Soup Nazi

Today I have walked my feet to stumps. I won't go into it all but I have walked miles. You know when you think "I'll just stroll a bit further down here" and then find you've walked 8 miles down Fifth Avenue. 

I've realised that you can pretty much spot any nationality when you are on holiday. I don't really know how, but you can. For example the Australian couple I saw in the Rockefeller Centre. I just knew they were Aussies before they even opened their mouths. The Germans are easy - it's the spectacles. I can't exactly say what I mean but there is a certain thing as germanspecs. Tim will understand. The English are always easy because they either look scared, are wearing a nice sensible cardigan, or have taken their shirts off at the first opportunity. For example today I was on the Brooklyn Bridge and there was one bloke with his shirt off and tucked into his belt. I though "I bet he's English" and he was. The Scottish can be identified by only ever wearing football shirts: usually Hearts or Celtic. The Spanish are all very tanned and seem to travel in huge family groups of mum, dad, kids and grandparents. The French just always look immaculate, are smoking and don't wear socks. Ever. I know this all sounds like stereotyping but, you know, there is truth in all stereotypes.

As I was walking round today I realised that America really is in a bit of a recession. All the shops are empty even though there are lots of people around. It's really odd but the only people who seem to be spending money are the tourists. I'm not sure that the sale of "I 'heart' NY" shirts can save the economy. I'm sure it would help if the shops didn't have so many staff to pay. I have been in some places with three sales assistants in a store the size of a railway carriage. It's like that everywhere here, loads of people working in the shops with nothing to do. They must get so bored. You can eat cheaply here though. Today I had soup at The Soup Man. This is the chain founded by the guy made famous by the Seinfeld episode about the soup nazi. Who knew he was real? I got a bowl of beautiful mulligatawny soup, bread, a tuna wrap, an orange and a drink for only $7. Fantastic. However I did wipe out any savings by having a $6 bowl of rice pudding after. Can you believe there is a place in NYC that only sells rice pudding? It's called Rice To Riches and it's the most fantastic rice pudding I have ever had. I may have to go back. This is what you call real niche marketing. There is even a place here that only sells peanut butter sandwiches. I noticed something else when I got my soup. When I went in the place was empty, I sat in the window and in minutes the place was full. Why does this happen? My dad used to say that the Little Chefs in the UK used to pay people to sit in the window to encourage people to go in, maybe all the extra staff in the shops here should be paid to sit in window seats in empty restaurants. Kill two birds with one stone.

I was gong to go see a show on Broadway this evening but sadly only two had tickets available. One was "Xanadu", based on the Olivia Newton-John movie. I may have an Australian passport now but I draw the line at some things. The other was called "Spring Awakening" - a musical about twelve children and their sexual awakening in a repressive German town.

Maybe I'll just stay in and watch Mythbusters.

New pics posted here.