A bridge too far

My last night in NYC, all attractions closed, not in the mood for shopping, time for the metaphysical experience of heading out of Manhattan.
To the place where you can walk - literally - in the middle of the street, going from Cranberries to Pineapple, enjoy the sunset and skyline views from the Promenade.
That's Brooklyn and here you have peace, jogging against the Manhattan skyline, streets where you can park only on Tuesday between 6 and 8, and organic burgers at a very cosy and cute, probably Jewish owned, café "Siggy's Good Food" - café owner Siggy is a very nice lady, fun to chat with. Aliens eat free here.
Best pick: Wolavers, organic honey-flavoured ale from Vermont.
Did I mention already that I love New York?

Tiny Italy

Little Italy in nyc is basically 1 street, Mulberry St. Around the corner of some Chinese souvenir shop, a strip of restaurants with Italian - even EU! - flags and that's more or less it.
Of course, inevitable like death, soundtrack by Eros Ramazzotti and old Napoletan songs.
At the last flag-raising gathering of Italian-americans, they asked the Consul if he could bring a flag and sing the anthem: no cd available here with Fratelli d'Italia on it.
Also tried icecream at Ferrara (since 1892), not memorable. American customer after me said 'grazie' to the - African-American - girl at the counter. She replied 'pregow', of course.
A quick shopping at the young designers markets somewhere north close to Houston st. reveals another secret: about 10% off if you want to pay cash. Thank you.

Gute zeiten

So much to do and so little time.
Fantastic Friday night cruise on the Hudson river, kindly offered by the university. Spectacular, breathtaking views of the city skyline and of the Statue of Liberty.
You stand there, staring and thinking about beauty. And taking millions of photos.
And there comes the sun again. Nice to feel that a sunny day in summer is the rule, not the lucky exception - sorry, Brussels expat blues.
And nice to go for a bike ride around Central Park, shopping for electronics in Midtown, watching the Magic Flute at the Lincoln Center. A little less jetlag and the day could have been concluded with rooftop drinks.
Maybe tomorrow.

NY nights

New York nights are great.
Out walking in Chinatown and SoHo with two American guys. Their dialogues, the exchanges with people in the street, their looks: all hilarious.
A walk on the High Line at sunset, dinner in the Meatpacking district, drinks in a jazz bar in Greenwich with a concerts of a massive singer. Impressive.
I Feel good here, breath well, walk well, enjoy everything and it's so big it doesn't seem to end.
It's like being in love.

Off Broadway

The Fantasticks, the longest running show in the world. And I went to see it.
That's what happens when you ask a random stranger in the street what she thinks about the random shows on offer at Tkts.
The theatre was fairly small and we had to ask people to stand to let us go to our seats, promising we'd not get out. "I promise you the same" replied the old man at the beginning of the row.
I love NY :)
If only they lowered this bloody air conditioning.

Upper West Side

In Central Park, everybody jogs. 70+ white-haired lady with iPod in her hears, young mom pushing the stroller (with twins), fully muscled bare-chest African-American, overweight French-speaking couple carrying their backpacks. And squirrels.
Maybe I should go too. Mò vediamo...
In the meantime, and waiting for conference dinner, let's do the Museum of natural history, where dinosaurs are huge and where a simple display of fossils becomes a political statement in favour of evolution theory. And where you get free internet and a plug point  to recharge battery - at least until the guard notices what you're doing.
Also got hotdog, oversized coke, Starbucks tall-something, flip-flops and gave directions to tourists on my first day here.

Mingling

Saturday afternoon of people-watching and window screening on 5th Avenue done. Dress code: noone be afraid of mini-shorts or mini-miniskirts and don't forget your A&F T-shirt. Who said dresses went out of fashion in NYC? They just got shorter (so actually for some people they *should* be out of fashion).
Flip-flops rule the city.
No Saturday night live, since jet-lag took its toll and delivered me to Morpheus at 9:30.
And so, here I am, in a lazy Sunday morning before 8 AM, having breakfast in a white and red café in upper west side Manhattan, with jazz music and a huge cappuccino.
Let's go!

Love, loops and lysine

A long day ahead of me started with a bunch of language issues in Zaventem airport.
My T-shirt with the Union Jack and the statement " I love Londres", made the security attendant totally confused about which language to use with me - thank goodness I'm not wearing my 'f*ck Google, ask me' T-shirt.
Half an hour later, trying to be cooperative with the personnel at boarding gate, I offered French and there panic started: noone there really knew French - hey, am I still in Brussels?
Get onboard reaching for my window sit - why on earth did I pick window? - ask my neighbours in English if they could let me in, no success, spot their Italian passport and try speaking Italian, no way - why on earth do we give Italian passports and voting rights to great-grandchildren of some half-Italian who fled the country a century ago?
But finally here I am, on a plane taking me to my antitrust refreshment course, choosing the first film to watch - how could I hesitate? - picked The Informant :-)