April 19
It's 6.00 AM and we're awake and ready for adventure in the big city that never sleeps.
Music
Harry Nilsson songs as the good morning coffee companion.
Film
To put it cheesily: it's happening all around you. New York has its own magic and you feel like a Woody Allen character.
Book
The (only) 45-minute train journey on the second worst underground in the world (honestly, Paris is the absolute winner) really makes you want to read your book.
Apart from that, the AI voice of Andy speaks in my head anyway and reads out his diaries.
Other inspirations
So:
Dear Diary,
We started in Brooklyn Amsterdam Avenue (perhaps not entirely intentional, but who should know their way around after a year of living in the big city) to walk from there to Dumbo, arrive at the waterfront and see Manhattan. For real, for real, for real. Then Zack, to Westvillage: bad coffee and good lunch and a whim to go on a second-hand shop hunt. (Westvillage from 200 dollars, Eastvillage 20 dollars). Now the proud owner of cowboy boots. No comedy cellar, but fantastic pizza back in the West Village.
April 20
On the trail of Rocky Balboa.
Dear diary,
The D-Train takes us to Penn Station and the Flixbus to Pitsburgh. Contrary to expectations, the sun is shining and the thermometer climbs to 20 degrees, or 68 Fahrenheit. We set off to explore, follow in the footsteps (thanks ChatGbt) of Rocky and soon find ourselves at the Italian food market, visit the butcher, ask if we can box on pork bellies (we couldn't). Lunch was the famous PhillyCheeseSteak, which is not a steak but a sandwich. Very American. I look too trashy for Philadelphia on a Saturday. It's because of the white tracksuit jacket, which is a must if you have a day trip to Philly. About the steps. Did we run them? Oh my! Is it only 65? Yep. Is there a queue in front of the Rocky statue? Mhmm. Has the museum put a plastic wall in front of it? Yes! Why?!?!!?
Happy and tipsy, the Flixbus takes us back to Penn Station and the D-Train back to the Bronx.
April 21
Pret A Manger is our coffee stop - it's cold in the Big Apple and grey and yet the cherry trees are blooming and New York doesn't always have to shine in the sunshine to be what it is: Expensive!
Fun. Fantasstisch.
We find a breakfast café in Chelsea (Damm dadadadadada dadadadada) and the waiter gives us a tip for the Broadway lottery. Emma's dream comes true. We sign up, forget the time and everything around us, have actually won - but have exceeded the time limit. Sometimes it's like that.
We climb the HighLane from the bottom to the top, shake hands with the Empire State Building and eat pasta on Broadway after the lights in Times Square have satisfied our tourist cravings. Lou Reed's New York album is great.
April 22
I have found it! The 99ct pizza still exists after all. Unfortunately not everywhere anymore because they're now $1.50 pizza. Touritips from Emma.
We are in the Eastvillage. Producing songs in the music studio with Gordon Raphael. IT'S ONE OF THE COOLEST THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU. The sun is shining (which you notice while eating pizza at lunchtime, because recording studios are usually pretty dark), the atmosphere is good and relaxed and WE ARE IN A SOUND STUDIO IN THE EASTVILLAGE PRODUCING SONGS!!!
We meet a boxer on 23rd. We're sitting on a rooftop on 25th. We're really happy and end up listening to Songs for Drella before the D-Train takes us back to the Bronx.
April 23
It's a beautiful spring day in New York City. We leave the underground at the historical museum, go to a deli and get ready for a picnic in the park. in Central Park; opposite the little bridge, the setting for countless films, by the little lake with all the rowing boats. There, my old study spot. We continue reading the Surfer Has an Accident book, which unfortunately doesn't seem to blend in with the surroundings, drink coffee and green juice and love the simplicity of the moment. Later, we meet friends in Chinatown, eat oysters and drink white wine, visit an old bank that is now a hotel and enjoy the incredible view of the city at sunset under a pink moon.
We meet our friends again - in Halem! and enjoy a fantastic evening.
April 24
Take it easy. We have 45 minutes at the MOMA. What arrogant cultural philistines, you might think. You'd be right. MOMA is deeply impressive. Everyone is real, from Picasso to Klimt to my Andy. Probably many more, but in 45 minutes you can just about manage 1 1/2 floors. There is a photographer, with photos from belgium, on whom we take the last look. Here is a quote: averaged picture in an avergae city.
The MOMA kicks us out and we watch the sunset from the Highlane, this time from top to bottom. We stroll through the West Village, find a burger restaurant and fight sentimentality, the imminent end of a fantastic week in a city bubbling with energy and inspiration. You want to take action and believe in all your dreams again, because it can be done. If not here, then definitely in Berlin.
April 25
It's not too difficult to turn your back on the Airbnb. But then in the city, which embraces you with 23 degrees and has dressed itself up with a blue sky, you sigh deeply. Here we are, dropping off our luggage in a tourist shop, walking down 7 Avenue to the Whitney Museum, where we don't spend much more than an hour. (KULTURBANAUSEN). So now we are on our way back. We pick up the last 99ct pizza and drive to Jamaica to take the Airtrain to JFK. The sun goes down, the skyline turns pink, then blue, then the lights start to shine. We watch Kind of a Kidnapping and land in Berlin.
Goodybye my lover, goodbye my friend, as James Blunt would have said. Thank you New York!
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