Its Labour day today here in America which is basically a bank holiday monday. After my paint-fume filled weekend (see earlier entry) i decided to get outside and do something touristy. For some reason the orough of Brooklyn has always appealed to me, not least becuase residence of this borough demonstrate fierce loyalty for their home often screaming "BROOKLYN!" in public places (well not *that* often...). So I took my guidebook, jumped on the train and set of to complete the "Brooklyn Brownstone" walking tour in my guidebook. The tour starts in Manhattan (i think on the Lower East side) at the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge itself carries both passengers and bikes on an elevated track and also cars below. For those that care (and I expect thats few of you...) the bridge was built by a German immigrant in 1870's named John Roebling. In fact this is not quite true as John Roebling died during the construction after his foot was crushed during the construction of the Brooklyn tower. John was a stout old fellow (i dare say) as he declined aneasthetic as they amputated his mangled toes. He lated died of an infection and his son Wilhelm finished the job. The bridge nearly took Wilhelm's life also as he fell sick and was forced to supervise the project from his bedroom. It seems most of the many engineering masterpieces in New York have similarly gruesome stories surrounding there construction - I read about similar horrors befalling the immigrant chief engineers of the tunnel that connects Manhattan and New Jersey (can't recall the name) in a book given to me by an old friend (thats you Kathie). It seems that New York is built on the blood of its immigrants. Anyway, I battled with the rest of the tourists for space along the walkway while we also battled for control of the best vantage points for photos. As a collective we battled the cyclists who have staked a claim on half of the walkway even though we outnumber them about 100 to 1! See the photo section for evidence. The bridge splits on the Brooklyn side with one arm leading to an area known as Dumbo and the other to the old brownstone buildings of Brooklyn Heights. My guide directed me toward Brooklyn Heights while thankfully the rest of the tourists seemed to head to Dumbo. My first surprise in Heights was to see yet another street made famous by a song (I'd walked down Bleeker Street some weeks before), this time it was not Simon and Garfunkel but Leonard Cohen who drew inspiration from New York. Although perhaps on second thought Mr Cohen may have been referring to another Clinton Street in 'Famous Blue Raincoat' as I did not hear any of the music he refers to in the song. To be honest it seem a little too posh and reserved to allow people to make music on the street, doing so would probably upset many off teh very rich residents here. Such residents have included Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe and after visiting their houses I start to feel peckish. My guidebook tells me that 8 blocks east just off Fulton Mall is Juniors, a world famous cheesecake place refuted to tbe the best in the world. "I've had world famous hotdogs", I thought, "time for world famous cheescake!" As well as a plain cheesecake (wish I'd gone for Strawberry!) I also buy a Reuben sandwich purely to make comparison with the Reuben served at the New York deli in Cardiff. I gulp as I hand over the 17 dollars the sandwich and cheesecake cost me (a three course meal in a restaurant, with a drink costs 10 dollars in Queens) but feel relieved as I take my frst bite. A reuben sandwich consists of salt beef, swiss cheese, pickles and thousand island dressing (or russian as I think its called over here), sounds odd but the thousand island really makes the sandwich. The reuben is fantastic, as is the cheescake and it feeds me for that lunch as well as dinner, and breakfast the next day. So, money well spent then. After feeding I grow tired and decide to head home and savve the rest of the tour for another day. Have grown to love riding the subway as I always seem to have a couple of interesting conversations every time I ride. My first convo is with a woman who is holding a large, heavy-looking bag that is leaking water, she informs me that she has just been scuba diving and I inform her that I would be more worried if the water was red. She laughs and we talk about surfing and scuba diving. That was a typical Manattan subway ride conversation, riding the 7 back into Queens you're much more likely to have a conversation with someone whose first language is not English given Queens huge ethnic diversity (a ride on the 7 is featured as a cultural highlight in my guidebook). On this ride I talk to a South American girl who is from Rio and I quiz her on local knowledge. She gives me a website of a place that rents rooms and I feel my faith in strangers helping one another grow. The subway is truely great - I love it. [sorry this has been a bit long..... and well done for reaching the end!]