LIFE's STORIES, ADVENTURES & TRAVELS

I love New York – that is New York City. During the time I spent 20 months in New York State to complete my graduate degree program at Syracuse University, from Fall 1974 until late Spring 1976, I had the opportunity to travel once only to New York City for a job interview with an international NGO. Not much time I spent, but just ran around to at least make it to Central Park entrance, couple of highrise buildings downtown Manhattan. And during that short time (before my journey back to Syracuse) bought myself a Bushnell zoom lens for my (then) Asahi Pentax Spotmatic SLR camera. Best Photo and camera shops in the world, New York City. Manhattan. My first video shows those old photos – these had been slides, which later I had scanned to create more or less reasonably fair quality images.

Many, many years later, when visiting my son who also had completed his graduate program in the United States, Alabama, and who at that time had worked as a IT consultant in Washington, DC, we took the opportunity to travel twice to New York City. My son had invited me for my birthday to see Les Miserables in a little Theater on Broadway. August 2001. What a treat. It was a late show, we came out onto Broadway at midnight. Millions, it seemed, people milling around in the streets, on the side walks, in the streets, any languages to be heard and spoken – myself connecting with my European counterparts, HELLO, GUTEN ABEND, BONJOUR, BUENA SERA, BUENAS TARDES, hoe gaat het met jullie ? (that’s Dutch). Fascinating city. Never sleeps. We stayed in a hotel near Central Park.

There is always something going on in New York, demonstrations, street parades, but during those years prior to that WTC all of this was more fun than danger. Not like now. Little Italy – fascinating, beautifully appointed with marble restaurants, rich. Or, Central Park with its magnificent Metropolitan Museum of Art. So much to see. Like the British Museum, it cannot be done in one day. And then Fifth Avenue – Tiffany’s http://www.tiffany.com/Locations/FlagshipStore/NewYork.aspx – the wonderful world of jewelry (no photos, please), Rockefeller Centre, and the most magnificent Russian Tea Room [ https://plus.google.com/113986177784302968706/photos?hl=en ] – I have one photo of son & self inside it, but didn’t turn out too well. [the nicest menu item is “all of Russia” – selection of a bit of everything typically Russian].

The second time we took the Amtrak Train from Washington DC to New York City, again in a hotel near Central Park. Winter 2002. During that time we watched the Winter Olympics 2002 and of course the ice hockey games between Canada and the USA, both men and women. In the evening watching the Gold Medal Hockey game between Canada and the United States. People complaining in adjacent rooms when we cheered for Canada, both (men & women) teams winning the Gold. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_2002_Winter_Olympics ] Taking the elevator up to the top of the Chrysler building and looking down to where the WTC Towers once stood. Lots of soot still in the air, and sooty smell. One could not go down any further south. Looking forward to my next visit to New York City, the city with many cities inside representing the entire world.