So New York, what can I say... New York is different. It makes you feel so small and at the same time so alive. Anything you want at any time.

The City welcomed me with its breathtaking skyline at night and a heat I haven't felt in a long time that late at night. I took a cab to the hostel because the only thing I knew about it was that it was located in harlem and I didn't feel like running for my life with my backpack on. It turned out to be a very calm part of Harlem with a lot of schools and family houses and I didn't meet any gangs of black people seeking to rob or even kill me ;).
Next Day I woke up very early and just walked around downtown Manhattan to discover all the famous buildings and sights. I really liked the chelsea district which wasn't as busy as the rest and that had this great highline park, a former metro trail.
At sunset I climbed the Rockefeller Center where the view is really not comparible to any other view from any other tower in any other city!!! A Must-do in NYC!!!
Next day I went directly to Soho to have breakfast and I felt really hip with my bagel and my coffee-to-go which I paid a fortune for. Again just walking around in China town, litle Italy, lower Manhattan and - the classic- a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. I would have liked to visit the 9/11 memorial but I missed signing in for a ticket in advance so I just got to see the construction site of the new world trade center.
At night I met Gunther and two friends of his to have some beers and one bad, cold, overpriced burger. It was fun seeing him, we haven't seen each other in over 6 years!
The last day I only had time to see the MoMA and than I had to catch my bus in Chinatown to Richmond which is a 6h drive from NYC and I paid only 15$! You cannot even go from Oldenburg to the North Sea for that money and that would only be a 20 min ride by train. You can imagine the conditions on the bus. It was overcrowded and I was refused to go to the toilet at one stop because apparently we were pretty late. During the journey we had to stop on the highway to close one luggage compartment...Luckily nothing got lost and nobody got hurt ;).
Pia took really good care of me and we had a great weekend with pancake breakfasts and going to the movies at night. Richmond is a small town where nothing seems to have changed since the 60s. They have this old cinema where a ticket actually costs 2$! And a number of all American diners on Main Street.
I had some time to relax and I realized that I am already traveling for a month! One month at home is so much, one month at work can feel like forever but when you travel, it is so few and it passes so damn quickly that you don't see it flying by. Everything you do is a highlight on the trip... First seeing my uncle's house, meeting the girls in Boston, seeing how Kristin lives, Toronto and the Niagara Falls, New York, meeting Pia in Richmond after 5 years and suddenly Christian tells me...see you in 8 days....What 8 days??? I can't believe how quickly everything went! I am realizing how quickly those 9 months will be over and that I have to enjoy them as much as I possibly can!
On monday Pia and I went back to the year 2011 to Washington DC. It is everything you expext the city to be. Nice but it didn't surprise me. It had a number of good museums though, perfect to pass my first actual day with rain.
Now heading to New Orleans. I've been there before which was before Katrina though, so I am curious to see how the city has changed.