NY, you Beat It!

Welcome back to our turbulent journey. You might have guessed it: Feet & head were dead, so there was nothing more to do with the blog yesterday. But since we're now (spoiler alert) on our way to a national park in our car, we have time to give you an update.

Every morning we sit together and think about where we can get breakfast. This time it was a trendy wrap breakfast restaurant. Of course, they have other stuff too, but that's not the point now 😅 This muffin tasted like banana bread with nuts and it was really good.

Since we had already seen Little Island on the first day, we went straight to Chelsea Market. Not everything was open yet, but the charm was clearly visible. It used to be an old biscuit factory and today it is lined with restaurants, including the Berliner Currywurst. But we only bought some fresh fruit here (1 apple + 1 plum for $2.50).

Not far away on the southwest side of Manhattan is the High Line. A green strip a few meters above the actual action. This is an almost 2.5 km long old railway track. The last train ran in 1980 with three carriages of frozen turkeys from A to B 😃. This artificially created green strip is full of tourists, but it also radiates tranquility on one of the park benches with a view of the hustle and bustle below.

At the end of the High Line was 'The Vessel'. A modern sculpture in Hudson Yard. After several suicides jumped from here to their death, it was temporarily closed to visitors. But for us it was just something nice to look at and then move on 😊

Now we had a longer walk ahead of us, something great awaited us at 2:00 p.m. On the way there, we accidentally passed the New York Times.

And since we still had some time, we made a detour to the bar that served as the inspiration for How I Met Your Mother. We were a bit disappointed though, because you didn't have to go down some stairs outside. But the bar itself does resemble the typical flair of the series. After taking a peek inside, we moved on.

We were now on our way to the real, genuine Broadway. We had actually bought tickets in advance for the Michael Jackson musical. And after a short wait, we were already sitting in the Neil Simon Theatre. With us were a hundred other people and it felt like 70 school classes - all around us. But that didn't matter. It started right away with 'Beat It' and ended with 'Thriller'. The musical told the story of Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5, his relationship with his dad, and how he broke under all the turmoil around him, of course with all the well-known songs to sing along to. Here are a few facts about Michael Jackson that you might not know:

- he had a picture of the Last Supper, in which he replaced Jesus himself

- he always looked down because he was ashamed of his acne

- until his death, he wore a face mask after a wisdom tooth extraction because he was afraid of germs.

Now, photography and filming were generally not allowed, but we are rebels:

Benny said after the musical: it's overwhelming and captivating. You immerse yourself in his music and the atmosphere is unique. Every single well-known song was played, our feet didn't stand still and our hands played the piano. So it was absolutely worth seeing, that's what we mean with ❤️

Since there was no popcorn or nachos in the theater, we were hungry. That wasn't so easy because we had already eaten all kinds of fast food. The only thing left was some chicken snack.

Actually, at that point, we only had Macy's left on our list. A huge shopping center with millions of beautiful things. But we didn't come here to shop.

But then we realized that we had completely forgotten to see the Flatiron and the Madison Square Garden was still missing too. There was time, the next attraction was only scheduled for sunset. But - walk to the seemingly other side of Manhattan. By now, we also knew the area and only spoke in avenues and streets. Everything is really laid out in a rectangular/square pattern in the city, which makes it easier to find your way around. So, off we go.

All done! We'll be honest, we forgot about the Trump Tower on Central Park on that day, but oh well. Two highlights still to come. One was waiting for us at the Rockefeller Center: the sun on the horizon and the city slowly becoming dark. We were actually allowed to bypass the long line with our pass and managed to be at the top at twilight. We found a seat among the other 5,000 tourists and slowly watched the sky turn black. Great experience, a worthy conclusion.

However, that doesn't completely conclude New York. It was Times Square at night that beckoned us once more. And it's so excessively lit and colorful. A place that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. But at the same time, it's also very hectic and incredibly crowded.

That's it, folks. New York is over. Exciting first days in the Big Apple. Let's summarize: Great city, but not a place for us to live. Great atmosphere, but a little less grass smell would be okay too 😅. Beautiful views, but incredibly many crazy people. Unique magic, but also too much of everything. We're looking forward to some peace and nature. See you soon, dear ones!

B ❤️ M