Walking Around



That guy plays two trumpets simultaneously!
And it sounds good!

Washington Square at night is an amazing place. I already had been here in the afternoon, but now I like it even better. Lots of young people still there, many small groups of friends having a good time, couples walking about, some girls suddenly dancing crazily, a few guys skating, some others break dancing. It reminds me a bit of Englischer Garten in Munich on a summer evening. There even is that same drummer pounding away somewhere in the distance. I spent about an hour there, just sitting, watching, soaking in the atmosphere. That gentle, warm summer breeze certainly aids the project. I so much love summer nights outside. Right now I am really happy that I am doing this trip. Can't wait for California, when some sea breeze is thrown into the mix.

Then two guys jump on a podium in the middle of a round area, hands together like Buddhist monks, standing opposite each other, not moving at all. They just stand. And stand. More and more people start watching, and you wonder what is going on. Starting a Shaolin mock fight? New Age people, actually being serious about this? Then they start that hands-clapping game that children do for just a bit more than one second, and walk away. That was quite hilarious.

A friend of mine once wrote that by doing his travels on foot, he feels like he owns his way, he is earning his right to be there, belongs there. On a (far) smaller scale, I am having the same experience here in Manhattan, by doing almost all travel on foot, thereby also racking up my 10-15 kilometers a day (and getting some blisters on my feet). But there is something more, which is that by doing things that are out of the scope of a “normal” holiday, thereby experiencing a place in a different way, and by things running not as smoothly as they usually do on a planned vacation in a hotel somewhere, so you have to fight for things, I also feel like I am earning my right to be here. And I don't know which aspect weighs more, the walking or the roughness. Be that as it may, I somehow feel like I belong here, or at least like I am very familiar with the place, something I very much experienced in my year in London (which also was kind of rough in the beginning).

PS: I highly recommend Christoph's blog www.thelongestway.com! When I stumbled over it, I was glued to it for the next five hours, just couldn't stop reading.