Greetings from Times Square, New York

Greetings from Times Square, New York
Well, we're not really in Times Square at the moment...but we have been there all day. Now where were we last time we talked...oh yeah, it was Tuesday night and we were about to go out for dinner. We ended up going to our neighbourhood diner, just down the street where we have eaten quite often. It is very Seinfeld-esque...and we know this is true because the other day we actually did eat in the diner from Seinfeld which is really called Tom's Restaurant and we have photos to prove it. Anyway, I had the biggest bowl of pasta you have EVER seen and had to ask for a doggy bag when they looked so crestfallen that I could only eat about a third of it...this was handy as I ate more of it (still couldn't finish it off though) last night. Gary had American pot roast with potato pancakes which he said was great as well. (These people in the diner love us because we fessed up to being undercharged at an earlier meal and gave them an extra 5 bucks for the fruit salad they had not charged us for - perhaps they have not experienced this behaviour before??) Anyway, Wednesday morning we were back on the subway but this time had to change at Times Square for the train to Queens...sounds simple, but we managed to go up and down about 17 flights of stairs before we finally worked out where to go...Gary & I of course continually blame each other for both our total lack of any real sense of direction! (Example: Gary actually asked me yesterday at the tennis which direction the sun sets in, east or west - now, even I know that one!) We finally made it onto the train to Queens but we weren't sure which stop to get off so we asked some other passengers who said they had planned to ask us! Oh well, the whole carriage decided we were all in it together and would just wing it. Thankfully a BIG stadium with US Open appeared outside the window and answered all our questions, so off we got! As we went through the security line to get into the stadium we were told that my backpack could not be taken inside as it has 2 straps, (even though it is quite small), and would have to go in a locker - they gave me a plastic bag to carry all my junk in. While I was off doing this Gary had taken it upon himself to yell loudly at the security guys every time they let someone in with a 2 strap bag. Apparently he had become extremely ANGRY because the security guy said "have a nice day" after we argued the bag thing with him. Gary told him in no uncertain terms that he would NOT have a nice day...bla bla bla. Anyway, I escaped, checked the bag, and then came back to find the security guys extremely thankful that Gary was moving on to "have a nice day". The tennis was great - we saw 3 matches - a ladies doubles between a couple of Spanish chicks with unpronounceable surnames and a couple of US girls from California (the Spanish chicks won); a ladies match between Safina (Matt's sister I gather) and some other chick who lost pretty quickly; and a real hum dinger between Andy Murray (I cheered for him for you Davey) and del Potro (who finally lost after 4 sets). It was really hot and sunny but we managed to stay hydrated and didn't get sunburned, all a plus. The weirdest thing about the Open is that the ball boys aren't all boys (or girls). Bizarrely, they have grey haired men stumbling around scrambling after balls and passing towels to players etc - it reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer was a ball boy - quite strange. We were pretty tired after all that sitting in the sun yesterday so decided to take it easy today - went for a walk to Riverside Park, found a diner for breakfast (felt a bit guilty about deserting our local), and then decided to go and catch a movie. It was REALLY hot and humid today (92 degrees) so air conditioning seemed like a good place to be sooooo...back on the subway to Times Square where we watched not one but two movies - Babylon 2 (I think) and Pineapple Express - the second one was better as it was a comedy, but Gary liked the first one as well as there was mega violence. Actually, the second one also had mega violence...but it was FUNNY violence! So we have now picked up our laundry - $19 for 19 pounds - awesome - and we will soon head off for our last dinner in NY and then catch an early night as the shuttle bus is picking us up at 6.05am for our 10.15am flight from JFK. (I guess they're expecting A LOT of traffic!). We decided to give the free concert with Usher & co a miss as they were expecting 60,000 people and Gary and crowds...well you know all about that. We are off to Washington DC tomorrow - New York has been great but it's time to move on... Thanks again for your emails - keep 'em coming! Hope everyone is well - catch up soon, luvP&G