26/3-15: A weekend on the countryside

Gucci bag

Versace and Louis Vuitton wallets - perhaps a Cartier watch

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I kølvandet på min vilde rundrejsen omkring Orlando, Savannah, Boston og New York (m.fl.), var min Spring Break næsten ovre. 

Først havde jeg dog en GRSP student weekend i Pelham ca 1,5 time fra Valdosta. 

Der bor ca. 4-5.000 mennesker i Pelham, så det er jo næsten ligesom Ry derhjemme - og så alligevel ikke. 

I løbet af weekenden var vi på alligatorfarm hvor man opdrætter alligatorer til at sælge til firmaer som Louis Vuitton, Versace, Gucci m.fl. som bruger skindet til tasker, punge, bælter osv. 

Farmen er den største producent i verden, og har altså flere tusinde alligatorer af gangen. 

Vi var også forbi et statsfængsel hvor vi endda fik mulighed for at komme ind og se cellerne i forskellige afdelinger, og stå øje til øje med de indsatte - godt vi også fik lov at gå ud igen ;-) 

Så kan man da tale om skræmmekampagner!

Om aftenen var der barbecue, fried chicken, fried alligator, og naturligvis mac 'n cheese. 

Vi var også ude og spille et par huller golf. Jeg vil ikke prale og sige at det gik godt, men det var jo også min første gang :-)

Pelham (og Camilla) Rotary har en lang historie for at holde GRSP student weekends, og for hvert år bygger de på deres collage som går tilbage til 1965. 

Det er tydeligt at rotarianerne her gør et stort stykke arbejde ud af at få alle de studerende helt ned til South Georgia og ud i en lille landsby, hvert år. 

Lørdag aften underholdte vi alle sammen med forskellige sketches om livet i Georgia, og da vi nåede søndag morgen var alle enige om at det havde været den bedste student weekend hele året :-) 

::::

Following my crazy traveling around Orlando, Savannah, Boston and New York (and many more), my spring break was almost over. 

However I did have one weekend left to spend in Pelham for a GRSP student get2gether.

Pelham has around 4-5,000 inhabitants, so it's almost the size of my hometown Ry - and then again, not at all like my hometown!

During the weekend we visited an alligator farm where they raise alligators to sell to companies like Versace, Louis Vuitton, Gucci etc.who uses the hides for purses, wallets and belts.

The farm is the biggest producer of alligator hides in the world, and they have thousands of alligators at a time.

We also visited a state prison where we got the opportunity to go inside and see the cells, and stand eye to eye with some of the inmates - good thing they let us leave again ;-) 

Maybe a visit like that will keep us all on the straight and narrow.

In the evenings we had barbecue, fried chicken, fried gator and of course mac 'n cheese.

We also played a few holes of golf. I can't brag and say I was great, but it was my first time playing :-)

Pelham (and Camilla) Rotary have a long history of having GRSP student weekends, and every year they build onto their collage, which goes all the way back to 1965. 

It is clear that the rotarians here work hard to make sure that the students make a trip all the way to a small town in South Georgia every year.

Saturday night we entertained everybody with sketches of life in Georgia, and as we got to Sunday morning we all agreed that it had been the best student weekend all year :-)

26/3-15: Quick touch-down in Valdosta

Som opsummering på min midterste del af Spring Break kan jeg kun konkludere at det var helt fantastisk!

(1. del var med Thit og Angus, 2. del var turen nord på, og 3. del er hvad jeg endnu ikke har dækket.)

Jeg har oplevet så mange ting, så det nærmest ikke når at synke ind, før det er videre til næste oplevelse. 

Jeg nåede at få omkring 18 timer i Valdosta inden jeg skulle videre til Pelham student weekend.

Det var tid nok til at få sovet lidt i min egen seng, vasket tøjet, og ompakket tasken. 

Udover alle de ting jeg fik set, var der naturligvis alle de ting jeg fik spist!

- og for dem som kender mig, så er halvdelen af min rejse gerne de ting jeg spiser undervejs :-) 

Vi var omkring kinesisk dim sum, italiensk pizza og pasta, dansk jordbærtærte, ukrainsk og marrokansk brunch, og i øvrigt også indisk aftensmad samt brasilianske pão de queijo (ostebrød), som jeg ikke har spist i 8 år! 

Der blev også købt billetter til en hel masse ting i New York, og det var det hele værd :-)

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As a summary to the middle part of my spring break I can only say that it has been amazing!

(1st part was with Rob and Angus, 2nd part was up north, and 3rd part is what I haven't covered yet.)

I have experienced so many things that it has almost not been possible to fully take it all in, before moving on to the next experience. 

I had about 18 hours in Valdosta before I had to head off to Pelham student weekend. 

That gave me just enough time to sleep in my own bed, fix my laundry and repack my suitcase. 

Besides all the things I saw, there are also all the things I ate!

- And for those who know me well, you'll know that about half of what I experience traveling, is what I eat :-)

We had Chinese dim sum, Italian pizza and pasta, Danish strawberry tart, Ukrainian and Moroccan brunch, and also Indian dinner as well as Brazilian pão de queijo (cheese bread), which I had not had for 8 years!

I also bought a ton of tickets for all kinds of stuff, and it was all worth it :-)

25/3-15: The end

Vores sidste par dage i New York var væsentligt mere afslappede end de første. 

Vi fik gået en tur igennem SoHo og Little Italy ned til Wall Street, hvorefter vi så tog tilbage uptown til MoMa - Museum of Modern Art, for denne gang rent faktisk at kigge på udstillingerne :-) 

Frokosten blev indtaget på ægte New-Yorker-manér: fra The Halal Guys foodtruck hvor der omkring middag typisk står 15-20 mennesker i kø af gangen. Måltidet nydes på en iskold marmor-mur, sammen med et par duer. 

Om aftenen tog vi på Broadway, hvor det næsten lykkedes os at komme for sent til Chicago!

Det var en halvdyr oplevelse selvom vi købte billetterne til halv pris ved TKTS boksen på Times Square, så selvom det var en super oplevelse, så er jeg ikke sikker på jeg gør det igen næste gang ;-) 

Freja rejste hjem morgenen efter, så jeg havde en hel dag i NY til mig selv.. 

Jeg gav mig selv en tur på Guggenheim samt en laaaang gåtur igennem Central Park, hele vejen ned til Rockefeller Center hvor det begyndte at regne, og så kunne jeg passende hoppe på subwayen tilbage til East Village for at hente min baggage, og så ud mod JFK. 

Guggenheim er en virkeligt imponerende bygning! Udstillingerne var ind i mellem lidt for interessante, men det hele var en stor oplevelse. 

Igennem Central Park fik jeg set nogle nye sider af parken, og fik også forvildet mig helt over til West Side, inden jeg vendte tilbage til East Side, og så ned til bunden af parken, osv.. 

- jeg var godt smadret da jeg endelig satte mig ned i flyveren mod Jacksonville, hvor der jo altså ventede mig en 2,5 times køretur fra kl. 23-01.30.. 

::::

Our last days in New York were significantly more relaxed than the first few. 

We had time to just walk through SoHo and Little Italy on the way down to Wall Street, after which we took the subway back uptown to MoMa - Museum of Modern Art, to actually go inside and see the exhibitions :-)

We had lunch New York-style: from The Halal Guys' food truck where they usually have 15-20 people in line around noon. You can enjoy your meal on the ice cold marble wall right next to it, along with  few pigeons. 

At night we went to Broadway where we almost succeeded in arriving late for Chicago!

It was still a pretty expensive experience, even though we bought our tickets half price at the TKTS booth on Times Square. It was an amazing experience, but I'm not sure I'll do it again next time ;-) 

Freja went home the morning after, so I had an entire day to myself in NY..

I treated myself to a trip to Guggenheim and a looooong walk through Central Park, all the way down to The Rockefeller Center where I could jump on the subway just as it started to rain - back to East Village to get my luggage, and then head out to JFK. 

Guggenheim is such an impressive building! The exhibitions were at times a bit too interesting, but it was all a great experience. 

Through Central Park I saw a few new sights, and I wandered all the way over to West Side, before heading back to the East Side, and then to the bottom of the park, etc... 

- I was exhausted when I sat down on the plane to Jacksonville, where by the way, a 2.5 hour drive was waiting for me to at 11pm..

23/3-15: Verdenskvinder! (Women of the world!)

Mandag startede vi med en gondoltur halvvejs over floden til Roosevelt Island. 

Turen koster det samme som en tur i subway'en, og udsigten er pengene værd.

Efter frokost mødtes vi med Thit og Angus' veninde, Penny, som arbejder som translatør ved United Nations i New York. 

Penny havde været så sød at ofre sin frokostpause for at have tid til at give os en rundtur indenfor dørene, og fortælle om hvad hun laver, forskellige historier om forsamlingerne m.m. 

Eftersom vi var på privat tour, fik vi også lov til at gå op på talerstolen i The Great Assembly og stå samme sted som nogle af tidens største verdensmænd og -kvinder. 

Vi fik også mulighed for at komme ind i en af translatørbåsene og få lidt indblik i hvordan det egentligt foregår når forskellige taler skal translateres til 5-6 forskellige sprog på samme tid som de bliver holdt. 

Efter en kop kaffe i personaleloungen, smuttede vi igen ud i kulden på vej over for at tage en tur op i Top of the Rock - Rockefeller Center. 

Står man og skal vælge imellem Empire State Building og Top of the Rock vil jeg, uden at have været i dem begge, anbefale Top of the Rock. Her får man nemlig udsigt over til Empire State Building, og desuden også Central Park, som man altså ikke kan se fra Empire :-) 

Og så er det i øvrigt billigere, hvilket jo altid er et stærkt argument når man er studerende. 

::::

Monday started with a cable car trip halfway across the river to Roosevelt Island. 

The trip costs as much as a trip on the subway, and the view is worth it.

After lunch we met with Rob and Angus' friend, Penny, who works as an interpreter with the United Nations in New York. 

Penny had been so nice to sacrifice her lunch break to be able to give us a private tour inside, and tells us about what she does, different stories about the assemblies and much more. 

Since it was a private tour, we were even allowed to access the speaker's podium in the Great Assembly and stand in the same place as some of our times greatest men and women. 

We also had a chance to look inside the interpreter's booth where Penny could show us how it actually works when speeches are interpreted into 5-6 different languages at the same time as they are given. 

After a cup of coffee in the employees' lounge, we headed back out to the cold to go for a trip up to the Top of the Rock - Rockefeller Center. 

If you are to chose between Empire State Building and Top of the Rock, I would, without having been to both of them, recommend the Rock. Here you will get a view of the Empire State Building, and also Central Park, which you won't get from the Empire :-) 

Plus, Top of the Rock is cheaper, which is always an important argument when you are a student. 

22/3-15: Sunday stroll in NYC

One World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial

New transportation terminal near 9/11 Memorial designed after part of the construction of the two towers

Battery Park

Man står aldrig tidligt op på en søndag - heller ikke i New York.. 

Så ved en 10tiden var vi ude af døren, og på vej hen for at finde et sted at spise søndagsbrunch. 

Det første sted meldte 25 minutters ventetid, og det tænkte vi var lidt for alvorligt, men da vi fandt ud af at det var samme melding næste sted, måtte vi jo bare vente. 

Et kvarter efter fik vi plads, og det var ventetiden værd!

Ukrainsk brunch bestående af dumplings med røget laks og eggs benedict - også med røget laks (man er vel dansker) ;-) 

I den lille time vi brugte på at spise var der konstant folk som ventede på bord - det er åbenbart lidt en New Yorker-ting at gå til søndagsbrunch med venner eller familie. - god tradition.. 

Og her kommer så dagens name dropping af seværdigheder som vi fik set i løbet af dagen: 

- Brooklyn Bridge

- The Charging Bull

- 9/11 Memorial

- One World Trade Center

- Statue of Liberty (fra færgen til Staten Island)

- Battery Park

- National Museum of the American Indian (spontant besøg)

Ud af det mange vil jeg fremhæve 9/11 Memorial som var både meget flot og bevægende at besøge. 

Desuden kan jeg give jer et lille tip hvis man gerne vil se Frihedsgudinden, men ikke vil betale omkring 1-200kr for det: 

Tag færgen til Staten Island - den er gratis, og sejler lige forbi :-) 

::::

Sundays are not for getting up early - that goes for NYC too..

So around 10ish we were ready to get out, and look for a place to have Sunday brunch. 

The first place had a 25 minute wait, which we thought was a bit too much, but when we found out that the next place had the same, we decided to just go for it. 

15 minutes later we had a table, and it was worth the (short) wait!

Ukrainian brunch with smoked salmon stuffed dumplings and eggs benedict - also with smoked salmon (Danish people I guess).. 

During the hour we spent enjoying our meal and coffee, there was always people in line to get a table - apparently it is a bit of a New York tradition to go out for Sunday brunch with friends or family. - A very good tradition!

And here we go with the name dropping of sights we visited during the afternoon:

- Brooklyn Bridge

- The Charging Bull

- 9/11 Memorial

- One World Trade Center

- Statue of Liberty (from the Staten Island Ferry)

- Battery Park

- National Museum of the American Indian (spontaneous visit)

Out of the many I must say that 9/11 Memorial was really great. It was both beautiful and very moving.

And if you have any plans of going to see the Statue of Liberty, but don't feel like paying around 20-30$ to do so, here's a little tip:

Take the Staten Island Ferry - it's free, and sails right by it :-)