Somewhere in ... The Big Apple

We had a successful crossing of the American Continent and arrived at the chaotic JFK, where Ponty, our new hire car, took us through the New York Saturday traffic, across the very busy Brooklynn bridge where we got a taste of the impossible New York traffic. Thank goodness for the invention of the GPS which again saved us from spending most of our trip finding our way! Driving in NY became almost bearable!

For the third time in our trip we meet with friends from Strasbourg, this time it is Matt and Lisa, who have not chaged much apart from a small detail called Maddie, an adorable bundle of smiles which monopolises attention everywhere. We had a chance to relax in the beautiful surroundings of Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania and even had the opportunity to meet many of Lisa's relatives over a feast of barbequeued pork and beer tasting almost like Oktoberfest back in Germany!

We bravely took Ponty back to the heart of Manhattan to start a two days tour of New York. We love this city that never sleeps, its amazing energy, dynamism sucks you in and you can't resist but to love it, its harmonious multiculturalism, the robust and impressive early 20th century architecture, its green parks and sophisticated skyscrapers, its cultural museums and the Times Square neons, there's something of everything here! It is so interesting to see live all these icons of modern culture, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, the sad sight of Ground Zero at the World Trace Center, the long street of Broadway...

Last night we shared the small Bryant Park with thousands of people, fighting for the last piece of lawn to picnic or the last french chair to sit in to watch a free 70s open-air cinema, preceded by an old "Thats all folks!" cartoon about the West coast national parks, all these amazing places now familiar to us.
Tomorrow we go back to the Fidlers' to regain our energy, and start our tour of the East Coast of America. But before we finish it, we will definitely come back to see more of New York. Two days is just not enough to take it all in, the Apple is way too Big!