Tourism 101

It seems customary for people who consider themselves "real" New Yorkers to scoff at tourists and all the touristy things they do, and admittedly, I agree with some of them. Especially the MOVE THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY-part.

This video should be on the obligatory viewing list of anyone planning to visit New York. But trust me, it is fantastic to watch even if you never come here and it pretty much applies for all tourist endeavours, no matter the city, or even the continent;

Having said that, I think some people take it a bit too far with the whole 'as a New Yorker you have to let NOTHING faze you!'-attitude. 

Seriously, don't just go "Oh, someone sneezed right in your face on the subway? Deal with it or don't live here! Hell, some dude once dropped his pants and took a shit on the seat next to me, it happens."  like it's a contest or something.

Thankfully these people are a select few (both the one-uppers and the subway sneezers/crappers) and they are generally disliked by pretty much everyone.

My experience is that there are a lot of friendly people here. Almost everyone is willing to engage in random small talk and almost everyone is willing to help you if you are looking for something. Except in the subway. Never even make eye contact in the subway!

Also, work on your crazy people-radar. You'll need it. If you ever find yourself in a situation where someone is in the process of pooping on the seat next to you, that's a clear sign your radar needs some fine-tuning. You should have been outta there before they got the chance. Unless of course you're into that sort of thing, in which case I really, really don't want to know about it.

Anyway, what I actually came here to say is that I think seeing things through the eyes of a tourist is like seeing things through the eyes of a child. Everyone around you is used to this environment to the point where they no longer notice the cool yellow taxis that everyone knows from TV, the strange kinds of animals (I've looked up so many kinds of birds since I first came here, they're all different from the ones back home!), the beautiful buildings, the mosaics in all the subway stations, the street carts, panhandlers, the thousands of different kinds of people you come across. I LOVE seeing these things and taking pictures of them, I don't care that people have me branded as a tourist, I'll get used to this place soon enough, but I'm actively going to try and keep my sense of wonder. It makes this city so much more awesome!

So here you are, a collection of pictures that are extremely boring to a real New Yorker:

Central Park in sucky weather

Entrance to the Central Park Zoo (in sucky weather)

Baseball-thingy in Central Park (yeah, sucky weather, I 
know)

The Central Park NYPD-branch have some sweet wheels. Three to be exact.
Don't let that fool you though, these guys WILL intercept you!
(as long as you don't make any sharp turns)

Apple store!

Taking a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge. I was expecting something more spectacular too..

But at least Brooklyn was sweet!

The only good hotdog I've ever found here, but I can't for the life of me remember where I bought it.. :(

Welcome to Brooklyn, have a wonderful time!

Ok, even as a tourist I hate this place.

The High Line park, on the other hand, is pretty cool!

Chinatown

Subway Station Mosaic. Some of these are really beautiful, nobody ever looks at them.

And the above ground stations have stained glass windows!

First chipmunk I've ever seen!

I regularly take pictures in supermarkets as well. They seem to like spam a lot here.

And peanut butter and jelly. Which is totally fantastic.

Can't forget about the pig's feet of course, delicious!

And religious paraffin... paraphern...
Religious candles!

Ok, now this guy is somewhat of a legend even among New Yorkers. His subway ads are second only to his Youtube commercials (seriously, look up Dr. Zizmor on Youtube, keep a clean pair of underwear handy)

"wild" raccoons in Central Park

Your typical brownstone buildings in your typical rich white neighbourhood.

Well of course there's someone playing a baby grand piano in the middle of Washington Square. New York is totally random and quirky!

I've grown a lot more welcoming to the concept of bus-pants in my time here.

Like I said, work on that radar!

It's REALLY important!

Raumschiff Unterpreis hat auch hier gelandet!

Welcome to Walmart!

This is what the world looks like when you travel outside of NYC.

Vintage tiles in subway stations. This color immediately reminded me of our sofa when we were growing up. And our curtains. And our wallpaper. And our lamps.

Advertisement done right! :)

The "Halal Guys" streetcarts are well known, now I know why. Their lamb gyro is delicious!

Saint Patrick's Cathedral. The part that is visible between all the scaffolding, that is.

Rest of the cathedral, including scaffolding.

Entrance to St. Patricks, more scaffolding.

One of the New York Public Library guardians. Not too effective against ghosts, if pop culture is to be believed.

The entrance to the Chrysler Building

Beautiful ceiling of the Chrysler Building lobby!

The entrance to St. Bart's Church

One hungry little sparrow in Bryant Park.

That sparrow in the last picture was either sick or hungry enough to come over and eat out of my hand. This even caught the attention of some New Yorkers, maybe they haven't seen everything after all! ;)

Anyway, here's the cutest video I made in a long time!