NY getaway

Joe and I had some airline vouchers, so I decided we should go to New York. I had never been, and always wanted to go. 2 of Joe's cousins live in Manhattan, so it is extra fun to go here, because we get to visit them. We are staying with his cousin Mary and just had some yummy parsnip soup.
My goal is to experience the New York lifestyle, and not necessarily do all the tourist things (although we will do plenty of that anyways).
The first major NY thing we did was take a yellow cab. There are SOOO many yellow cabs. Åll over the place. Mary and Ram live on the 5th floor, of a typical NY apartment, no elevator, and steep stairs. They also have one of those fire-escape ladder outside that you see in the movies.
Then we walked 12 blocks (short distance in NY walking distance) to the Metropolitan museum. They do the weirdest thing; they give a "suggestive" entry fee, but clearly state that you don't have to pay that. So, the cheapos we are, we didn't pay that high price.... but it's ok (says Mary). The "Met" is HUGE! We spent 2 hours, and only scratches the surface. They have a Egyptian exhibit right now, and have really cool mummies, tombs, tools, and model boats. Just too much to all type up.On the way back we walked through Central Park.