Space, Theatre and exploring

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I've been busy the last few days but some highlights include:

Another houseparty with lots of my cousin's friends from med school. Board games, alcohol and music - it was a good night!

Brunch is a bit of an institution here and we indulged at the local diner. Apparently mimosas are par for the course but I only had a little as it seemed a bit early for booze!

I spent a day walking round Brooklyn, tried to visit a very famous pizza parlour but was put off by the huge long queue. I'd walked across the Brooklyn Bridge which, as you can imagine, gives stunning views, and ended up in the artsy area of town, all converted warehouses and galleries. I ended up in a not so safe area (I think), well it was the only place where I felt like I didn't want to stand out as a tourist. It was fine in the end and good to experience real Brooklyners (is that a word) going about their day.

I am staying in Forest Hills so spent some time exploring the wider area of Queens . This place is fantastic. There are highrises and lots of low rent shops but also beautiful old villas, proper English style country cottages and some fantastic little boutiques. It has a feeling of a family neighbourhood which I really like.

One evening I visited the Highline which runs down the west of Manhattan. It used to be a frieght train line providing transport to the meatpacking district but is now being transformed into a park. You get some marvellous views of the city and, despite its location, it is really peaceful. I joined the Highline in Chelsea so then wandered past some very exclusive shops (Diane Von Furstenburg, Stella McCartney, Matthew Williamson, La Perla etc) and pretended like I could afford to shop there!

I saw Avenue Q Off broadway at a fantastic venue called New Stages, it is a collection of fairly small stages so you really feel close to the action. Avenue Q is funny, obscene, witty, relevant and very quotable and I'm really glad that I saw it.

Finally, yesterday I went to the American Museum of Natural History . Apart from it costing me $3 for a bottle of coke, I enjoyed it! The museum itself was interesting but didn't really capture my imagination but the planetarium blew me away. I don't know much about science and hearing about how the earth was formed and the stages scientists think it will go through next made me feel insignificant and special at the same time.

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