GETTING AN INSIDER PERSPECTIVE

Hey! 

Tired as hell.. 

Today was our guide-day! Dedicated to hearing everything about the city from it's inhabitants. 
Our first guide was sadly late (NY traffic..), but when he finally arrived we were escorted into a black bus with tinted glass.. What was this all about? Is Harlem an unsafe place (more unsafe than expected), how ironic is it that it is pitch black and the majority of the citizens who live in Harlem are black. Never did find out why, but at least they were being safe. 

We were driven up and down street after street while listening to the guide, when he was not literally swallowing the microphone. He told us about the attractions, the parts of the city, the history but most important, to me at least, he told us about his own perception of the borough. He had grown up there, and he gave us his side of the American Dream. So far I believe he was not impressed, he was from a poor neighborhood, has been to prison and feels even today, after 20 years of being a guide, that he is stuck in a job he, not hates, but merely dislikes, because of those disadvantages. The Dream of unlimited chances and social mobility did, however lie with his children who are college students. 

The Church of St. John the Divine
 (or it's nickname: The unfinished)

One of the larger attractions we saw and actually stopped at was the church of st. John the Divine. It was an amazing church, very pompous, with golden doors and a mosaic window, like Notre Dame. Some churches in Denmark are unfortunately very subtle, which does not invoke the awe or the feeling of a divine presence (Am not religious, but we all have that feeling), but this church had it. It's size should be enough: the equivalent of two soccer fields. 

We had Dunkin' Doughnuts for lunch (a little yuk..) where I learned just how much I love creme cheese, as I saw the other alternatives. I also had my very first real doughnut, and although it tasted well, I'm probably never gonna get one again.

We went on to our next guided tour with a journalist from Denmark named Louise, who showed us the places that had been heavily influenced by the vast number of immigrants living in the different boroughs and neighborhoods.  

It was an interesting experience to have two, so different views of the city, someone who had lived there his entire life and someone who had only relatively recently moved there. 
She perceiving it as a thrilling and exiting place that never changes, full of opportunity and he, who sounds like he has seen the ugly face of city as well as the beauty.  The life of the settled back then when it all began was less than glorious, however those who were in the process of getting here glorified it, much like one of guides. 

After a walk, we asked Louise where the nice stores for young people were and we left for 5th Avenue and Broadway. We split up and went home, but later that same evening we were on Times Square where we saw Snoop Dogg! (To those of you who do not know him: Rapper)
Not that I necessarily think this is a person one should be screaming at, it is a amazing thing that such an unexpected thing can happen. Milica however gave Snoop Dogg a hug and got a picture with him - fun experience! 

It's late in NY and I wanna turn in so I'm gonna.. 

Till next time 
The Viking