Germany - NYC, West Coast for Xmas
 

Hello, my dear friends. I am living in south Germany now. Planning to have one holiday from 22nd Dec to 4 Jan. Hopefully see the real USA..

Billy! Wow, it's been ages. Good to see you :) How's life treating you these days?

Billy! You remembered us.

Thanks for checking back in. It's great that you are coming to the US.

Which German city are you living in?

living in Bühl 77815, Germany, a small town close to France. Life is a little boring but very green here.
Sometimes contact xoxoBruce but lazy to post here. Sorry.

I lived for a year and a half not too far from there, in Freiburg. It's a pretty area.

I visited Freiburg several times. It is a nice city. They call it sun city because of longer sun time in Germany.

Unfortunately neither NYC, or the west coast, are the real USA. :haha:

Probably true. American shows present the material city life in NYC, such as my favourite show Sex and the City.

Billy! I'm glad to see you again. I hope you o come to Americ to visit. I will have to see about meeting you.

We've missed you here.

Pam

Hey Billy, welcome back! Your travels sound very exciting. You should post pictures of the Statue of Liberty and Disneyland, some of us have never been there. :)

wow, American don't know America.
We don't know Tibet well or some people don't visit Beijing.

Hello again Billy, and welcome back to the cellar!

If you come to the northern part of the west coast (Seattle area), I'd love to buy you dinner or a beer.

Thank for your good offer. I probably visit Seattle because one good friend lives there. Do you want something from Europe?

I saw a post from "Billy" and thought "naw! Not our Billy! ", but it is! Welcome back!

Pictures, stories, and your company would be a great start! Surprises, I love surprises.

:)

USA is most beautiful place for visitor. You said you live in USA. Then you must be more experienced then a visitor. USA also attracts visitors for its brilliant and excellent building structures technique. I also plan for trip in USA. Would you like to share your knowledge about its most beautiful attractions..? I will suggest you Beijing city of china for a trip. This is a historical place and best for nature lovers.

There are great places to visit and wonderful things to see all across the country. Do you know more specifically where you will be or would like to be visiting? I know a lot about the West, having spent much of my life here, but I've traveled to almost every state. And we have lots of other members here that have more local knowledge. Where did you have in mind?

NYC: want to watch one opera, dance or show in Broadway. MoMA. Some book stores and design shops. Gallery...
Take a walk in Central Park.
Read some NY Times.
I know American food probably not good for Asian. I will stay in an apartment hotel in Times Square area. I probably cook sometimes.

Seattle: Know this city from Tom Hanks film Sleepless Seattle.
Not sure visit LA/SF

That sounds like a wonderful adventure Billy!

Check out this thread, Billy. There's a lot of Seattle in it.

In the interest of equal time (kinda), check out this thread, dwellars. There's a lot of Billy in it.



I found it by luck and discovered that Billy joined the cellar before I did, among many other interesting aspects of Billy's ideas and opinions. I'm looking forward to meeting him more than ever.

Thank you. lazy to post recently. Hope to see you in person next month.

Hey Billy, glad to see you back.

I'm a NYC native, don't listen to Bruce, NYC is the real USA. There are a million awesome things to do in the city. I'll compile a list for you and post it. Sadly, I live 3 hours away and don't think I can make it there to be your tour guide.

Right now there is a huge political fuss where the current mayor, DiBlasio is trying to ban the 150 year old tradition of horse drawn carriages through Central Park. It seems the stables where the horses are kept on on some very valuable real estate that some of his political contributors want to take over. You may want to put a carriage ride through the park on your list of things to do, it may be the last time anyone can do that depending on the political winds.

As for food, there are restaurants with food from every nation in the world. Most of it very good and surprisingly inexpensive considering how expensive nearly everything else in NYC is.

More later.

Thank for your good suggestions. I will arrive to NYC in the afternoon of December 22nd. I will stay in a hotel close to Times Square until December 27th. I will have Christmas Eve and Xmas with a friend in Long Island.
Fly to LA on December 27th. Stay in Hollywood until 29th/30th. Afterwards, drive to Las Vegas. Have the Silvester there.
Do a short stay in Seattle before fly back Germany on Jan 4th.
Please let me know if anybody need something from Europe.

I think that NYC is real USA and not real USA too... Most people know USA from NYC... For sure, it is too commercial to be real life for most people.
MoMA on my top list.

Maybe I'll see you around LA, Billy. :-)

Here's a short list of places and attractions.

Brooklyn bridge - My wife's great grandfather was an engineer wo worked on the bridge. It's a cultural icon and only a few blocks away from:

Chinatown (probably a busman's holiday for you

Little Italy - Fantastic food and other stuff

Grand Central Terminal food, history, tours, architecture, throngs, and chaos.

Macy's at Herald Square - Actually it will be insane right before Christmas, but

Herald Square park is nice, if small. There is a great clock there with two bronze blacksmiths hitting a bell with their hammers every hour. It was recently restoredhttp://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/...41bf94c38d.jpg And, apparently, there is an owl statue on the side of the clock whose eyes glow after dark.

Empire State Bldg - They sell tickets to go up top. It's pretty cool to look at afterdark, from a distance. Theylight it all up with different color schemes.

American Museum of Natural History - Dinosaurs, Dioramas, cool stuff. You probably have better fossils in China.
Check out The Shake Shack for classic American burgers, fries, and milk shakes. It's right across the street from the museum. Actually they are all over the city.

Metropolitan Museum of Art - You could spend a lifetime in here.

The Cloisters From Wikipedia:New York Public Library - Iconic Stone lions out front and an amazing beautiful library inside. On Fifth Avenue and 42nd st.

Scott's Pizza Tours - www.scottspizzatours.com This guy loves pizza and eats it every day. He leads tours on foot or by bus around NY and the five boroughs and tells you everything you could possibly know about pizza. And you get to eat pizza. It's fun. Tours sell out quickly, book now.

The Film Forum - The Maltese Falcon is playing on the night of the 22nd. Check the schedule: http://filmforum.org/coming_soon


Central park - Take a carriage ride or a stroll. It's a huge park.

The list is very long. I think that I need move there to finish it...:)
My colleagues complain the American food, too heavy, too fat, not healthy at all...
Like NYC from show Friends and Sex & the City...

There is healthy food and unhealthy food. If you choose the unhealthy food, you'll be eating unhealthy food. If you choose the healthy food, you will be eating healthy food.

Yes, any of the vegetarian or "natural" food restaurants will be less heavy and rich.

Yes, people can spend a lifetime in NYC and not see all of it.

Isn't eating like the natives part of the fun of travel? If it's too heavy, eat less. Eating less healthy for a couple weeks won't kill you. ;)

Fixed it for you. And for ME!!! ;-)

I ran into this when my wife and I visited New Zealand. Everything was kind of bad for you. But then one evening, we had a really good meal with fresh ingredients and fresh vegetables and produce, and I realized we had just been eating in too many pubs and places like that, and not enough good restaurants. If you come to the US and eat in fast food chains, the food will be unhealthy.

Just arrived yesterday afternoon & had my first meal red lobster in Times Square. ;)

Exciting. Was it raining? It was raining a little further south here in DC. I hope the weather cooperates with you for your visit.

You're here!

Billy's landed in Seattle.

eta:

We've just spoken on the phone and we're on for dinner tomorrow night. :celebrat:

Pics or it didn't happen!

You, sir, have a flair for understatement.

Seriously. Pics.

If I know BigV, pics will not be a problem ;)

What? He sent me mail from Kirkland, then emailed he was in Vegas, now Seattle? Must have 7 league boots. :haha:

I met Billy and we had dinner together with his friend, T, from Kirkland.

Here's proof, with more details later.

It was wonderful to meet Billy!

Attachment 50015

Bravo! Hi guys!

OMG, I didn't know Big-V was Chinese. :eek:

Awesome! Hi, Billy !

Billy!! Good to see you!

(Yeah, you too V. :))

Awesome to see both you guys!

Yesssssssss thats great. Hi guys

Billy!!I hope you will enjoy your tour because USA is full of natural and historical sights. You will find lots of attractive spots according to your taste for fun with friends and family. I must say there are a wide variety of attractions for all age groups. I hope you will spend there quality of time.

Hi jazzi, welcome to the cellar.