did you want to talk about the weather or were you making chit cha t?

Another blazing hot, fast pace day here in the City that never creeps. We take the subway to Coney Island, all fares are $2; take that and shove it up your Congestion Charge Ken Livingston, in half an hour we are on golden sands looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. There is a good old American theme park here, we head for a very old rollercoaster called the Cyclone. The person who invented the word rickity, must have just got off it. Despite it's age, it's great fun and we move on to a ride called Dante's Inferno. It has little to do with the seven levels of hell with the exception of the last part where it breaks down and leaves us just above purgatory until the next car bumps us towards the last bend, Judas Curve. We then visit the New York Aquarium. Lots of bog standard fish and coral, boistered out with Sharks, Sealions and a Barber Shop Quintet. The most worrying thing, the cafe's best seller is fish and chips, we settle for slush puppies. Sue has a blue raspberry and I have red Cough Syrup flavour, we are tempted though by octopus shaped biscuits. We take a long lingering look at Astroland, the name of the theme park, despite having so much history here, it looks like the site will be redeveloped next year and New York will loose a vital part of it's history. We return to Manhatten's Tribeca area and have cocktails in Bubbles Lounge. Sue has a french 75, I go for the Kit Kat martini. We walk up to West Village and realise we must be blending in well as we have been asked for directions over the last couple of days. Something different for dinner, Sacred Chow vegan restaurant, then we hit the Fat Black Pussy Cat and move on to Rogue for drinks. On the way back, a new first, we see New York rats running across our path. It's starting to thunder now and a storm is brewing, Gozer is coming and we may have to cross the streams.