I like Central Park. As long as you do not walk around it at night it is safe. Take a horse-drawn carriage ride through the park and at the end get off at the ZOO. They can be found lined up along a road called Central Park South (59th Street) between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, at the southern end of Central Park across from the Plaza Hotel. (bottom right hand corner) Rides cost $34 for the first 20 minutes and $54 for a 45 to 50 minute tour. Take the big tour.

Directions - get the yellow line train to 5th Avenue Subway Station. The zoo is in the bottom right hand corner. There is a pub in the park called the Tavern in the Green on the left hand side just below the area known as Strawberry fields near where John Lennon was shot. There is an unattractive memorial called Imagine. Ask the driver to go to an area to see people playing Baseball. The park is huge 843 acres ,too big to walk through and explore thoroughly on a one day trip.

In the park you will see rocky hillocks. Go and climb on top of one of them. Now look what is under your feet. You should be able to see the shape of volcanic lava flows if you look carefully. Thousands of years ago New York was full of volcanoes spurting out red hot lava. The presence of lava is one of the reasons why there are so many sky scrappers in New York. When it cooled the solid rock it made was the ideal strong base the architects needed to take the weight of their new tower blocks. Now have a look at those same solidified lava flow rocks again.

You should see scratch marks going in the same direction. These were made by rocks trapped at them bottom of the huge glaciers during the Ice age as they passed over the top of New York. Standing in Central Park on a summers day it is hard to visualise rivers of molten rock flowing past your feet and also hundreds of feet of ice packed above your head. Geologically speaking New York has flowed hot and cold.

Bloomingdale's Department Store

Now Go shopping in Bloomingdale's. Directions - Now that you are back at the 5th Avenue Subway Station walk east down East 59th Street for three blocks. After Madison Ave 5th Ave is New York's other famous shopping street. It runs south from 5th Ave Subway station for about 10 blocks and includes the likes of Gucci, Cartier, Tiffany etc... Also notice as you cross the first junction, Madison Avenue, all the very expensive designer fashion shops which is New York's Premier shopping street. At the junction with Lexington Avenue you will find Bloomingdale's

Don't forget to ask for one of their prized Logo bags so when you use it to put your packed lunch in for work everyone will know you have been to New York and shopped in Bloomingdales.

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