I guess not many people, especially not tourist thought about Harlem, when going to New York. The Harlem area is lying north of Central Park on Manhattan and many people looked suspiciously at me, when i said we were going to stay there.

This area might not be the fanciest around town, but there are a few small spots, that are worth a trip uptown. It's way more authentic as well.
The blocks are mainly inhabited by hispanic folks and south american imigrants. On our first night the first thing we saw was 116th East Street, when coming out of the Metro to East Harlem.

Huge trash bags on the streets, cheap chinese and mexican fast food restaurants and allover only coloured people awaited us.
We were bright white shining tourists in the middle of nowhere it seemed.

I have to say, that we were first a bit shocked and maybe even frightened, but nothing ever happened to us, even when we walked home late at night. No one approached us inappropriate and there was never a reason not to feel as save as on the Upper East Side.

As said Harlem is still lying close to Central Park, so this is maybe the main attraction to go to from here.  Nevertheless you can see a lot of streetart and more creativity as well in these areas.
Everything is easy to reach with the public transport.
One morning we took the bus west 116th Street to go to a specfic café/cookie bakery my friend wanted to see. Afterwards we wanted to make our way through central park from the north-west corner to the Met museum.

On the way to Central Park, we came across one of the nicest cafés in town.

Caféine
This is a unique espresso bar located in Morningside Heights, Harlem. The coffe is just amazing. (After having some bad experience with a specific big brand in New York, where coffee just does not taste good, but if you need one, these shops are everywhere)

The staff is super friendly and chatty. One of the main important things for me is a milk alternative in a coffee bar. In Sweden it is quite common to offer oat and soy milk, but a lot of places in NY actually did not offer it. This shop nevertheless had 4 different plant-based milks in stock and the Barista really knew his job and made a perfectly scummed almond latte.

Seasoned Vegan
This is one of the best restaurants i have ever been to. The food here was almost as good as on Bali, and that is indeed hard to reach. During the week, they are only offering dinner from 5pm, at the weekend you can also have brunch/lunch here.

As the name says they serve a big menu of quite popular dishes, just veganized. I am allergic to egg and milk, so it was quite hard in NY to find a place where i can have something else than fries or salad (i am a really difficult person to eat out with)
My clever friend found this restaurant with tripadvisor when we were sitting on a bench in Central Park.

While i enjoyed a raw lasagne with spinach, tomatoes, cashew cheese and some spicy curly fries, my friend had a vegan burger that looked exactly as a regular one. I am always quite sceptic if that can even taste, but we were both really content with our food. Unfortunately there was no space left for one of the cute vegan cupcakes, icecream or cake, but next time i'll go to New York i know where to eat!

So when chosing air bnb's one always tries to find a host with a lot of recommendations and when i started looking for a place to stay in NYC, i had a tough time to find something affordable, central and good looking.
I made a great catch when finding Nancy's air bnb, located in East Harlem on Manhattan. She is usually booked out pretty fast almost a year ahead, so if you want to stay at hers, better book about 8month in advance, which i did.

I originally booked only for myself, but it was not a problem at all to add my friend into later. Nancy is really nice and very informative already when you contact her by mail. (for 2 people it was around 580€ for 6 nights)

Anyway there are a few points to mention and this air bnb experience has been changing a lot for me at how looking and accepting other people's lifestyle.

Nancy is a strict vegan, she offers a huge vegan breakfast and asks you not to bring any dairy products in her house, which is not a big deal for me. It was rather a great opportunity, since i had a hard time anyway to get food around town, due to my numerous allergies.

Furthermore Nancy has quite a few rules in her tiny apartment, which she writes about in a two pages text on her profile/description. First you might be overwhelmed, but it is indeed quite basic rules that well behaved/educated people already know.

If you forget to do something, Nancy will make you a little card next day as a reminder (once we accidently did  not wash out the kettle, so next morning she put up an illustration how to do it)

The cosy apartment is also covered anyway with notes and illustrations how to use the lights or how to spread the shower curtain (it sounds now super weird when writing about it, but it did not change the fact, that it was a really nice stay)

Nancy prefers that you do not stay out late, so if you want to party all night, this is not the right accomodation for you. It is fine to stay out longer than 11pm e.g. if you watch a musical, but she likes to be informed, because she really cares for you.

As a host and person, Nancy is just fascinating and really inspiring.
She is around 70 years old, but still as fresh as any women in midage. She is very active and working with tv shows and her own vegan organisation and is really passionate about it. Although she lives alone, she never seems to be bored and she really enjoys having you there. She is trying to learn a lot of languages still, so she has different cards and posters she puts up for your breakfast in your mother language. I would love to be as active and smart at that age.

When staying at different air bnbs, with other cultural background you develop much more tolerance. Some time ago i would have thought "what a crazy, weird woman" but now i see it as a possibility to meet interesting/individual people and learn a lot. THANK YOU!

Actually, I have not so much to tell about Brooklyn, since we only spend half a day there and could not see all the nice/arty spots. Rather short summary of a place that has so much to offer.

Next time i'll go to New York, i will plan at least 2 days here. At least we saw bits and pieces, so just an inspiration for more to come. It reminded us very much of Stockholms Södermalm, more down-to-earth and less glass facades.

We went downtown Manhattan on Friday morning and of course we walked Brooklyn Bridge from there, although it could have been a great idea to rent a bike on that day instead, due to 35°c and burning sun.

The bridge is actually not that long, but during that heat it felt like a 10k run. When you finally reach Brooklyn there are a few art gallerys and there is one corner where you have the perfect view on Manhattan Bridge.

When we stepped by, there was again a photo shooting, so this set is extremely popular. Furthermore there are some vey nice coffee places and everyone walking around is more in a creative bubble and not as stressed as on 5th avenue. By the water directly under the Bridge is the Bridge Cafe, an extremly fancy place, so we were not proper dressed or rich enough to eat there. Anyway you can enjoy a fantastic view from here and walk to the left side in Brooklyn Bridge Park. If you want to have a cheaper lunch, there is a Shake Shack Burger place nearby, but they just offer typical american fast food.

Well i have a few spots and pictures of places in New York left to show you and do not really know which topic to fit them in. Nevertheless they are worth mentioning, and some we actually just bumped into and never planned to see.

The New York Library

I love, love books and this was one of the most impressive libraries i have ever seen. It's not the amount of endless books, that is impressive, but the construction and layout.

We walked south on our first day just around and suddenly this massive building popped up in front of us. When we entered i directly recognized this space from the first Sex and the City movie. Typical me. I literelly saw Carrie falling down the stairs with her amazing dress, when her wedding was cancelled.

Anyway the library has much more to offer, for people who are not movie maniacs. Huge parts are carved of wood, as the shelfs and the ceiling, combined with beautiful paintings. To reach the huge hall one has to climb above mentioned stairs, which was quite hard after having walked 15km that day already, but it was so worth it.
As a tourist you are only allowed to see the left wing of the big book hall, where hundreds of people sit in silence studying and educating themselves. Really impressive how many people can be as quiet in such a big room. I would love to sit here and get lost in an endless world of books.


Tiffany's
Yet another very famous movie set. If you watched Breakfast at Tiffany's you must stop by at the one and only original store at 5th Avenue. Probably your wallet is not big enough to buy anything except a ballpen, but just stepping inside and having all those sparkling jewels in front of you is impressive.
 This store has 6 Floors in total and they have absolutely everything.
The ceilings are very high which makes this shop even more impressive. Even the air smell brilliant, due to many flowers.
If you change floor, you will use one of the most fancy elevators i have ever been into. It's made of dark marble and there is an assistant who is even pushing the button for you to access the floor of your desire. The people working here are extraordinary friendly without being demanding or pushy.
So we went to the Floor with all the silver and affordable stuff, since we did not dare to go to the very top, where billionaires shop.
Of course you will bump into couples in the elevator, usually the girl dragging her boyfriend to the  engagement ring department. Well, lifegoals.

Flatiron Building
One of the buildings in New York that is known for its unusual shape of architecture is the Flatiron Building, located near Madison Square Park on Fifth Avenue, Broadway and 23rd Street. The building itself is worth for a picture, but as its always really busy in this area, you will have lots of other tourists on your shots as well. During our stay there was a really nice collection of Food Trucks at Worth square nearby, Mad. Sq. Eats.
There was literally everything one could wish for and many culinary suprises, apart from the usual burger and chips you get here. Otherwise you can also hang around in Madison Square Garden, which is a lovely spot to relax after a long walk.

Like all big metropolitan cities, New York never sleeps. Even during the weeks, there is always a lot to see and do when the sky turns dark. Of course you can dine and drink every evening, which will cost you a fortune, as usual. There is nonetheless another way to spend a big bunch of money in one evening, by visiting a show on Broadway. I would recommend to buy tickets online in advance, although you can get them quite cheap during your stay if you are lucky.
There is a small ticketshop directly close to the stairs at Times square, where you get tickets for the same day with up to -50% discount. That can save you a lot of money, but is quite risky.

Wicked

I have always been a big fan of the OZ stories and read a few. So i really wanted to go into this musical, that tells the story before. This is one of the most popular musicals on broadway and after seeing it, i know why.

The story is all about the friendship between the good witch of the South Glinda and the wicked witch of the West Elphaba.
Elphaba was born green, which no one knows why. Because of her difference, she is neither accepted by her father the mayor, nor by her classmates at school. Her sister Nessarose is bound to a wheelchair, due to an early birth, which her father blames Elphaba for. The two girls are send to school and during an accident the headmistress discovers Elphabas magical talent. Galinda, a blond, pink-dressed sunshine girl is also attending the same school. Due to different circumstances it happens that Galinda and Elphaba have to share a room. Over the time they become friends and Elphaba is for the first time accepted as she is - green. This peace doesn't last long, since weird things are happening in OZ. Animals stop to talk and the Wizard of Oz wants to see Elphaba. Not enough, both of the girls fall in love with the same handsome prince Fiyero.

If you want to find out how Elphaba became the wicked witch and the truth behind all, better reserve your tickets now. Otherwise you can also spoiler yourself and read the full plot here.

I have to say that the actors were incredible and i laughed until i cried. It was an emotional rollercoaster and the best theatre performance i have ever seen.

Times Square
After attending any musical on Broadway, or even in general you have to come to Times Square at night. During the day it was rather ordinary, i have to say, but at night it's much more impressive. The whole street is bright alight, due to all the flickering screens and once in a while the disco ball is dropping down. You can get the best view on the red plastic stairs directly in the middle of the yard.
Nevertheless i imagined watching numerous gigantic screens with advertisements to be more exciting or thrilling. Maybe the atmosphere is only as celebrative on New Year's eve.

The History of American Immigration is so large and one of the actual more interesting topics while graduating at high school. Especially we have been discussing the American Dream a lot, which is symbolised in New York, where all people came with their hopes and fears to the New World in one spot - Ellis Islands. When going to Ellis Island you'll pass by the way the Statue of Liberty, just the biggest and most impressive statue in the world, i would guess.

 

So on Tuesday during our little city trip we went to see the Financial District and Lower Manhattan. After going to ground zero and hanging around a bit on Wall Street, we went further south to take the Ferry to Ellis Island. This was by far the most tourist crowded area we have seen. We bought some tickets for a ferry ride (18$), unfortunately the tickets to go up the statue of liberty were already gone.

Since they have only a limited number of tickets every day, one has to be really early, if you like to do that.

There was a massive queue to reach the ferry, which is guarded and protected with security on airport level. So we stood in the burning sun for almost 1h, (felt like 3) to finally get onto the ferry which can carry around 600 people. Just saying it was super busy!

There are different rides with the ferry so one can hop on and off a few times, we just took the normal route New York - Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island. One can indeed go to New Jersey as well.

The boat ride does not take long, you will always see the Statue on your way, nevertheless it's quite far away and one needs a professional camera to shoot the Lady at her best.

If you can't get a ticket up the statue it is not really enjoyable to get off that island, since there is nothing else to do and queues for next ferries are very long, so it can be that you wait for another hour just to get further to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island is a lovely small Island with the huge Immigration Building/Hall directly by the Harbour. You can read a lot about Immigration History and see the lists and books of ancient times. Then there are several movies shown in theatres on 2nd floor next to the famous registration Hall. We did not see any of them though.

Nevertheless it is quite impressive to see the island of tears, where the fate of millions of people was decided within a couple of minutes.

When you walk around Ellis Island you will have a fantastic view on Manhattans Skyline, furthermore there are some other small houses in same style as the immigration building, which are used for administration.