On Thursday morning I headed downtown to the Financial District for a guided walk of Wall St. I figured this was probably the best way to see this area and actually understand what you were looking at. First impressions were that it is actually very pretty, in between the skyscrapers there are some beautiful stone buildings and even some cobblestone streets (unfortunately the skyscrapers block out most of the sun so some parts are a little on the dark side). The tour guide was a former stockbroker for Lehman Bros so he had some interesting insights into what happens behind the doors (apparently he’s now an “actor”….). Wall St was part of early Manhattan so there was a lot of interesting history but what I found most interesting is that many of the financial institutions and stockbroking firms moved away from the area after 9/11 and the office buildings are now being converted into apartments so it’s becoming a residential area. The roads around the New York Stock Exchange are still blocked to vehicles with barriers/bollards (and bomb-sniffing dogs) so people can freely wander down the street without worrying about traffic. All up – a very interesting morning!