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Thursday, August 18'th

First thing today is shopping. I want to buy myself a digital camera. A Nikon D50. Lot's of money to save compared to Denmark. I go to the the huge B&H Photo and video on 9'th avenue. Not far from my hotel.

The bying experience is strange to me. Ordering at one place, paying at another and picking up a third place. Lot's of people involved. Like old Sovietunion. But people are nice and qualified, and they don't try to oversell you.

In the evening I bought tickets for a musical - The Producers. Mel Brooks wrote the thing as a movie back in the 70's. It very funny. The musical is at St. James Theater, right next to my hotel. It's about a theaterproducer Max Bialystock, who has found out that the only way he can make money is producing a total failure. Then he invents the musical "Sprintime for Hitler" - and even though the premiere-audience is totally jewish, the musical becomes a great succes.

It's only 28 $ for the trip down there, but 20 $ is refunded at the casino you arrive. For me that was the casino Resorts.

Weather is quite nasty, so walking the Boardwalk is not much fun. But then there's the casinos, and they are inside, so I have to test a few of them.

First I try Resorts and then Taj Mahal. I loose a little. Then weather has turned a little nicer, so you can actually walk outside on the boardwalk along all the casinos, hot-dog bars, souvenir-shops etc. When it starts to rain again I'm right next to the Sands-casino so I step inside. The buffet is only 8 $ and I'm hungry, so that's an easy choice. But before I can get my lunch at this price I have to be a member of the Sands Club. Bloody bureaucracy. But now I'm member no. 4766340 in Sands Club.

When I have finished lunch i better gamble a little. A 75 $ win makes sure I don't loose any money today. Not all are as lucky as I am. I talk to a guy who has lost all the money he had brought for his trip - but wisely has left his credit-card back home. And you see quite a lot of people with a definite gambling-problem at the place.

At 8 pm I take my bus back to New York. The trip takes 3 hours.

A streneous day today. I'm off to Brooklyn. I like the Paul Auster movie Smoke, and want's to take a closer look at the area. Well Brooklyn is too huge to see it all, so I find some interesting places.

I take the subway to 7'th avenue close to Park Slope. There's plenty of nice brownstone-houses around here. Very nice neighborhood. And no tourists. When you go shopping, the people ask where you are from. They don't do that at Times Square.

I walk around Park Slope until I reach Prospect Park. A nice place with barbecue and baseball. A lot of families gather here, as a refuge from their small apartments. I take a walk in the park, before finding the subway-station at Grand Army Plaza.

From there I take no. 2 to another part of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights. I jump off at Clark Street, and walks downhill to Fulton Landing, with a nice view of Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge. Uphill again, and a late lunch at a nice local restaurant with good and cheap food. Then further on to the real Brooklyn Heights, with nice Brooklyn-houses. On to Brooklyn Heights Esplanade, with a nice view of Manhattan. Then up the shopping-street of Mantague Street, passing Borough Hall and on to Adams Street.

Adams Street becomes Brooklyn Bridge, which is walkable. I did this walk before. That wan an extremely cold february-day, where I had put on almost al the cloth I had brought for the trip. I was freezing - and there was only a small path on the walkway, where ice and snow was removed. Today it's 30 degrees celsius and lots of people, so this is another experience. But the walk across Brooklyn Bridge is still one of the most fascinating there is, walking above the traffic and watching Downtown Manhattan getting closer and closer.

Back on Manhattan I have to call this a day. I find a subway at City Hall and take it back to my hotel via Grand Central Station. The evening is spent at relaxation.

Today I'm heading for Brooklyn once more, and a little off the beaten track. This morning I'm heading for Coney Island.

But on the way out there I visit another "sight", that I have visited before. It's World Trade Center, now known as Ground Zero. A depressing and sad visit.

There's nothing sad about Coney Island. The place used to be a poor peoples entertainment-place in New York. A lot of old Buster Keaton film was shot out here. Now it's more or less a run down entertainment area but pretty fun I think - and with almost no tourists.

And then there's the "sideshows". I visit one and has the chance to see a girl swollowing a sable, another one with a huge snake around her, and one girl walking up a stair made out of sharp knives, and finally a guy that thinks it's great fun to lie on a mattress made of nails with two people standing on top of him. Weirdo.

There's plenty of latinos out here. They've got a little party with their own calypso-orchestra. And on one of the jetty's a large number has gathered for fishing. Other people are more relaxed and just go for a swim. Cozy place for a sunday afternoon.

In the evening it's more local. Broadway and Times Sqaure are much more crowded. And I wouldn't use the word cozy about these places. But all the neon and all the noise and all the people is kind of interesting anyway.

From Harlem it's a short walk to Morningside Heights. Here I take a look at Columbia University and Cathedral of St. John The Divine. It's the largest church in USA. But it's pretty dull since most of it is under reconstruction as well due to a fire in 2001.

After visiting the church a walk around the neighborhood. As Harlem it's mainly black. Finally I take the subway back to my hotel and some relaxation during the afternoon

Tuesday, August 23'rd

Ellis Island is an exiting place. This was the place the immigrants all had to pass in the old days, before America was opened for them. It's now a museum, and I take an audio-tour around the place. Some of the people that actually was passing Ellis Island is telling their story on the audio-tour. That's pretty interesting, as well as the pictures from the time and of course the whole building.

Ellis Island was used for immigration up to 1954. The last few years though not for many people.

After this very interesting visit I take the boat back to Battery Park.The rest of the day is simply walking around and people-watching in Midtown. Up the fine 5'th Avenue and down the less fine 6'th Avenue. Evening in front of the TV with a new hobby of mine - watching baseball.

I'm quite used now, and there are no plans for today, so I can improvise making it a lazy day.

I start by taking a short walk to Times Square and TKTS. There I buy tickets for an afternoon show of Lennon - the musical. From Times Square I walk down Broadway to Harold Square and Macy's Walking through Macy's - shoppingmall's will never be my thing - and then up 8'th Avenue to my hotel again.

At 2 pm it's musical-time. The musical of the life of John Lennon, has only been running for a few weeks, and seems like a failure. There's plenty of empty seats in the Broadhurst Theatre. Act 1 is kind of confusing, but things are getting better in act 2. I kind of like it anyway, but of course I'm not so much used to musicals, so I'm easy to impress. I think one of the problems with the musical is timing - "Give peace a chance" seems not to be "comme il faut" - times are more for "God bless America" for our heroic boys in Iraq.

After the show it's just around the corner to my hotel. Later another final New York walk. Up Broadway to the corner of Central Park - and down 7'th Avenue to Times Square. In the evening it's time for packing for moving on.