Back to Day 3 - The High Line and 20 minutes in Times Square.

I had lost this film and found it later so it took a bit longer to get it developed than the rest.

We spent our third day in Greenwich Village where there was a street market on and a nice atmosphere. Music seems to be around every corner, free music everywhere!

The High Line was stunning. Ever since I interviewed Piet Oudolf for The Plant magazine, visiting The High Line was on my to-do list.

Our morning walk to the subway started on the lovely Bergen Street in Brooklyn. 

Approaching Flatbush. 

Stopping for a drink at Hector's Cafe. 

Sipping ice tea on the High Line. 

Train tracks on the High Line. 

The floor slabs on the High Line are a reminder of what it used to be. 

Wonderful views of West 18th Street with a mural by Gilbert & George. 

Enjoying my mango popsicle to help bear the warm temperatures. 

The High Line is still under construction. 

People in NY give a lot of importance to their looks. There are so many different styles! This woman suited this red lace dress so well. 

Printed Matter is the world''s largest non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of publications made by artists. Founded as a for-profit alternative arts space in 1976 by artists and artworkers, Printed Matter reincorporated in 1978 to become the independent non-profit organization that it is today.
Source: http://printedmatter.org/about/

This store was so great! I treated myself to a bunch of zines. 

We are still wondering how these parking lots work. 

Pizza slices are a constant temptation. 

Greenwich Village and its buzz. 

The basketball players in Greenwich Village are worth watching. 

As per usual, one of my favorite parts of the day involved music. This band called Select Blendz blew me away with their powerful voices. Here's a video of it, I even get pointed at on second 5 of the vid. The girl that passes by on minute 0.35 of the video, that's the average pose for New Yorkers that age, iPhone in hand, ready for action.

What Americans can dress up as for Halloween. 

We ended the day in Times Square. It was horrible and amazing at the same time. We could bear it for about 20 minutes. 

New York Day 4 - Portumus Johnson and working it out in Central Park.

After a delicious breakfast in Brooklyn in the cafe Building on Bond we made our way to the ferry terminal to get on a boat to Staten Island. The boat is free and it offers nice views of the skyline from the water. We didn't find much to do on Staten Island so headed back shortly after arriving. 

Spotted in Brooklyn. Memory of a house. 

Subway mosaic. 

At the ferry terminal I saw this man with his grandson. They had such a special bond, it was pleasant to watch. No wonder that little girl looks jealous despite her pink dress, fancy shoes and giant pretzel. 

Views from the boat. 

The tallest building is the new One World Trade Center.
It cost $3.9 billion to construct. Not bad.  

Feathery plants on Staten Island. 

Patriotic feeling. 

I found this memorial monument for 9-11 specially moving because the design really enhances the individual people that were killed, as opposed to a long list of names that comes across as quite anonymous. 

One thing Staten Island is great for is naps. 

The Statue of Liberty gave us a wave.

Central Park, finding a place to sit down for lunch.

We weren't the only ones with this idea.

It's nice to have a breather from the city inside the city!

Rowing boats in Central Park.

Feeding a squirrel. 

I want a Central Park in Rotterdam, please. 

Alice in Wonderland!

 This lady sat next to us on a bench in the park,  she carried this turtle with her. She introduced us to

Portumus Johnson (aka Pojo), the turtle. They live on 3rd Avenue and come to the park every day. 
Pojo swims in her bath. She treats the water so it gets extra slimy for him. They sometimes share her 
bed. She feeds him veggies, veal, chicken and whatever she gathers from her own meals. 
He's 17 years old. She loves him to bits. 

After the encounter with Portumus Johnson and his owner, we carried on walking as the sun set. 
We heard music from far away so we followed the sound. There was a party going on with Nick Johnson 
as the DJ right in the middle of the park. EVERYONE was dancing and smiling and made us 
feel welcome. We joined. I'm always amazed and moved by how happy and connected 
music makes people feel. 

A man kept shouting at me, "WORK IT OUT!" so I complied and danced away. 
The sun set as we danced and there was magic in the air. 
And this is when I felt certain that I love New York City. 

Here's a video of it:

Empty subway stations are creepy. 

I recommend the Comedy Cellar. Brilliant stand up comedians. Guaranteed night of giggles. 

New York Day 3 - Feeling connected.

There are more photos to come of this day, but this was the highlight of the day. Joining a bunch of people on Washington Square to sing songs and cross glances with smiling faces.

I found that people in NYC are craving for contact and communication with other human beings. This massive city of crowds and connectivity is somehow beating with a presence of loneliness and a certain melancholy. This is enhanced by the obsessive use of technology at all times. They are constantly connected, but scenes of people walking, eating or sitting alone are very common there.

This moment at Washington Square made me feel connected with the people of NY. Everyone was welcome. While we sang, we weren't alone.


 

I admired this girl for having the confidence to stand up and sing 

for all of us, despite having an average voice. One day I want to 

have the confidence to do that. 

New York Day 2 through the analogue camera.

Walking to the metro stop in Brooklyn. 

Manhattan is always buzzing. 

Designer Jewelry $5.00 each!

At the MoMa. 

Transparency effect through reflections. 

New York Day 2. Happy tummies and long queues.

(The pictures that follow are mostly by Phil as the roll I used this day was lost until last night, it's being developed.)

Garbage cans are a rare thing to be seen in NYC. 

After all the walking the previous day we had to stock up on a hearty breakfast. Phil found out about Tom's Restaurant in Brooklyn. There is another Tom's Restaurant on Broadway, which is a classical hotspot of the city. It's where Susanne Vega's tophit song "Tom's Diner" is based on.

We opted for Tom's place in Brooklyn and it's everything you can expect from an American Diner with a twist... we had a little old woman greeting us at the entrance and plastic flowers invaded the whole place with nick-nacks and kitsch decoration. I absolutely loved it and felt at home within seconds. This place has been open since 1936!

We were lucky to not find a line, apparently on weekends it can go around the block. The atmosphere was very friendly and the food was deliciously fattening and naughty.

Pancakes, bacon, fried egg and coffee brings happiness. 

Entrance of Tom's Restaurant. You can't miss it. 

Walking around Manhattan. 

It was free to get into the MoMa that day, so we joined the line. 

Piece of wood and me for scale. 

We were always being watched in the subway. 

NY subway is pretty efficient. Except when you're about to catch a plane. 


This day ended with a rather disappointing pizza slice. 

New York Day 1. The 12 hour walk.

Summer has come and gone so I figured the break from my blog has been long enough. I felt I needed to stay away from posting for a bit but found myself missing my posts. I like to look back at what I've been doing, it helps me keep track of time (that goes so fast). I use this blog as a visual diary, and having such a long period of blogsilence gives me a sense of losing track of time.

I've been working most of the summer until September and it's been one of the busiest and most productive summers.

A trip to New York and Puerto Rico was my compensation for the busy August. And it's been a trip that I will forever treasure in my memories. The excitement of the city is contagious and I want to share every day we had there with you. Also: the company was the best I could ask for. Phil, my companion and lover, my best friend, thank you for all the fantastic moments. I loved sharing them with you!

I was using my analogue camera during the whole trip, which was a bit risky as I had grown a bit unfamiliar to analogue cameras. Due to a harsh movement the first roll of film was ripped and destroyed. So these are the ones Phil took the first day on a digital camera.

On the first day we walked for 12 hours (or more). We were staying in Brooklyn and walked all the way to Manhattan and beyond. We got a sense of the scale of the city. It was exhausting but exhilarating!

Iphones. Iphones EVERYWHERE. 

Don't forget to ALWAYS be connected. Chargers in Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

BBQ grills in Brooklyn Bridge Park. 

Brooklyn Bridge Park Greenway. 

Brooklyn Bridge!

Lovely illustrations to cover a construction site. 

Illustration in a shop window. We bought a Russian poster from this poster shop. 

Five fried dumplings for $1.

Marshmallows from China Town.  

Mysterious food in China Town.  

At the end of the day, Phil lied exhausted on the floor of Central Station.