Ever since I was in high school and up to this day my weekends were always spent with Friends….. The TV show. ‘Friends’ was broadcasted on Greek TV non stop every weekend – I am pretty sure it is still on today- then Netflix had to go and make it available so now I do not have to wait for the weekend anymore. I can and I literally watch it all the time. It is heaven for me and a disaster for Tanguy.
I have a PhD in ‘Friends’ I know every single line of the show, every episode plot and every little detail by heart and Rachel? Where can I start …… For every every greek girl at the time the show was on, Rachel Green aka Jennifer Aniston was a hero! She has greek roots so I am we all felt her like our own friend. A Greek girl who was sexy and famous, who was almost the centre of the show ….. who married Brad Pitt???? Every greek girl wanted to be like her! I know that the show was not actually shot in New York but they do show snapshots of a building in Greenwich village that is supposed to be where Monica’s apartment is and day #6 in New York was Friends time!
Day #6
We started early by visiting the empire state building all the way on the 84th and 86th floor. These numbers in relation to building floors are unreal!!!!! I am going to knowingly repeat myself and say that the view was, what? B r e a t h t a k i n g. How could it not be? All of these majestic tall buildings that I had to keep my head high in order to admire while I was walking on the streets, seemed so tightly and neatly packed close to each other like blocks of legos that you can hold in your hand. I understand now why so many marriage proposals happen on top of the Empire state building now. You are on the top of the world! Once I was up there and outside on the 86th floor terrace I was on a natural high state, looking down I barely could see the busy streets of New York. I did not feel like saying a word, I was quiet and I just wanted to record all of these images in my head so that at any given moment after today, when I close my eyes I can still bring this view back to my head with little effort. I am doing it right now in fact and here is what I see:
Going down I realised why visiting the Empire state building early was a good choice. the line of people waiting to go up was endless!
We went on walking down to the harbour in order to catch our boat for a 2hrs cruise around Manhattan. On the way, we stumbled upon an Amazon store and naturally we wanted to visit it. Walking in that shop was like walking into the future. Not only I could finally find all the books I am interested in about UX, those I cannot find at bookstores here in Brussels at hand, but we paid for these books on the cashier with our phone via the Amazon app!!!! M i n d b l o w n. Every book label on the shelves has the Amazon rating and user critics on it along with the price. You are doing it well Amazon! Game changer ! *
Anyway back to the streets of New York and our cruise. It was another warm day and this cruise was just what we needed. Also, thank God for bars on board. With a (couple of) cold Budweiser(s) in my hand I just laid back and saw Manhattan, the World trade centre, the statute of liberty and what seemed to be New Jersey, even a part of the Bronx from the boat. We had a very captivating tour guide who talked about the history of New York, its buildings, the different boroughs and of course the events of 9/11.
We jumped off the cruise two hours later all sunburned, a bit tipsy and really hungry. As the day kept on being sunny we walked our way to Greenwich village. Hands down one of the most interesting neighbourhoods in New York city and where we had the best burger of our lives. The place is called Pizza loves Emily the staff was very friendly and the background music fitted my taste like a glove! Disco with some MJ coming up at the mix ….. I almost did not want this burger to finish……
What else is in Greenwich village? The comedy cellar, the Washington square park and of course the home of Friends !!!!! I was really excited to be there and on this nice day I could not help by fantasise a life in Greenwich Village. I don’t know maybe work at the comedy cellar, rent a tiny apartment and live like in Friends….. unreal but it does not hurt to daydream.
After this memorable evening at the village, it was time to head back to Brooklyn and this time instead of simply looking at the Brooklyn bridge we walked through it. In times like these I wish I was a writer so that I could describe my walk on the bridge by using words and expressions other than, breathtaking view and amazing…. but I am not. Hey this is a WordPress blog you get, what you get 😁
Walking trough the bridge was shorter that I expected would take about 40 minutes…..it took a little bit longer for us because Tanguy was taking pictures all the time. I knew that it was a bit annoying at the very moment we were there because it interrupted the flow of my walk and my thoughts but it would be rewarding later browsing through amazing shots of what I was seeing right then and there. The Brooklyn bridge is indeed an architectural treasure, I wonder if people who see it every day still see it as one or if they are used to it and no longer care….. For what I know, this bridge took thirteen years to complete and costed an enormous amount of money. For what I see this bridge is a wonderful structure that stands strong over the Hudson river, there is almost a spirit that lives in it that welcomes you…. absolutely incredible to walk through it at dusk!
*Saying something good about Amazon these days is rather controversial and though of course visiting the shop was new and gave me a great feeling I do not think that I would be visiting again. Employees working in horrible conditions for Amazon, not at the shop but this is what we can see…..Not to mention the environmental footprint and the disgustingly huge profit that this all gives to ONE person, yikes and no thanks