Taxidermy, Times Square and The Mystery of Tipping

It was hot and humid, so the majority of the day was spent indoors at the American Museum of Natural History. We had visited before on a previous trip but had only looked at the dinosaurs (of course!) and the space show. This time we headed to the older exhibits on the lower floors; the dioramas made an excellent practice spot for us and our new photography gear, so we whiled away an hour or so doing that.

We took a walk through Times Square for the usual people watching. I'm not a fan of the outrageous style of the place but it is still quite a sight to be seen.

Oh, and the tipping! On the first night in the hotel I had asked for a kettle, but they couldn't find it. I wasn't too impressed with this but didn't want a fuss. By today I really wanted to make tea so I left housekeeping a nice note requesting the kettle, along with a tip which was separate from the usual tip for cleaning the room. On our return the money was gone but of course there was no kettle. I understand why tipping is important in the US, but seriously, not a great impression to make to overseas visitors.

A fast food dinner hit the spot and we collapsed into bed, exhausted by early evening.