Day 4,5,6 & 7 - New York

My plan was to update this blog every other day or so but since good wifi is still really hard to find I waited until we left New York to update again. When you're in a place like New York you cant really afford to waste 2 hours uploading pictures to a blog.

It's been a few pretty hectic days we're we have ventured even further into the monster that is Manhattan. Timeline is a little blurry so bare with me if my recap isn't really in the right order. Also you will notice the complete lack of tourist stuff like visiting the empire state building and such stuff. We did that a few years ago. If you're interested about that stuff it'll find it's way to this blog in the future.

So thursday night we finally made it out to another of the 5 boroughs, Brooklyn. We took the L-train to Bedford Ave right in the heart of Williamsburg. Right after getting of the train I knew we would like this. Leaving the madness of Manhattan you are met by a calm yet vibrant neighborhood. Similar to Haight/Ashbury in SF or the Mississipi area in Portland. Second hand shops, record stores, vegan cafes and all the hipsters you could dream of! We met up with C at the Surf bar which is a typical tiki-bar in just that same style you'll find all around the world. Lots of knick knacks hanging from the ceiling and the bar but I'd say the Surf bar has done it really well. Drinks in a place like this are never a taste sensation, rather a feast for the eye and for awhile you almost feel like you're on a beach somewhere in the pacific. They do shake up a pretty decent Mojito as well and we tried both the regular and the frozen one.

We spent the rest of the night with some of C's friends in Williamsburg at their house, a real nice group of Swedes living and working in New York. After that we were pretty knackered and headed back to Manhattan to sleep. However in the taxi on the way home we felt we could squeeze in one more bar so we had the cab driver drop us off in the village. We found a bar called Off the wagon and on their top floor they had beer pong tables! How awesome is that. Definetly something we need to learn.

Next day we headed back to Williamsburg for some shopping. Brooklyn is famous for it's second hand shopping and we were not dissapointed. We had lunch in an all vegan/asian restaurant that we think was called Wild Ginger. Awesome menu. M had the tofu salad and i went for a udon soup and a side of seitan skewers. It was soooo good. We felt like we wanted to eat our way through their whole menu.

Next up was Swedish midsummer in battery park. Midsummer in Sweden usually means either going out of town for a midsummers meal with friends or family or staying in town and everything is closed. On midsummer you also eat potatoes and sill which is raw pickled fish washed down with spiced snaps. We actually brought miniature bottles of snaps with us and all the sudden we were every swedes best friend in battery park. It was an awesome midsummer celebration that beats most things I've seen in Sweden. It was also fun to see traditional Swedish food next to american dishes like mac and cheese.

We did another stop at Le Bain(roof bar earlier mentioned) and then we headed to Gun bar. Gun bar played awesome music mostly where you mix to different songs together and it was a great evening. Gun bar as far as i can collect is just as Le Bain in the meat packing district within walking distance between the two. 

Next morning (saturday) we did the first really tourist thing. We headed to central park! We've done it before but we love it so much we decided to do it again. We rented the rowboats at rowboat lake which i can recommend strongly to anyone in N.Y. 32 dollars for an hour of which you get 20 back upon returning the boat. It's just so amazing to be on this gorgeous lake with skyscrapers all around you.

After that we did some last minute shopping before heading back to the hostel. Last night out was mostly the ladies night out since I had to stay sober. M & C aren't gonna see each other for a good while so they got to have a last binge.

Last day in New York we checked out from the hostel and locked our luggage in security boxes before heading down to fifth for the pride parade. Just the night before we learned that gay marriage was just legalized in New York so the atmosphere was just mad! Both me and M are strong believers in equal rights for all so we were really touched by how emotional this was for a group so long without basic human rights. 

Right now we're in Philly and we're heading out for a night on town! I hope i can update more often now but good wifi is hard to find in the U.S. Remember people, you don't choose who you love! No matter what sex or etnicity!