| New York City |

New York City was the first destination of my whole trip where I stayed for 10 days (09.03. – 20.03.2016) with my good friend Mel. It was the first time that I travelled out of Europe and I was very excited. Before I went to NYC, several friends told me that people either love or hate this city. I’m definitely one who loves it!

In my opinion, New York is an incredibly varied city with high contrasted districts, a colored mixture of people and cultures, really open-minded, friendly and greatly helpful people who always smile, diverse architecture, huge skyscrapers with breathtaking views, numerous sights, various street artists, many culinary delicacies as well as heavily and excessively big meals, too many shopping possibilities etc.

Of course, we have trudged round all well-known sights like the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Station, Brooklyn Bridge, Metropolitan Museum of Arts, 9/11 Memorial, Central Park, etc.

We also experienced St. Patricks Day with the big parade through Manhattan including many Irish musicians, various schools, departments etc. It was an awesome feeling when the whole crowd is celebrating and honoring for example the fire departments from various districts of NY and everybody is wearing something in green.

Another awesome moment was the listening of a gospel choir in a church in Brooklyn on Sunday noontime. The feeling of the solidarity and hundreds of people singing and dancing together made us goose bumps even if we are not religious but it was an amazing experience.
Furthermore we have seen some celebrities during a shoot for a new movie – among others Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler. It was great to see the set on the streets of Manhattan and I’m looking forward to see this scene in the movie when it comes out.

Another goose bumps moment but in a negative way was the visit of the 9/11 memorial museum. I was amazed about the whole collected and presented information about every single detail of the happening – remains of the buildings, cars, clothes and other personal stuff, pictures and details of all victims in tribute, pictures during and after the terror attack, documentary about the rebuilding of the area and the new tower, etc. But it was such an uncomfortable feeling to be in this area where everything happened but I was also impressed about the solidarity of the people in NY and the rebuilding of this area with the two memorial pools to honor the victims.

Of course, NY is not only a clean and well-kept city like the center of Manhattan. However, other boroughs like Bronx, Harlem, Queens and Brooklyn also have their own atmosphere and are worth seeing as well and the people are very likable and kind. I was very excited about the districts Little Italy, Chinatown and SoHo in the south of Manhattan. They are very close together and blend into each other. If you walk only a few meters from one street to another it seems that you are in a completely other town and culture – it’s amazing – as you can see below.

I really admire the openness, naturalness, individuality and partial lack of restraint of the people in town. People spontaneously start to sing in the metro, dance on the streets and enjoy chats with strangers about anything and everything. Of course, this is likely the same as in every bigger town but in NY it particularly attracted my attention – completely contrasted to us usually aloof Germans. At the beginning we thought that we will mainly have contact to other tourists but it was the completely opposite. We chatted with many New Yorkers – even if we just made a complete turn with the mobile phone to figure out our position on the map and where we have to go next – mostly somebody came immediately and offered their help. So the greatly huge friendliness and helpfulness – as it is a stereotype – is true. You feel immediately welcome everywhere in town. Even in the Bronx or Harlem – which actually rather have a bad reputation – people welcomed us with a friendly “Hey my friends, how are you doing?”. I’m very surprised by the town and the people in a positive way.

I think that almost everybody could identify themselves with NYC due to the various areas. Beside a lot of hustle in the center of Manhattan there are also quieter areas so that everybody could find a place to stay and feel comfortable. New York is obviously enormous big including all parts of town, so it is rather difficult to generalize the New Yorkers life.

Summarized, we had an awesome time during our stay with many laughs, goose bump moments, funny, kind, helpful and sometimes crazy people, celebrities, street artists, heavy food and nom noms, many coffee breaks, aching feet, awesome buildings and breathtaking views, etc.

All in all, NYC is varied and colorful mixed in all kinds of regards. In my opinion, the town is really worth a visit – maybe even two or three… ☺
However, have a look for yourselves and get a small impression by some more of my pictures.