Please note: English versions are immediately after the Danish reports!
1. del: New York:
Takket være Icelandic Express blev vi ikke mindre end 3 timer forsinket inden vi endelig landede i New York City. Undervejs blev jeg bl.a. udvalgt til en intim body search, mens Cinzia slap. Det havde muligvis noget at gøre med min nye frisure, der fik mig til at ligne Kojaks tvillingebror. Nogle vil måske betegne det som et forsøg på at lege “skinhead”, mens jeg selv hårdnakket påstår, at det er et symbol på at starte på en frisk.
I lufthavnen i New York blev vi mødt at en tålmodig (men rimelig tissetrængende) onkel Joe, som pænt havde ventet på os hele tiden. Han kørte os i sin airconditioned Cadillac til vores guesthouse. Lokaltid i New York var klokken blot 23.00, men eftersom Danmark er 6 timer foran, svarede det til kl. 05 om morgenen. Vi havde ikke lukket et øje under flyveturen, så vi var rimelig kvæstede, og faldt næsten i søvn inden vi drattede om i sengen.
Næste morgen kom Joe igen forbi og kørte os rundt til forskellige steder på Staten Island, hvor vi boede. Det er åbenbart det største italienske mindretal i landet, med 37% af øens befolkning, på øen. Joe er en tidligere krigsveteran, han var med i Korea-krigen i 1950’erne. Vi mødte også hans charmerende kone, Francis, som ligeledes havde italienske rødder, men var født og opvokset i Brooklyn, New York. Senere på dagen tog vi færgen til Manhattan, som er centrum for New York og der hvor alle turistattraktioner ligger. Et af de første stop i Manhattan var naturligvis Washington Square Park, hvor de lokale skakhajer sidder og plukker naive turister. Efter en tøvende start, hvor jeg desperat prøvede at vænne mig til brikker, som klistrede til brættet og et ur, som levede sit eget liv, lykkes det mig at vinde 20 dollars mod forskellige modstandere i stigende styrke. Jeg havde hørt fra flere mennesker, at hajerne på Washington Square Park var nogle lumske fuskere, som ikke var bange for at trække en kniv (som i The Wild West, hvor enhver kortspiller med respekt for sig selv havde en ladt revolver under bordet mens de spillede poker), hvis de var ved at tabe penge. Jeg fandt dem dog alle yderst tiltalende, og selvom jeg vandt penge fra dem, var de meget venlige efterfølgende og stillede mange interesserede spørgsmål om vores bryllupscykeltur fra Alaska til Argentina.
Derefter var det tid til at drible til 5th Avenue, som er kendt for at være New Yorks shopping-kvarter, med alle de kendte mærker i tøj, parfume, sko, tasker, osv. Cinzia brugte ikke mange minutter på at få vores VISA-kort til gløde. Mine hårdt tjente dollars forsvandt som dug for solen i løbet af nul komma fem. Mens hun shoppede løs, satte jeg mig ned på en bænk sammen med de andre mænd, som ligeledes gabte kæberne af led og sad og halvsov.
På vejen tilbage på færgen passerede vi Frihedsgudinden (som var det første tegn på USA millioner af immigranter så, da de ankom i propfyldte både i håbet om at finde et land med uanede muligheder) og fik taget nogle gode billeder, som snart vil blive lagt ud på vores hjemmeside. Stay tuned!
Næste dag blev vi inviteret ud at spise på en kinesisk restaurant af onkel Joe og kone. Restauranten havde den største og mest lækre buffet, med alt hvad hjertet kunne begære, jeg nogensinde har oplevet. Vi spiste så meget, at vi nærmest kunne trille ud af restauranten til sidst. Derefter tog vi igen til Manhattan, hvor vi besøgte The Natural Museum of History, med en masse interessante udstillinger om dinosaurer, indianere (eller Native Americans, som er den politisk korrekte term), dyr i Nordamerika, rumfart og en række andre spændende ting. Det var den 4. juli, som jo er USA’s nationaldag, da de erklærede sig uafhængige fra den daværende stormagt, Storbritannien i år 1776. Mange folk var klædt ud i festlige farver (dvs. rød, blå og hvid - som deres flag, Stars And Stripes). Vi overværede også lidt af en baseball kamp og nogle sindssygt gode basketballspillere i en park. Vi var desuden et smut i Central Park, som er New Yorks store åndehul. Den er fuldt ud på højde med de byparker, som England og Danmark har at byde på. Om aftenen overværede vi et storslået fyrfærkerishow, som bare blev flottere og flottere indtil sidste raket var fyret af.
En dag, da vi var på vej hen til at købe ind i det lokale supermarked, så vi en stærkt overvægtig politimand vrælte ind en Dunkin’ Donut forretning. Det var præcis ligesom i Simpsons, hvor Officer Wiggum ikke laver andet end sidde på sin flade r.. hele dagen og spise doughnuts. Det var for god en chance at gå til spilde, så jeg besluttede mig for at tage et billede af ham på vej ud af forretningen med munden fuld af doughnuts. Cinzia skulle ikke nyde noget, så hun gik ind i supermarkedet og sagde til mig: “lad nu være med at blive arresteret!” Da det gyldne øjeblik nærmede sig, havde jeg kameraet parat og skød ham i det perfekte øjeblik. Godt nok var han fed, men dum var han ikke, så han gik straks hen til mig og spurgte mig surt, hvad jeg skulle bruge det billede til. Jeg agerede dum turist, og sagde, at jeg gik rundt og tog billeder af ting, som var typisk amerikanske. For at illustrere min pointe, skød jeg et foto af en Pepsi-varevogn, der stod parkeret ved siden af. Han virkede langt fra overbevist, men sagde alligevel: “du gør bare præcis, hvad du har lyst til!” Hvorefter han satte sig ind i sin politibil, der var så lille, at der næsten ikke var plads til ham, og kørte væk i en fart.
Nu vi er ved små anekdoter, så er Cinzias onkel en sjov type, som hele tiden skulle puste sig op og prale af hvor godt han havde klaret sig på trods af, at han kun havde haft meget kort skolegang. En aften, da vi alle fire gik en tur langs strandpromenaden (for det er faktisk muligt at bade i New York!), greb han fat i mit ærme og sagde til mig i en mand-til-mand stemme “walk with me!” Mens han gnavede på en monster stor cigar (pga. en nyindført lov er det ikke lovligt at ryge på strande, parker, osv.) , som ville have gjort Winston Churchill grøn af misundelig, fortalte han mig med stolthed i stemmen, hvad hans arv til menneskeheden var: et offentligt toilet! Intet mindre! Det viste sig, at en dag havde der været nogle store arkitekt-kanoner ude og observere stranden. Der mødte de så Joe, der er en ivrig fisker. De spurgte ham, hvad han syntes om området. Joe (der åbenbart også var tissetrængende den gang) var ikke sen til at foreslå, at der blev opført et offentligt toilet inde ved promenaden. Arkitekterne lyttede åbenbart til ham og de wc’et blev bygget, stod der i lokalavisen, at “lokale fiskere var blevet rådført i opførslen af wc’et og diverse andre bygninger”. Det avisudklip værnede Joe godt om, da det er beviset på hans udødelighed… Men da vi endelig kom hen til det berømte toilet var det, ironisk nok, men til Joes store skuffelse, lukket.
Den næstsidste dag var vi oppe i Empire State Building, som blev berømt fordi det var verdens højeste bygning, da den blev bygget i 1931 med 102 etager og 381 meter høj. Da filmen King Kong blev vist kort efter og kæmpeaben kravlede op på toppen af Empire State Building og ind i publikums hjerter, valfartede gud og hver mand til bygningen efterfølgende. Da vi tog op på toppen, var vi blot to af de daglige 10.000 mennesker, som nyder udsigten fra USA’s mest berømte bygning. Sammen med Eiffel Tårnet, Taj Mahal, den kinesiske mur og Operahuset i Sidney må den absolut være den mest berømte bygning i verden. Og udsigten oppe fra toppen var det al ventetiden værd i køen. Det var utroligt at kigge ned og se de mikroskopiske taxaer nede på gaden. Menneskerne var næsten for små til at se. På en god dag skulle man kunne se langt over 100 km. væk. Vi var derefter på jagt efter legetøj til Erik og Laura. Lauras fandt vi let, mens vi var i tre forskellige butikker og desværre ikke kunne finde den ønskede ting til Erik. Vi måtte derfor købte noget andet, som han forhåbentlig alligevel bliver glad for. Som prikken over i’et på en herlig dag, mødte vi selveste Spiderman! Jeg hilste ham fra Erik, som med garanti er hans største fan.
Sidste dag i New York blev vi hentet af Joe ved middagstid og kørt hen for at besøge en af hans døtre, som bor i staten New Jersey. Hun boede i det mest imponerende hus jeg har set til dato: egen tennisbane, basketballbane, swimmingpool, et fladskærm TV så stort som næsten hele væggen, osv. Det var Joe forståeligt nok pave stolt af at vise frem for os, som om det var hans eget hus. Senere stødte flere familiemedlemmer til, så vi var ca. 15 mennesker til middag. Jeg spillede basketball i swimmingpoolen med de ældste drenge, mens min bedre halvdel sludrede med kvinderne inde i huset. Efterfølgende viste jeg en af drengene de mest elementære grundregler for skak, samtidig med at vi spillede et par partier. På alle måder en helt igennem hyggelig dag.
Vi er netop ankommet til Anchorage i Alaska. Her er vi 10 timer bagefter. Så ved man, at man er laaaaaaaangt væk hjemmefra! I morgen skal vi endelig hente vores cykler, og det glæder vi os begge enormt til. De skal jo være vores hjem og primære transportmiddel i de næste 12 måneder. New York var sjov og interessant og et mikrokosmos af hele verden med nok samtlige verdens nationaliteter repræsenteret. Men samtidig er The Big Apple også stressende, larmende og forurenet. For mig begynder rejsen først for alvor NU!
I er meget velkomne til at kommentere denne rapport eller billederne på vores hjemmeside. Hvis I ikke ved, hvad I skal lave til jul og nytår, så er I hermed inviteret til at komme og fejre højtiden sammen med os i Belize! Se mere info her:
www.lonelyplanet.com/belize eller: www.belizenet.comOver and out!
Skrevet af Brian
English versions:
Part one. New York, USA:
Thanks to Icelandic Express, we were no less than three hours delayed until we finally touched ground in New York City. During the journey, I was selected to get a thorough body search, in the name of security. Cinzia had to patiently wait till it was all over. The reason why I was picked could have had something to do with my new haircut, which made me look like Kojack
’s twin brother. Some might think that I wish to look like a skinhead, whereas I stubbornly claim that it is meant to symbolize a new beginning. At the airport we were met by Cinzia’s patient uncle, Joe, who badly needed to go to the toilet. In his air-conditioned Cadillac, he drove us to our guesthouse. Local time in New York was only 11 pm, but as Denmark is 6 hours ahead, that was like 5 o’clock in the morning to us. We had not slept a wink during the flight, so we were pretty tired and nearly fell asleep before we hit the bed.The next morning, Joe came by and drove us around several places at Staten Island where we lived. Apparently 37% of the island consists of Italians, which is the biggest Italian minority anywhere in the USA. Joe is a former war veteran as he was part of the Korean war in the 50s. We also met his charming wife, Francis, who also has Italian roots, but was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. Subsequently we took the ferry to Manhattan, which is the centre of New York and where all the tourist attractions are placed. One of the first places we visited was obviously Washington Square Park where the local chess sharks suck naïve tourists dry for greenbacks. After a hesitant start, when I was desperately trying to get used to the pieces being partly glued to the board and the chess clock which had a life of its own, I managed to win 20$ against opponents of increasing strength. A number of people had warned me against the chess sharks in Washington Square Park who have a reputation of pulling a knife in case they lose money, just like in the Wild West when every card player with respect for himself hid a revolver under the table while playing poker. However, I found all the sharks very pleasant indeed. Even though I won money from them, they asked interested questions about our honeymoon cycle trip from Alaska to Argentina. Afterwards we went to 5th Avenue, which is famous for being New York
’s upscale shopping area, with all the famous brands in clothes, parfume, bags, shoes, etc. Cinzia did not spend many minutes before the VISA credit card was glowing. My hard-earned dollars vaporized in no time. While she did her shopping, I joined the other men who sat on a bench yawning and half-sleeping. On the way back by ferry we passed the Statue of Liberty (which was the first thing million of immigrants saw when they arrived in packed boats, hoping to find a land of unlimited opportunities), which we took some smashing photos of. Enjoy them in the “photo” section of our website.The next day we were invited out to a Chinese restaurant by uncle Joe and his wife. The restaurant had the biggest and most delicious buffet I have ever experienced. We ate so much we were almost able to roll out of the restaurant. Then we went to Manhattan again where we visited The Natural Museum of History which has lots of fascinating exhibitions on dinosaurs, Indians (or rather Native Americans, which is the politically correct term), animals of North America, space travel and numerous other interesting things.
It was July 4, which is America's National Day, when they celebrate that they declared their independence from the then major power, Great Britain in year 1776. Many people were dressed in festive colours (i.e. red, blue and white - like their flag, The Stars And Stripes). We also witnessed a baseball game and some insanely good basketball players in a park. We also went on a trip to Central Park, New York's large sanctuary. It is fully in line with the city parks that England and Denmark have to offer. In the evening we witnessed a magnificent firework display which just became more and more impressive until the last rocket was fired.
One day when we went shopping in the local supermarket, we saw a very obese policeman wobbling into a Dunkin’ Donut shop. It was exactly like in the Simpsons, in which Officer Wiggum does nothing but sit on his fat a.. all day long and eat donuts. It was too good a chance to go to waste, so I decided to take a picture of him on his way out of the store with her mouth full of donuts. Cinzia was not in the mood for confrontation, so when she went into the supermarket she said to me: "Promise me you won’t get arrested!" When the golden opportunity approached, I had the camera ready and shot him at the perfect moment. He might have been very heavily built, but he was not stupid, so he went straight up to me and asked me in an angry manner what the point of the picture was. I acted like a dumb tourist and said that I was merely walking around taking pictures of things that were typically American. To illustrate my point, I shot a photo of a Pepsi truck that was parked beside us. He seemed far from convinced, but said anyway: "You just do exactly what you want!" Whereupon he went into his police car that was so small that there was hardly room for him, and drove off in a hurry.
Speaking of cute anecdotes… Cinzia´s uncle a funny type who constantly brags about how well he has done despite the fact that he had had very little schooling. One evening when the four of us went for a walk along the seafront (for it is indeed possible to swim in New York!), he grabbed hold of my sleeve and said to me in a man-to-man voice: "walk with me!" while he gnawed on a huge cigar (due to a newly introduced law, it is not legal to smoke on beaches, parks, etc.) that would have made Winston Churchill green with envy, he told me with pride in his voice, what his legacy to the human race was: a public toilet! No less. It turned out that one day some hot-shot architect had had a stroll along the beach. There they met uncle Joe, who is an avid fisherman. The architect asked Joe what he thought about the area. Joe (who apparently also was desperate to go for a pee at the time) was not slow to suggest that they should built a public toilet inside the promenade. The architect apparently listened to Joe and the toilet was indeed built. In the local newspaper it said that "local fishermen had been consulted in the construction of the toilet and other buildings." The newspaper clippings Joe guarded in his safe as it is proof of his immortality ... However, when we finally came to the famous toilet it was, ironically, and to Joe’s great disappointment, closed…
The penultimate day we went to the top of the Empire State Building, which became famous because it was the world's tallest building when it was built in 1931 with 102 floors and stood 381 meters tall. When the movie ”King Kong” was shown shortly after the completion of the building and the giant ape climbed atop the Empire State Building and into the hearts of audience, people flocked in droves to view New York from the top of the famous building. When we went to the top, we were just two of 10,000 people who daily enjoy the view from America's most famous building. Along with the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Opera House in Sidney, the Empire State Building is surely the most famous building in the world. And the view from the top was worth the long wait in the queue. It was amazing to look down and see the tiny taxis on the street. The people were almost too small to see. On a clear day, it is possible to see well over 100 km from the top of the building. Afterwards we went hunting for toys for Eric and Laura. Laura’s toy was not too hard to find, but Erik’s very specific toy, unfortunately, we did not manage to track down, in spite of trying in several shops. We therefore had to buy something else, which we hope that he likes too. As a finishing touch on a glorious day, we met none other than Spiderman! I greeted him from Erik who is surely his biggest fan.
Last day in New York we were picked up by Joe at noon who drove us one of his daughters who lives in the state of New Jersey. She lives in the most amazing house I've seen yet: it has a tennis court, basketball court, swimming pool, a flat screen TV as big as almost the entire wall, etc. Joe was understandably very proud of showing us around the house. Later more family members arrived, so we were about 15 people for dinner. I played basketball in the pool with the older boys, while my better half was chatting with the women inside the house. Subsequently, I showed one of the boys the most basic rules of chess, while we played a few games. It was indeed a thoroughly pleasant day with Cinzia’s family!
We have just arrived in Anchorage, Alaska. Here we are 10 hours behind central European time. That is when you know that you are a loooooooooooong way from home! Tomorrow, we finally get our bikes and we are very much looking forward to that. They are supposed to be our means of transportation for the next 12 months. New York was fun and interesting and a microcosm of the world with nearly all the world's nationalities represented. But The Big Apple is also stressful, noisy and polluted. For me, the journey begins in earnest NOW!
You are very welcome to comment on this report or the images on our website. If you do not know what to do for Christmas and New Year, you are hereby invited to come and celebrate it with us in Belize! More info here:
Written by Brian