FROM NOTHINGESS TO BROOKLYN

A few weeks back from Patagonia and I am on the road again.  This time to visit clients and family in Brooklyn, New York . For my readers, you know that I make it up to the city on frequent visits, but this time I am here in early April.

There was a novel written in 1943 called  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn about an early Irish immigrant family living in Brooklyn. I must say that here I am in the outskirts of the city that does not sleep and there are lots of trees in Brooklyn.
We are in the area called Cobble Hill where streets are uneven and sidewalks cracked outside the beautiful brownstones  homes that line the streets.

  At this time of the year they these streets are  blooming with lovely pink cherry and crab apple blossoms.  Even the famed Dogwoods (so famous in Atlanta, Georgia) have found their way to these streets of row homes dating back to the early part of the 20th century.

New York and Brooklyn - both fabulous.  There is never a lack of things to do and see.
But bring good walking shoes, because the only way to get around (aside from the subway and expensive cabs or car services) is on foot.

But that is also what makes this city so charming.  At every turn there is something else to see and in every neighborhood there are every kind of people.  Hispanics, Hasidim Jews, African Americans, orientals, Indian families.  Brooklyn, New York is a polyglot of every nation on earth.

These people also bring with them their ethnicity, their food and their traditions. You want a falaffal, walk one block and you can find a store that sells it.  If you want salami from Italy or cheese from Switzerland, you can find a store that sells it not far from where you are.  Don't forget Chinatown in lower Manhattan.  It is like a visit to the very country of China with street markets selling everything from dried mushrooms to herbal medicine shops. If you don't speak Chinese...no problem.  Everyone here speaks English.

What is the  most fun about New York is the people.  You can always tell the tourists who are walking dazedly with their tourist maps in front and a camera around their necks.  Real New Yorkers are a busy lot...scurrying from street to street...some in business suites, some in wacky outfits you only find in this city and some dressed fashionably with the latest in designer goods. Almost everyone has a cell phone pressed to their ears or are gazing at them sending IMs back and forth to friends.  They are friendly and frank and do not fool around with silly pleasantries, but get right to business.

If you want to be cooed over and feel welcomed by everyone...travel to the southern USA.  But if you want a warm honest reception with quick responses, a good sense of humor and a helping hand...be sure to visit New York/Brooklyn.  I have never been disappointed and am continually grateful that I have family and friends here.