was pretty impressive really considering many of the window had been replaced in part by a sheet of cardboard that flapped in the wind, there were marks on the floor where generations of Cockroaches had  shriveled up and died and the motion censored light was activated every time I turned over. The day began with a bus tour that had been organised as part our trip so we all squashed on and waited... and waited. It turns out that paying a tour guide up front isn't the best plan as they might just not turn up. I didn't mind though, I was secretly frustrated at the thought of being cooped up in a coach again after the 12-hour extravaganza the previous day. Besides, who wants to see New York through a window when you can be out there seeing it all for real.

Instead the driver dropped us of in SoHo a trendy neighborhood famous for it's artists and shops. Admittedly we didn't see any artists and the shops were mostly aimed to trap tourists with poorly spoken sales men who each insisted on offering the best price in town. It was great to wander through these quirky little places and even better when we ended up in China Town and found ourselves having some lunch. We then got the Subway back up to Times Square to re-immerse ourselves in the insanity of it all. I don't think you could ever be bored of Times Square. Well, definitely not when the naked cow boy is about. We stood and watched long enough to hear three or four renditions of his song "I'm a naked cowboy, yeahh, woo!" before passing away the following few hours in shops. It's incredible how items that you would never every buy at home quickly become a must have item just by having "I Love New York" imprinted on the side. Tearing ourselves away and back out into the bright light wonderland we noticed a crowed gather outside.  Intrigued we went over to take a closer look, all secretly hoping to come face-to-face with Johnny Depp or some other A list super-star. Instead we found Ricky Martin... well I guess it was a little bit exciting. You'd have to be mad not to have a slight soft spot for a bit of Livin' la Vida Loca.
A New York hot dog or two later (they're really small!) we once again boarded the Subway, this time to an improve comedy club where we laughed away the rest of our day.