Going out

Hey there partypeople!!!

Between reading hundreds of pages, spending 16 hours a day on campus, and cleaning the apartment the rest of the time, I manage to find some time for having fun, going out, meeting friends, and enjoying the city sometimes ;-) Here some impressions...

Max

Strike! (easy to say, hard to do...)
bowling crew
Gringos
Yankee
illumination, very economical
what a smile ;-)
just for the photo...
hat
wolfman
riding the bull
beer pong
rooftop
Obi Wan
bottles
club
yummy
chocolate-side
hunger
whatever...

Central Park reloaded

A few more pictures of the park (was jogging there today)...

Max

Before...

...and afterwards.

Central Park

Welcome to all supporters of "nature"...

In days like these, while Wall Street is facing many difficulties, while the last investment banks are collapsing, and while the $ is going down and down again (High Five!!!)...where to go for desperate bankers and find a place of silence and peace in this busy city...right, NYC's jewel, the Central Park.

To walk through the 2.6miles x 0.5miles area (4,1km x 0,8km, for all lovers of metric systems) is like being in another world. There are some places (not many, but some) from which you can't even see one single building...you could imagine to be somewhere in the middle of Canadian wildness...or just somewhere in "Kremsmünster" (what's that "ü" again?!). There are some huge meadows, lakes, and some sights such as the well-known "Belvedere Castle" as well...please find some of my impressions of the park below...

Max

"Harlem Meer"

(yes, it's "Meer", not "sea"!)

forsaken

"Belvedere Castle"

Magic mushroom

contrast

stone bridge

meadow

lake

from afar

New York Mets-Atlanta Braves

Today I have to welcome you with cheers: Go Mets!!!

Yes, right, I've been to the Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, the home of the New York Mets.
For all of you who don't know them (hi girls!;-) ): it's a baseball team. The Stadium's capacity is 57.333 people!!! We had no ticket reservation so we got seats in one of the upper rows. Though the distance to the field, you can see everything very well, so that was no real problem for us.
There we were, four men, hot dogs, and a baseball game...very manly, horrhorrhorr! (Tool time, you know! ;-) ) The atmosphere on the stages was...well, I guess it was just the most American experience one can imagine. All those families with their kids in Mets-jerseys down to their knees, thousands of flags and Mets-caps, all the people moving from their seats to the restrooms, the food court, and back...I needed the first two or three innings to get into the rules of this game, not too difficult.
The only bad thing about that all: the Mets lost 2:3 after leading 2:0 until the 8th inning...but acctually: I don't care, it was a sensational experience!

Max

Shea Stadium

Pitcher, hitter and runners

Souvenir cup (and Peter)

Too much information

The American way

57.333

9/11

Hi out there,

Yesterday was a strange day, very different from the others: 11th of September. As you know it was the 7th anniversary of the WTC-disaster in 2001. We wanted to join the commemoration on Ground Zero, but only the relatives of the nearly 3000 people that died in those towers were allowed to. I think this is good, there shouldn't be tourists in front of wives or sons. Instead, we listened the ceremony nearby on Liberty Street...even that was very emotional, many friends of the victims were there.

Ground Zero

Mayor M. Bloomberg opened, asking people to join him in a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m to commemorate the first plane hitting the first tower, indicated by a bell. He quotes an Irish proverb: “Death leaves a heartache that nothing can heal. Love leaves a memory that no one can steal.”
Afterwards, some children talked about their fathers and their memories of them. At 9:00 a.m a second moment of silence was observed for when the second plane hit the towers, and then the reading of the victims' names began. A girl from Germany - she studies the same as another girl that is in my exchange program- had been chosen to represent her country, she had to read some of the names. Two additional moments of silence followed at the time each of the towers had callapsed. I think I will remember those moments for a long time: it was the first time that nobody talking could be heard, and this in a city like this. This really made my flesh crawl, I remembered my first trip to NYC in 2000, especially the time we spent on the WTC. Those of you who had seen it know what i mean when I say that it's unbelievable that they could collapse, just like this *snapping my fingers*.

Ceremony

In the evening of the day we decided to take the metro to brooklyn and to walk back to Manhattan on Brooklyn Bridge to see the lights. Nearby Ground Zero a memorial, named "Tribute in light", was built: 88 searchlights creating two columns of light. Do you know the light that came out of the spaceships in "Independence Day"? I know you do! Acctually I can't put into words what it looks like...my pictures can do so much better:

Max

Hello friends beyond the sea...

I just want to show you pictures of the "Top of the Rock" (Rockefeller-Center) where we were today afternoon. Enjoy the view...and the clouds ;-)

Max

Rockefeller-Center

Sky-Max

Central-Park

Tourists

Clouds

clearer sight

The star is on top of the christmas tree every year
Made in Austria! :-)