New York, New York.

How different New York was to Europe! The first and main thing that I noticed was the food. NY is like Australia in that you can get whatever you want and there is food EVERYWHERE! I can completely understand why in Europe everyone is thin, and in the USA there are lots of overweight people. In the USA you can't get away from the food. You are constantly thinking about it because every second shop is a fast food place, or a cafe, or a Starbucks. In Europe I remember so many times when we were starving but we just couldn't find anything to eat, because it was just too expensive, or there was just nothing nice. In the USA you can get 2 tacos for 99 cents, and there are so many options it is impossible not to find something you would like within about 5 minutes. The serving sizes are GINORMOUS. Yes, that is the only term possible to use. We have been easily living on 2 meals a day simply because we are so full from breakfast that we can't eat anything until dinner time and then we are stuffed full again.
The food in NY is terrific though, and I have been going to lots of places that I know from TV shows. I feel like I am familiar with the city due to so many TV shows - Seinfeld, Sex and the City, The Nanny, Law and Order, the list goes on. I feel like I am on a movie set!
On our first day in NY we were walking around midtown on 5th Avenue and there was a Polish parade! How strange that of all the places and all the times this day there was this parade. There were Polish people everywhere and they were all talking Polish. As you can see the whole street was full of floats and people.
Here is the flag of Szczecin!
The next day we got the Ferry to Statten Island and back (it's free) to see the view and the Statue of Liberty. It put into perspective how big the St Peter's Basilica (Vatican) is. The statue would fit into the very top dome of the Basilica.
The view of Manhatten on the way back. The Twin Towers were where you can see the empty space to the left, where you can see through the buildings down the the ground.
After we got off the ferry we walked from downtown, Battery Park all the way up to the Brooklyn Bridge and over it to Brooklyn. This is the bridge next to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge.
Looking back over the bridge to Manhattan.
My feet were sore for the rest of the week after this walk, I am used to riding my bike now, not walking!
Later in the week we went to the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) where I took these pictures. The baby (cupid?) above looks just like sulky Chris I think!
So this is where Starry Night is! After seeing lots of Van Gogh all over the place by now, it was nice to finally see this most famous painting.
Two Kandinsky's.
A sticker is covering up the 'D' from 'danger' but I think this sign is more accurate. NY is a very noisy city!
Radio City music hall, next to the Rockerfeller Centre. We went up to 'The Top of The Rock' to see the view of the city on our last night, as we heard that this is a lot quieter than the Empire State Building and you don't have to look through bars.
Empire State Building.
Chrysler Building on the left.
Times Square.
NY is a great place and I'd love to come back again and spend more time here. There are so many places to eat. Pick-a-bagel is one of my favourites. How I loved eating a BLT poppy seed bagel after having nothing like it for 5 months. Bliss!
Shopping is amazing, although high end shopping is what NY is really good for. Macy's is more my budget, but Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman and Barney's would be terrific... if I just had A LOT more money!
Taxis are cheap, but the subway is even cheaper, and in general there is so much to do. Although I was sad to leave Munich and Europe, New York and the USA are amazing places to be. It is so nice to be able to watch TV in English again, and speak to people while understanding everything (well, 95%) of what they say. America also has that familiarity about it, that I suppose come from a lifetime of watching American TV!

Oktoberfest

I never would have thought that it would be hard to find an internet cafe in the USA... but it is bloody difficult! I have finally got access to a FREE internet at the hotel we are in, in Amarillo, Texas, so I can post my belated Oktoberfest and New York blogs. My Texas post will come in about a week (hopefully).
As you can see Oktoberfest is not just a crazy beer drinking festival - it is also a dressing up festival! I bought a dirndle (very hard to choose the colour and style, there are so many to choose from) and Chris bought some lederhosen. Before you think that we are just crazy, have a look at the people in the background of my photos (click on them to enlarge them) and you can see that most people wear Tracht (traditional clothes) to Oktoberfest. Walking around Munich during Oktoberfest you can see lots of people riding their bikes and walking around dressed like this.
In our last week in Munich our friends Brody (above) and Ron (below), joined us so we had lots of fun going to Oktoberfest. In these pictures we are in the Nymphenburg Sekt (Champagne) tent. Oktoberfest is basically like a giant Easter Show with rides and stuff, but also with about 20 GIANT tents packed full of people drinking beer and eating, dancing and singing to bands that play inside them. To get a table at a tent you need to make a reservation months in advance, something that we didn't do, so it was pretty hard to get in. This tent was much quieter than some other ones and we got this little table to use.
We were on the 1st floor, but below us were different bands and more tables as you can see. Here is the band playing while standing on tables. It is a great atmosphere.

We had a fantastic time, although I really did not feel very well the day after a big night! You see so many people asleep (read: passed out drunk) around the grounds and the city, just slouched against a wall. Beer is mainly served in 1 litre steins so it is pretty easy to get completely trashed.
I was really sad to be leaving Munich, I really loved living there and the lifestyle was so fun. I will especially miss riding my bike around everywhere, even in my dirndle after a few too many.

Ducks

Here's Chris feeding some ducks at the lake near our house in Munich. He doesn't seem to realise that one duck is getting most of the food!

Doh! Ok, here are the cows!

I am aware that Chris is not a cow! Here are the cows. That was Chris, I was hoping that previous video would win me stacks of money when I sent it in to Funniest Home Videos, but no luck - he didn't fall over. Almost though...

Cows, complete with Moooo!

Cows walking.

Here is a little video of the cows on their walk down through the town from the mountain.

Tor fur FC Bayern München!!

Right at the beginning of this video you can see goal number 3 for Bayer Munich (in red) by Luca Toni and then the German celebratory music that I love starts, the crowd cheering and clapping along. Sorry for the shaking video, I am not too good at it with my camera. You can have a look around the stadium though and see the roof.

Then the announcer (A) comes on and says:

A: "Es ist neunundsechsig minuten" (It's the sixty-ninth minute), something something,

A: "Tor fur FC Bayern München!" (Goal for FC Bayern Munich) replayed on the big screen with the crowd singing along to the music. Play resumes.

A: "something, something, scored by player number 9: LUCA -"

Crowd: "TONI!"

A: "LUCA-"

Crowd: "TONI!"

A: "L-L-L-L-LUCA-"

Crowd: "TONI!"

A: "The score is FC Bayern -"

Crowd: "Drei!" (three)

A: "Energie Cottbus -" (the other team)

Crowd: "Null! (nil)

A: "Danke!" (thankyou)

Crowd: "Bitte!" (you're welcome.)

For every goal the Munich scored the announcer and crowd went on like this with the question and answer! I suppose it doesn't seem as funny as when you are there though, but we were loving it!

Going to the football in Germany is not the booze-fest that it is in Australia. The stands were full of people but I saw about 5 people, with beers the whole night. Not the entire crowd like you do in Australia. The atmosphere is great too, and the chants are so much better than the regular Aussie one of "Team name, clap, clap, clap! Team name, clap, clap, clap!" I had a good time, and there were no drunken louts at all!