Monday 15th July, part II: I suppose if you were to spend a while asking people in the street (à la Family Fortunes) who the most famous resident of Manhattan is, you would almost certainly find Woody Allen somewhere near the top. So I shouldn't really have been surprised to find him filming a scene for his latest movie at the Alice In Wonderland monument. Of course, I wasn't able to take a photo because I had just finished my film, but I assure you he was there. The assistant who stopped us walking across while they finished the scene said the film did not yet have a title, but when it's finally released I'll be able to bore you all rigid by identifying the scene that was filmed a few feet away from me. You have been warned.
I attempted to find somewhere I could buy another camera film, but all the vendors in Central Park sell completely useless rubbish like cold drinks and hotdogs. When are they going to realise where their key market is? I walked round to Belvedere Castle in disgust and glared at the Delacorte Theatre before stomping my way through the Ramble. However, it's such a beautiful area I was unable to maintain my fug. On the way back to the hotel I went to the photo shop I have been using to collect my photos (and purchase a new film, of course) only to find the entire area had been roped off by the police. I asked the officer what the problem was and he pointed to a pile of stonework on the pavement. Apparently part of the building, which was about four storeys high, had eroded to the point where it had collapsed into the street. Luckily nobody had been hurt, and they were going to start putting scaffolding up that evening so the shops should be open again tomorrow morning. It could only happen in New York (not quite true, but it's the only place I've seen it happen).