We decided to activate our family connections a little bit and met for dinner with my sister-in-law’s best friend (note: my eldest brother married an american). Said friend lives in Brooklyn with her husband and was quite happy to tell us a little bit about living in New York, as well as interpreting some of our experiences so far. Over dinner (later on branching into belgian beer at a local bar), we digested Boston, the trip down through Massachusetts and Connecticut, the particularities of Secaucus, the commuter belt around Manhattan and the economic inanity of actually living in Manhattan. Apparently, great living can be had in nice places right over the river – for a fraction the cost of a barely tolerable space IN Manhattan. We went on and on like that, mostly talking about this extraordinary (and rather mad) city.
The next day would be our last in New York, and so we decided to finish off with a great sight: A tour through Grand Central Terminal (available Fr+We only), the monumental stone building from the late 19th century that has since WW2 declined from the heart of the long-distance train system to a mere commuter subway station. The building is grandiose, and despite having an extremely overenthusiastic guide (he seemed to think it one of the seven wonders of the old world, not just very nice), it did rarely disappoint. Repairs are done in a historically conscious manner, and the overall look is maintained well.
After the tour, we took the train over to Brooklyn (it’s probably the heart of New York, with its 2.5 million inhabitants, but we never went there before). The goal was the Murakami exhibition at the Brooklyn museum – I got to know this japanese pop artist through my old flatmate in Norway, who was very keen on his work. I must say that his work is often deliciously subtle and ironic – yes, despite the art being cartoonish and flat, the parodies and social comments are quite refined in many works. I would definitely consider it worth viewing.
This ended our time in the big apple; the night was booked in a Motel near Philadelphia. The trip was beyond uneventful, and we closed the evening by browsing the local food store and having a laugh at a few of the products there. Laughing at groceries is something that you can do for quite a while in America!
We planned to give Philadelphia a quick look, not having gotten very enthusiastic comments about it from our intel network. We started with the Independence Seaport Museum, which, beyond offering a rather interesting exhibit on local maritime industries, also sports a live submarine from WW2 and a cruiser from the spanish-american war to visit! Both are excellently maintained and very instructive to see. We dedicated two more hours to walking into Philly, having the famous cheesesteak (filling, tasty, but as always in America, where’s the greens?). The downtown didn’t really convince me; it seemed a little lackluster, vacillating between busy shopping streets and shady-looking roads very often.
More on our drive to DC (where we are now) and the exploits there in the next post!
