Bar Harbor to Brooklyn ... culture shock!

In the space of 48 hours we have gone from this:

to this:

Feeling overwhelmed by a map of the New York transit system, we opted instead to go back to bed after breakfast in our lovely homestay in Brooklyn. I always thought "Brooklyn" would be something like a typical Auckland or Sydney suburb. WRONG .... it's 251 km² and home to 2.6 million people and a bloody LOT of VERY LOUD sirens. Overwhelming.

After lunch we did decide to venture out for a bit, and was gosmacked and delighted with what we found. Walking a block up to E 56th Street, we turned a corner onto Church Ave and found ourselve in Jamaica. Or Guyana. Or Vanuatu. Walking up to 44th Street on one side of the street, and back down the other, we saw one other white person. What a fabulously wonderful mishmash of cultures, shops, and street vendors ... no OSH or Permit Police here. It reminded me a lot of Vanuatu, and we stopped and chatted to a number of people along the way, who were all charming. We are so deligthed we're staying here and mingling with the real people, rather than the tourists in downtown NY.

Mother of mine in Church Ave, Brooklyn, New York

I pointed this coat out to Mum and said "Oh my gosh, that is sooooo New York" and a man walking past laughed himself silly. True enough.

Seriously????

Looking through an island store, you realised how limited we are with what we get in New Zealand.

 

Check the size of this avocado!!! A fellow shooper said they're Jamaican.

Total food shop: $11.28. God Bless America.

When there's no parking ... just double park. The streets are all like this in this area.

 

 

Our home in Brooklyn, NY, for four nights.