...I get up and J decides to stay in bed a little longer
...I ride to Manhattan to take a tour of the UN building, something I'd never done despite repeated stays in the NYC
...I take a typical NYC breakfast in a rush - coffee and bagel from a street cart
...on the bus I once experience kindness from random strangers in NYC when a girl on the hands me a Kleenex after I spill some coffee on myself
...I take the tour which is very informative and interesting - a real eye opener. Somehow most of the guides are Asian. Does Ban-Ki Moon have anything to say about that?
...I think the UN building must be about the only place in this city where the omnipresent bilingual signs are in English and French rather than Spanish. Also the guide says that it's technically territory of all 193 member states so I guess I can check all of them off the list now right?
...I visit the UN gift shop and am amazed by the choice of souvenirs - they got everything UN from stuffed toys to pens to chocolate! Maybe EU institutions should follow suit?
...I do some shopping and some walking and take advantage of the first sunny day in NYC!
...I find that two-dollar bills are not really readily accepted here: kebab guys confuse them with &1 bills and machines don't accept them
...I discover there's already a show on Comedy Central satirizing the new president - it's called, you guessed it: the President Show!
...I discover that prices of kebab from identical probably franchised kebab carts vary depending on neighborhood: it's $4 in midtown but $5 in the financial district!
...I meet a group of three tourists accompanied by a local private guide on the subway. Private, informal tours for small groups - what a cool idea!
...I conclude it's a pity mailboxes here look very much like trashcans, color, shape and all. it would be terrible to dump some trash into a mailbox and even worse to discard your postcard without sending it!
...I visit a local Brooklyn municipal swimming pool and to my dismay discover that my local Brussels one, old and decrepit as it is, is a five star establishment compared to this one. This old, dirty, 1922 building with cold water and depressing signs saying it's illegal to take a s*** in the pool. Wow! Still, it's a nice swim.