The last hours in New York

With hurting legs I found my way Monday morning to the flagship store of Abercrombie and Fitch on the Fifth Avenue. Despite all economic crisis we even had to wait in front of the store to enjoy shopping at A&F. After a short stop on Houston street we walked through little Italy and Chinatown to stop for lunch at a Thai restaurant. Surprisingly I was still able to walk... In the afternoon we visited downtown Manhattan, the Financial district and "Ground Zero". I have visited this place now for the sixth time after 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. While in the first months still the wreckage of the Twin Towers could be seen, the years after nothing appeared to have happened on the construction site. Due to complicated underground work and finally long discussion about how and what to build as well as security aspects, the erase of the new "Freedom Tower" did not start until recently. Around Wall Street business went as usual, I could not (yet) see any traders or brokers jumping out of the window after loosing another billion dollars



We spent the final hours in New York on Tuesday morning in the colorful Central Park, walking from 72nd across Strawberry Fields to 86th Street and the Guggenheim Museum. At noon I had to say goodbye to my friend and my beloved New York and headed to Newark International Airport.






I flew via Chicago to Amsterdam. For both flights I got seats in the Economy Plus class of United Airlines. I don't like to fly with any US airlines (stewardesses are old, alcohol is not complimentary, aircrafts are old, service is bad...) but once more I got without any charge more legroom in the EcoPlus. Apparently UA is saving money on the wrong end, that is the IT-system since I got an offer to book the better seats for 150 dollars which I rejected, since I already got those seats assigned for free. Thx UA ;)

Wednesday morning I arrived with the good news of Barack Obama's victory in Amsterdam. In the afternoon I took the train to Paris to visit a fellow student from Rotterdam who wisely decided to move to a better place.