After our morning date with Lady Liberty, we strolled over to one of the oldest street in New York that is “Stone Street”, obvious from its cobbled steps dating back to the 1700s. A short strip that is surrounded with pubs and eateries alike. Really feels like you’ve gone back a few decades here if you ignore the tall buildings that make up the Manhattan skyline.

This little detour led us to our lunch stop, a franchise of the infamous “The Original Soup Man”. Prior to our US trip I’ve occasionally heard people pull out the “No Soup for you” saying, with no clue where it came from or why they’d say that… sorry guys I’ve never watched more than a few minutes of Seinfeld in my life so I just can’t relate. Alfred on the other hand was all into it, which is why we were there. There was a great selection of soups to choose from, nothing spectacular but it was perfect for the miserable rainy weather that day.

We continued wandering to the highlights of the Financial district finding long queues of tourists just wanting to take a photo with the Bull statue, we meh-ed at the thought of it and just took a quick selfie with it on our phone from afar – good enough for us! Wall Street was nothing like what I had imagined to be! The movies make the place feel a lot more grand, open spaced.. instead it was pretty underwhelming.

To end the day’s activities, we chose to visit the 9/11 Memorial Museum.. it wasn’t the greatest idea as it left us feeling pretty down afterwards. My earliest recollection of that unfateful day was watching it unfold on the news as I got ready for school, I really didn’t think much of it back then as I was still young and ignorant but only learned how significant this event was over the years. Visiting the museum we did expect to feel sad afterwards but it was more than just sadness. The whole time there was an experience, walking through and seeing all the remnants, hearing witness accounts of what happened that day or last phone calls from loved ones who were caught up in the tragedy… we spent over a good hour or 2 reliving these experiences… my heart has never felt heavier :'( The museum is definitely worth checking out, just be prepared to leave with a heavy heart.

The night didn’t end too heavily – as we caught up with our friend from Sydney who now lives in the States – Southern Fried Chicken and good company cures a broken heart!