September 16th – September 22nd
2013
Time is flying
with the speed of light. Maybe even faster. We already have 4 weeks
behind us, it is unbelievable. Our stay is a bit strange and has some
extreme points. J.'s job is really bad – unfortunately the worst so
far. Our living situation is pretty pleasant. We are very close to
subway. We finally tasted the bbq restaurant that is in our building
– it was very good and well balanced, nothing was incredibly great
but nothing is bad or goofy. I am trying to take walks around the
city (mainly Manhattan). I already saw some signs of fall. The
central park is still green and beautiful, peaceful and strange.
School and homework is keeping me pretty busy, unfortunately. J. came
back from Michigan and had to work next three day – horrible
schedule. Congratulations to J.' friends B+L to their wedding. Keep
having great life together. Just in thoughts, as we were unable to
travel to Netherlands, we attended the wedding of our Czech friend H
(unfortunately it is officially called partnership ceremony) and her
friend E. Congratulations!
The weather got
more pleasant and with that our stay got nicer as well. We had to
visit Costco, this time better prepared and it was just fine. I made
a trip to Green Point in Brooklyn to get some bread in Polish town. I
found more stores and bakeries. The first time I visited the place I
got off on wrong subway stop and did not find those places. On
Thursday I went with J. to the hospital and walked home – it was
nice and breezy and it was pretty walk. There was much to see. People
were just starting their work day – interesting. I do not
understand why there are so many school buses on Manhattan Island –
there is such an extensive network of public transport. Oh well …
Some nice streets on Upper West Side. The city is strange, the mix of
both sides (poor – rich, pretty – ugly, city – park) creates
something unique.
On Saturday we
took subway A to Brooklyn. There was Brooklyn Book Festival. A small
walk to get there – it actually felt cold with the shadow of
buildings. The festival was in the park in front of the city hall and
other city buildings. Surprisingly there were hundreds and hundreds
of stands in relatively small park. It took as probably two hours to
get through and check most of the stands. We collected some free
samples (postcards, magazines, etc.). The sun took its place on the
sky and started warming the place up. We were too warm all of sudden.
It was well worth it to visit. We both enjoyed it. There were plenty
of leaves on the ground – sure sign of fall coming to the city.
From the festival we walked to the Pier 5 on East river. Photoville
was an art exhibition in transport containers. Mostly photographs.
It was pretty extensive and mostly interesting. J. spent more time
there than me. I was sitting on the bench overlooking the river and
downtown Manhattan. What a gorgeous day. It probably could not be
better. We walked along Brooklyn promenade – strange walkway on the
top of freeway. Below the freeway there is a street and then river
park with some construction going on. On the other side of promenade
are buildings – those people have to have some serious views of
Manhattan. Slowly walking we got to the Brooklyn Bridge and crossed
it – there was so many people – Saturday. We continued walking to
Little Italy to see the last day of some longer festival (I already
visited the market part). It was interesting how the city changed:
from overcrowded area of the bridge to streets and squares of
municipal buildings with almost no people. We walked a block of the
Italian festivities and had enough because it was so crowded. We
bought some cheesecake on the way to subway and went home. Finally
really nice day in the city.
Sunday. We took
the car out of the garage and cross the bridge to New Jersey. Nothing
in that state besides two stops to look at New York's side, some
really nice views. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and looked like rain.
We were lucky not to get rain on. Drive towards Bear Mountain State
Park. It was very pleasant and pretty drive. The road was surrounded
by woods and for about half an hour we did not really see much else
then that. Drive to the top of the mountain, watch tower, windy and
breezy. Great views – ugly sky. It is really unbelievable what you
find about 45 minutes from Manhattan. Down in the park was October
Fest (beer drinking). We went to the park, found hundreds and
hundreds of teenagers ready for some sport activities. Visit to small
zoo and park on the river. The same incredible views of river. West
Point – visitor center and museum. Nice village, otherwise not much
else. Some interesting exhibits of guns and weapons. We crossed the
river and kept driving. Again, time was flying. We (by accident)
drove to Cold Springs – pretty town, river, train track, shops. We
spent a bit of time walking around, going down to the river park. We
drove through Sleepy Hollow. It was interesting and strange landscape
(whole area). Heading home, relatively easy and no problems getting
into the city. Another nice day.
