Visiting the President – Washington, D.C.

We arrived to Washington on wednesday afternoon by train and were fortunate in regard to our accommodation: We got a nice, large and tastefully furnished corner suite in the elegant Fairmont Hotel Georgetown - what a nice contrast to the rather dark, a little old-fashioned hotel room we had in Philadelphia! After check-in we left again for a walk in neighboring Georgetown, a quaint college town and sort of a world on its own, but it started to rain and therefore we returned to the hotel and had supper with provisions from the Reading Terminal Market in Philly in the room.

What a different city "D.C." is again compared to NYC or Philadelphia: very businesslike, buzzling and a bit rude. Not really "touristy", but rather a city you have to learn to love.

Thursday morning it rained hard, ugly misty rain combined with wind, till afternoon. Therefore we had to change our original plan to check out neighborhoods. Instead we concentrated on museums (which is really not difficult in Washington!) and started with the new White House Visitor Center. Many years ago we were fortunate and still able to visit the White House - nowadays not possible anymore for foreign visitors -, but the new center gives at least a good idea about what's going on behind the fence.


On to the Corcoran Gallery first (see pic), then we had a tour in the „Brewmaster’s Palace“, the Heurich House, the beautiful mansion of an interesting selfmade-man, a German immigrant who operated a brewery and had a "Bierstube" in the basement of his mansion (see pic). The National Museum of Women in the Art was, like the Corcoran, another museum, we have never visited before, though it’s our fifth visit to D.C.

The Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery was comparably overwhelming and we just cut through before heading to the National Museum of the American Indian (see pic). The café alone, with specialities from different regions/tribes, is worth a visit, but the exhibitions are spectacular as well as the architecture (see pic below).

Stopped by at the „Castle“, the Smithonian Institution Building (kind of the visitor center for all museums along the mall) and at least walked by a couple more museums along the Mall. Rain had stopped in the meantime and it was humid and warm. We took the subway (public transport is extremely expensive in Washington and really complicated to understand with its different tariffs, depending on day time and distance traveled) back to the hotel where we were picked up half an hour later by Alicia, our friend and contact at the Washington tourism office, to attend the Nationals’ baseball game (MLB).

We had good seats and it’s been fun, great atmosphere and a good game, too. The Nationals are already National League East Division Champions and will play in the play-offs starting next week. We had „bratwurst“ and a couple of local brews, and went to bed, tired to the bones with sore feet, at about 11 pm.

The City of Brotherly Love

Partly glad, partly sad to get out of NYC, we stayed in Philadelphia for the last two days. What a change! How quaint and quiet it felt, very few people at the subway stations, noise level much lower, all in much slower motion! We have been to Philly three times before, last time approximately seven or eight years ago.

Philadelphia is considered the „Cradle of Democracy“ in the United States and therefore functions as sort of a place of pilgrimage for many Americans. After the victory of the Americans against the British, in 1776 the Declaration of Independance was proclaimed. In 1787 Thomas Jefferson presented a first draft of a constitution which was discussed fiercely among the representatives of the 13 states at the time and in 1789 the Constitution of the USA, still in effect today (with a couple of later additions, called "amendments") was ratified. All of this took place in Philadelphia (see pics of Constitution Hall and Bell of Liberty) and therefore there are many historic places which have somehow to do with the struggle for independence and the geniuses who made democracy possible. Historic buildings as well as the fantastic multi-media National Constitution Center are worth being seen.

Philadelphia, founded in 1682 by the English Quaker William Penn is also called the „City of Brotherly Love“, no wonder they set up a fitting piece of art in downtown’s JFK Plaza („Love Park“) designed by Robert Indiana. A good idea of the look of the city in the very beginning gives Elfreth’s Alley with its tiny brick buildings (see pic).

Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers and lived in Philadelphia from 1723 on. He was very influential and multi-talented, perhaps comparable to Thomas Jefferson. Franklin founded the first university, the first public library, the first newspaper and so on. He also signed Declaration of Independence.

Another unusual, remarkable building is City Hall, planned in a very elaborate french Second Empire style. It's the largest municipal building in the United States; building started in 1871. We took part at a „tower tour“ (max. 4 visitors are allowed to use the elevator up and get 8 minutes to look around) and enjoyed a good view from the platform directly underneith the statue of William Penn which is crowning the City Hall Tower. City hall forms a stark contrast to modern buildings like One & Two Liberty Place and Comcast Center.

Philadelphia is also famous for its murals and for its Parkway Museums District with a concentration of high-class museums, mostly situated in temple-like buildings, e.g. the Philadelphia Art Museum or the Franklin Institute, a Natural History Museum. Especially interesting was the newly opened Barnes Foundation. While the architecture itself is rather nondescript and plain (see pic), the inside is spectacular, not only because of the high-rated collection of mostly impressionist paintings, but even more because of the unusual hanging and arrangement of the pictures: not for topics or painters or chronologically but for sizes/light/frames/colors. Absolutely worth being seen!

We stayed in a historic hotel on the waterfront, at Penn’s Landing, at the edge of Old City, which is - besides midtown - the most attractive centrally located neighborhood with lots of fancy shops and bars. We loved Reading Terminal Market - a huge market hall with locally grown and Amish produce. In 1890 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company purchased this block for its new terminal, but already existing street vendors refusedl to relocate for the new building and therefore a new market was erected beneath the train shed and tracks.

Interesting City, but now it's time to check out things in Washington ...

Green New York

There were so many more topics I wanted to write about in NYC, but time is flying and days are packed. In the meantime we arrived to Philadelphia and got a whole new plate full of topics to write about... Anyway, to finish up with NYC, here are a couple more thoughts and pics we wanted to share...

Green New York: Besides Governors Island - a green oasis (see earlier blog) - we've been to the newly opened section of the High Line Park in the fancy Meatpacking district. An old "highline" from 1934 (a railroad line above ground) had been transfered into a green promenade and public space starting in 2006. It had been built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. The third and northernmost section on the park, the High Line at the Rail Yards, opened to the public last sunday. A spectacular project which nobody could imagine to be realized ten years ago!

Brooklyn Bridge Park:

Another fantastic new project, not quite accomplished, but a big magnet, especially for Brooklynites, already: The Brooklyn Bridge Park extends 1.3 miles along the East River on the piers of a defunct cargo shipping and storage complex. Several piers were transformed and landscaped and nature was brought back to this former industrial site. There are civic lawns and playgrounds (see pic),picnic/BBQ areas and nature trails, a pop-up pool and a beach, salt marshes, boat ramps, and waterfront promenades.Best skyline of Manhattan you can get!

Climate March:

On sunday a huge "People's Climate March" took place in NYC. Over 300.000 (!) participants marched NY's streets and showed their interest in a better, greener lifestyle, against air and water polution, for better food, protection of the environment, animal rights etc. Please... never ever say again that the U. S isn't caring about environmental issues. Europeans don't have the monopoly on this topic, not at all.

Better get going now. New York is history for this year. More thoughts and topics probably coming up once we are home. So, New York lovers, please, stay tuned...

Love "Da Bronx"!

Thanks to our friend Olga we got a chance to explore a new part of the Bronx, a part which is so amazingly different from the rest of the borough: City Island. It's a small island of approximately 2,5 x 1 km, with a little over 4000 people living on it. Since it's not easy to get there by public transport we were happy to be driven and got an idea about traffic in the rush hour in NYC at the same time ...

The islanders are named for their origin: there are the "clamdiggers" – descendants from families which were originally settlers of the island – and the "musselsuckers", who came later to take profit of the quaint, peaceful, idyllic atmosphere.

Formerly a hub of boat building and fishing it's now mainly a popular (and expensive) address to live, with galleries, little shops, a museum, a church and a couple of (mostly) seafood & fish restaurants rowing up along main street. The population consists of people who like the proximity to the Bronx, but prefer being "out of town" and choose the "seaside atmosphere" over the huzzling and bustling in "SoBro" (South Bronx) - the up-and-coming neighborhood - or Little Italy on Arthur Ave. From first view it's a hotchpotch of intellectuals and former hippies, artists and teachers, old-money folks and nowadays hippsters.


The Ale House on City Island, where we had dinner and great local brews with Olga and two of her friends, living on the island, seemed to be the place where the locals gather whereas the huge seafood restaurants with ocean view are mostly packed on weekends and during vacation time when day-trippers flock in. What a peaceful, quiet part of NYC and the Bronx - no wonder, that the locals refuse to have a hotel or more touristic infrastructure on the island!!!

German Pride in NYC

The German-American Steuben Parade took place on saturday along 5th Ave. – big deal in NYC! Almost one fifth of the New York population is proud of having german roots and they really show off during this parade, which lasted over 2 hours. Lots of organisations and associations, mostly headquartered in NY State – American Steuben Associations, military bands, police and firemen's groups, language schools, "turner vereins", Schuetzen Associations, carnival groups, floats of breweries, marching bands, dance groups, etc. – took part, as well as a colorful selection of invited german guests (oompah bands, performers in traditional costumes, military bands).

1957 the first German-American Steuben Parade took place and since then each September participants come together to honor their culture and traditions, and honor a guy by name Steuben. Baron von Steuben (1730-1794) was a Prussian-born military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He wasn't too successful in Germany, but came to France and there George Washington asked him to come over and prepare the American troops for the battle of Valley Forge in 1778. He became very influential and taught the U.S. army the essentials of military drills, tactics, and discipline, though he didn't speak English at all.

Many New Yorkers of german heritage were attending the parade, cheering and apparently very proud of their german roots. In the parade it's been mostly elderly people, besides a couple of student's/kid's groups. Apparently at least two generations are lost in transition, at times when nobody was proud anymore to be German. Nowadays, pride is back again and clearly shown, though it sometimes has a little old-fashioned/backward flavor.

Emotional Challenges and Quaint Oases

Days are much too short, packed to the limit. Here are just some impressions of our last days in NYC:

1. World Trade Center Site and 9/11 Memorial & Museum. The museum was opened in May only, but greeted it's millionth visitor a couple of days ago. Very interesting, impressive and highly emotional, not many New Yorkers we talked to will visit, since there are too many emotions and memories involved. Parts of the flood wall (part of the fundament of the building) are to be seen, also beams of the old building - huge! The museum is underground, underneith the so-called footsteps of the old World Trade Center buildings. In the footsteps, outside the museum and designated as a public park, they constructed two marble pools with waterfalls and set up name plates for all the victims.


2. Governors Island - an idyllic, green oasis, just a 10 min. boat trip away from Manhattan. Formerly a military fort to protect the NY Harbor, then seat of the Coast Guard, it is now a hidden gem, an island for recreation, festivals and events... Open since 2005 only, but really a good addition to the new orientation of NYC towards the water. I love the new Hammock Grove (see pic)!



3. Your usual hectic Manhattan with all it's hustling and buzzling in the city center (Times Square) and during San Gennaro Feast in Little Italy.

Back to the U.S.A.!

It’s been our 53rd flight to the United States and it’s our 18th visit to New York City. After a couple of months spent at home without much traveling or distraction we were glad to get out again. The horrible weather we had most of August and September added to our growing cabin fever.

We had to get up very early (5 am) on wednesday to drive to MUC Airport in dense fog, parked the car, hopped on the bus to the terminal and all was fine with the exception that the plane was starting 45 min. delayed because of the fog. The flight was rather uneventful and thanks to United Airlines Economy Plus class and their entertainment program the 9:15 hours passed relatively fast.

Provisions on the plane are getting worse and worse, they even cut down on the peanuts or pretzels they used to hand out with the first drink. Nondescript stuff, called a meal, on your plate, today it was „pasta“ or „chicken“, overcooked, for toothless people, lukewarm and tasteless. After lunch service just once water was being served for about 5 hours. Our plane - a Boeing 767-400 - was 90 % full.

We landed about 15 min. early and had a record time to get through immigration at Newark (5 min.!!!). Baggage claim and customs were fast as well and at 1:15 pm we were standing outside, waiting for our pre-arranged Sedan service to pick us up. Driver showed up about 45 min. later, asked us what way to take and speeded quite a bit, but at least the drive itself was comfortable, first time without any schlepping of luggage. Arrived to our friends’ place in Harlem (see pic) at around 2:30 pm and were greeted cordially. We had coffee and cookies sitting in the idyllic backyard of their beautifully restored brownstone, chatted and enjoyed the sun and a completely different world.

Out again around 5 pm to Central Park. Nature in the center of a metropolis (see pics), lakes, lawns, playgrounds, wooded areas, what else could you wish for? About 10 years ago even at daytime many people had concerns to walk in certain parts of Central Park, now it’s crowded and well-used, especially on a day like today, with 70 deg. F, sun and clear skies. Checked out the new Tavern on the Green (the only restaurant in Central Park, newly opened) and watched the boaters and bikers and carriages.



On to Columbus Circle with Time Warner Center and a growing, great skyline along Central Park South, with (at least partly) spectacular new skyscrapers. Getting a bit tired we finally did some shopping at Whole Foods (a huge organic supermarket) for drinks and breakfast, then back „home“ to Harlem.

On the road again ... just in Austria

After a (much too) looong stay at home, since April, we were traveling again – just in Europe and just for a few days, but it was good to get out again. We took the train to Vienna and stayed there for three days, just for fun!!! Don't do that very often, but we found a good 3-for-2-nights deal in a fancy boutique hotel called „Hotel Daniel“ (with a very comfortable hammock in the room!) and got cheap train tickets.

Unfortunately, it rained most of the time, out of buckets, and our shoes were always soaking wet and the umbrella was leaking. If we wouldn't have met twice with a friend of us, a culinary journalist born and raised in Vienna, who showed us some "secrets", esp. culinary ones, it would have been rather boring. We got to visit only one of the tyical viennese wine bars, called "Heurige", and had to sit inside, but at least we got to know some good wines there, like „Gemischter Satz", a special viennese wine variety. And we ate heavenly „Marillenknoedel“ and "Gulasch". Visited some interesting museums like MAK, the Prater (a ferris wheel, see pic), the Naschmarkt (a huge market area), admired many art-nouveau buildings and, of course, the cathedral (pic).

Vienna is a multi-ethnical city. To me it appeared like the Eastern European influence (slowakian, czech, hungarian...) is dominating, but also turkish, asian and russian languages are often to be heard and the fast-food-scene is dominated by turks and asians. Our friend defined the Viennese population as "a hybrid of Italians and Germans" and there is certainly a grain of truth in it: many open-air bars, cafés and ice saloons like in Italy, a bit of "dolce vita", but also german gravity. In contrast, traditional coffeehouses and "Beisl" (restaurants) are hard to find nowadays. Also, we noticed that people still smoke a lot in Austria, laws for public places like restaurants seem to be less strict. And, Vienna is very expensive, same price level as Munich!

We got to love our fancy, quiet hotel, but had to leave for Salzburg, to do research for a guidebook update. Rain continued and the hotel which was booked for us, was not as nice as the one before, in addition, noisy construction was going on. We checked the things we needed to check, mostly in pouring rain. Especially the new Dom Quartier is worth being seen and our visit to the puppet theater (Mozart's "Magic Flute") was another highlight.

Because of the rain, on the first morning we took the bus to two shopping malls a little outside town (one of them an outlet mall) to check them out for the first time in many visits. We were invited to a new wine bar, where the owner is very enthusiastic about „orange wines“ - "radical" or "natural" wines with its characteristic color. After an extensive tasting with our friend Maria we were convinced that we go with the trend and that we like these much-debated wines. Had good beer as well: in the Augustiner Bräu Mülln, a typical huge beerhall with self-service, which we especially like for people-watching. On our departure day we had a great meal in a restaurant where nobody would expect such good food so inexpensively. The owner is the chef and butcher (butchering and smoking as well as bread baking all done in the basement) in one person ...

On wednesday, our departure day, it eventually stopped raining. Nevertheless, we had a pretty good time and it was a nice distraction. Looking forward now to our next trip to the U.S., to NY in two weeks. Please, stay tuned.

"Wonders of America" – Rez Ball and Stickball

The Soccer World Cup is history and especially German sportsfans are lost in transition: No sports (soccer) and a rainy, cool summer – what to do? On the contrary, last weekend was an exiting and memorable one for Native Americans in the United States: First, the Iroquois National Lacrosse team finished 3rd in the World Championship in Denver/CO and, second, Shoni „Showtime“ Schimmel from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton/Oregon exceeded all expectations in the WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix and was voted MVP (most valuable player).

Especially native people are excited about the Schimmel sisters. Shoni (see pic, © Native News Online) and Jude demonstrated the basketball world that „Rez Ball“ is for real. Powwow dancing, which became popular again in the last years, is one thing to be proud of in the Indian community, „Rez Ball“ – short for Reservation Basketball – is even more important. Shoni Schimmel once explained the „indian way“ to play basketball to the media as follows: it's fast movement and rapid passing with high scores – or at least lots of attempted shots – combined with aggressive defense which tries to induce turnovers through pressing and half-court traps.

The Schimmel sisters stunned the basketball world first in 2013 when they led the University Louisville into the College Basketball Final Four. Jude is still playing in Louisville, Shoni turned Pro this spring. In Atlanta – one of the professional teams of the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) – she was never a starter, but – thanks to the support of Native American sports fans – was voted into the All-Star Game team. In this specific game she demonstrated why she is nicknamed "Showtime": She scored 29 points (seven 3-pointers!) and was voted best player of the game (highlights of the WNBA All-Star game on www.wnba.com).

Shoni is not the only Native American playing in the WNBA. Angel Goodrich (Cherokee) plays for Tulsa Shock, and next year Shoni’s sister Judy is also expected to be drafted by a WNBA team. There are more girls and boys from the „rez“ making headlines in College Basketball or in the D-League (Development League of the famous NBA), just watch out for names like Tesha Buck (Prairie Island), Shauna Long (Standing Rock), Abby Scott (Confererated Tribes of Warm Springs), Keli Warrior (Ponca) or Lakota Beatty (Lakota/Gros Ventre/Caddo) or, in the boys category, Ben Strong (Chippewa) and Damen Bell-Holter (Haida), both D-League, Grienntys Chief Kickingstallionsims Jr. (Navajo), Preston Wynne (Spokane), Bronson Koenig (Ho-Chunk) or Seth Youngblood (Cherokee).

Hockey and Lacrosse are the National Sports in Canada, but Lacrosse is also big in the the United States. This year Canada won the World Cup, the American team finished second. However, most attention in the World Championship in Denver this July was attracted by the Iroquois Nationals. In 1990 the Federation of Interational Lacrosse (FIL) accepted the Iroquois as a member, to date the only tribe permitted to compete in a sport internationally. For the first time in 2014 the Iroquois Nationals finished 3rd – and the whole Lacrosse world payed deference to the "Haudenosaunee", as the Irquois call themselves.

Lacrosse is a sports of Native American origin, mostly practiced in a variation called „stickball“. This traditional, rougher version of Lacrosse currently undergoes a revival, especially in Oklahoma. In the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur as well as in the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequa (see pics) stickball games as well as demonstrations can be watched. Jeremy Wallace (guy on the pic) produced his own sticks, works as a stickball instructor and plays in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma stickball team.

The Haudenosaunee – the Six Nations of the Iroquois League, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora – are well known for their world-class Lacrosse players, e.g. the Thompson Brothers, Lyle, Jeremy, Jerome and Miles. Lyle and Miles were awared with the Tewaraaton Trophy, College Lacrosse's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, the two older brothers are pro players. To learn more about Lacrosse and the importance especially for Haudenosaunee there are two films interesting to watch: „The Medicine Game“ by Lukas Korver (http://themedicinegame.com, the story of the Thompson brothers) and the movie „Crooked Arrows“ (http://crookedarrows.com).

If you see the bigger picture, America is not all about American Football and baseball (and, most recently, soccer) and not only about white and black. Stick ball and rez ball are two other fascinating sports...