Last Saturday was awesome, I left the hostel at 1pm with no idea what i was going to do, walked down to the subway and got on the train. Decided to go to Grand Central Station (coolest station in the world) and picjed up a tourist guide. Flicked through that and decided to go to the Guggenheimer as it was raining. Looked round the museum, which i didnt like as much as MOMA, although the building itself inside is worth visiting alone for its design. Then decided to head to The Village. However the train didnt stop at my staion so i stayed on until City Hall where i got off and crossed by foot Brooklyn Bridge into DUMBO. Brookly Bridge is awesome, took some great photos of the bridge, the views and the traffic below. Down at DUMBO they were having an arts festival, its become an artsy place in recent years, warehouses converted into lofts, galleries and workshops. All were open to the public this weekend and there were mad projections on all the buildings, music everywhere, food and drink in the streets. Walked around a bit, taking photos, watched an amazing brasilian samba band playing in the street and then followed them into a restaurant/bar where they continued playing and got everyone dancing.After this i was hungry so went and got a slice of pizza and a beer out on the street. Got chatting to some new yokers who invited me to a house party round the corner, what a party, it was a showcase for a couple of New York rock bands in an amazing loft appartment, the biggest i've ever been in, it had a proper stage and sound system and even a bar, and was full of mad decorations, subway signs, trapeezes hanging from the ceiling and some crazy artsy new york folk looking to PARTY. watched a great gig there and then went to a bar round the corner to unwind with my new friends andy, michelle and suzy, who thought my british accent was great!
So what else have i done in NY? Have had some great food, mostly in restaurants recomended by and dining with Couch Surfers Neil, Nelson and Connie along with other surfers passing through the city. HAve had Thai, Chinese in Chinatown, Cuban, Japanese, Italian, American style breakfasts (big!). Went to a great gig last night in the village, The Black Kids, with a Couchsurfer called Cathryn, who then took me to a really seedy 'dive bar', basically dive bars being cheap, dingy bars full of very drunk and often dodgy characters. The place was covered in graffiti, in parts entertaining ("Jesus Knievel") and others abusive ("Moose Tits"!?), had an awesome jukebox playing classic american and british rock, 3 selections for a dollar and a great bar staff, the guy knew everything about rock and was clearly not quite all there. The clientele were interesting to say the least, we chatted with Jesse, a new yorker musician/actor/blagger who got a bit too drunk, i was abused by afat drunk called Joel who sat in the corner, for being "dutch", apparently he doesnt like the Dutch, his drinking buddy proceeded to fall off his stoll and remain on the floor for the rest of the night. All in all, another great New York night.
Its not all parying though, have been to an excellent yoga class which was a bit like the kids from fame for some reason, i guess because there were loads of new york girls in leotards and leg warmers etc and have even managed to get in some kung fu training with a fellow couch surfer.
Anyway, have planned next stage of trip, train accross country, calling in at chicago and Minneapolis before reaching Seattle. It's a 2206 mile journey, should be interesting. I have split it into 3 to make it a bit more bearable, US trains are not high speed like in Europe so it will take about a week including stop offs, the air and oil industries lobby the govenment to prevent investment and improvements, the man is always there i guess trying to mess things up.
Thats my little rant over, trying to add a link to recent photos. here it is hopefully:
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