I did it my way...

When I set off to NY I had great ideas in mind blog-wise...
I was sure I'd get to every evening with so many things to comment on and manage a great post on all experiences.

But as it usually is the case, not all the best laid plans turn out the way you want them to...
Indeed I got to each evening with my head full of ideas but also there was so much more to these two weeks than just telling the world what I had been up to... So many characters I met, many places I saw, many things I experienced (and so much exhaustion!) that it turned out impossible to make an account of every single thing I did during the day...
So I have decided to write posts about random stuff I'd come across and then, only at the end of my stay, make a whole general post about my two weeks in the Big Apple.

Since I didn't want this to sound like a shopping list, instead of mentioning every single place I've been to, I'll tackle whatever I did by feelings... I hope this will make it even more fun for you to read.

To start with I had fun, and loads of it!
Fun because I was with a friend who is like a brother to me and sharing things with "family" always makes them special. We wandered all over Manhattan and a bit outside too, went ice-skating at Central Park and oh it was quite sore when I fell!
Fun when after a 4 hour tour of the Rockefeller Centre, NBC Studios and Observation Deck we finally got out on a different side of the raod from where we went in and looking at the building we didn't even recognise it though we had been in for such a long time!
Fun trying to emulate poses and looks of the Broadway show billboards, taking pictures everywhere, meeting new and old friends for some good NY banter, and definitely fun experiencing the local cuisine. I had a pretzel for the first time and Umby had some cheesecake...
And the inescapable Starbucks that literally haunts every single street corner and that inevitably became our favourite breakfast meeting place.
Fun experiencing the real NY with the best tour guide ever, Laura! She has been such a source of inspiration, laughter and definitely adventure!



Then we got emotional!
Because of the homeless people in the street, because of the awful "fashion furs" trend that people seem to wear more and more especially in the city, at the poorer areas in NY, at the cold we suffered that made us think how fortunate we were, having to experience it just for a short time while there are people around who have no choice...
Emotional under the Statue of Liberty and its meaning and at Ellis island and all it represents.
In its big lounges it was almost possible to still hear the voices of the people who spent many days there, sometimes weeks not knowing what was going to happen, sometimes being separated from their families, ready to start a new life in a completely unknown place and realising how the "American dream" for many turned out not to be a dream at all...
We got very emotional at Ground Zero, the place where the two twin towers stood once and though they are rebuilding new skyscrapers we could only bare the sight of it for a few minutes and then had to leave...

Then it got serious!
Thinking about the future, where our roads will take us, where we come from... serious reading all the little signs our wonderful God put on our paths. My med-school, Umby's performing career, the hospital, the Lee Strasberg school... What is it going to be? Are we making the right choices and what are we leaving behind?
And then, is it really up to us? Though one still can't help but wonder...




Then it was frustrating!
(...or maybe not too much...) trying to figure out how to get somewhere using the subway which is very straightforward once you understand how it works... though it takes some time to get used to...
And then all the madness every time we got close to any sort of landmark: take off your jacket, take off your scarf, your shoes, your belt, open your bag, stand over here, no, that's too close, go back a bit, don't move, don't talk and sometimes don't even breathe!
"Do you have anything explosive on you?" Erm... let me think... NO!
Go there, come here, show me your passport, ticket and even your eyes...
And then you can get all your stuff back to start the whole thing again just as you go round the corner.
I understand that security is very important and if we did find annoying having to go through all that just a few times, imagine the poor guards who have to say the same thing day in day out to thousands of visitors... No wonder they sound a bit mechanic in their dealings!!!

And last but not least, it was heart-warming!
Thanks to Umby, Laura, Luca, Giorgia, Lara, Silvia, Stefania, Francesca, Tad, the friends at the pizzeria Keste' (who despite the exotic spelling make possibly one of the best Italian pizza you'll eat in NY!)
Their kindness, their friendship, their smiles made these two weeks absolutely exceptional and we already can't wait to go back in July and for a whole month


There is still so much of the Big Apple that needs to be bitten and we thoroughly look forward to it!