After taking those pictures and seeing how americans park their cars in multi-level parking lots (and wondering if I’d accept to have my car hoisted to the 4th “floor” in such a parking system), we walked to Chelsea Piers. On Pier 59 people play some sort of golf. It’s not a “normal” field, but we saw many people practicing it. There were thousands of balls laying around and I was very happy to pick 3. We were 3 and these were just laying around. Well, not anymore.

Golf is not so popular in Romania. I think there is a club in our city area, but very few people play it. Very few. We saw some golf equipment in a store in the Parndorf outlet near Vienna. This was the only contact we had with the sport, seeing something in a store window. So you can now understand how thrilled we were to hold these 3 used and scratched golf balls. Since I am a total lady, won’t go into detail to what kind of jokes we made back then, you can only imagine.

After adopting these 3 poor unloved golf balls and getting sick of dirty jokes, we did some more walking at talking until something else caught our attention. Yes, I can say I have seen the Gay Street too and of course took a pic I can show now back home.

Our friend showed us the building he once lived in. They would share the rent in a VERY small apartment. It cost him 500 USD/month to live in an apartment as big as my smallest room back in Romania. Even if his family lived in a decent sized house in Queens, he wanted to live in Manhattan.

For a young man, interested in going out and having fun, this was the best choice. Still for me the best idea would have been to live in a quiet area in Queens for instance and just go visit Manhattan. But we’re not living here and perhaps know nothing about the way people prioritize here.

It’s been a nice moment for him to remember some of the places he used to frequent and also realize how far he’d gone. He’s owning an amazingly beautiful house in Atlanta, has an amazing wife and kid. The old days of living in a small rat-box like apartment are gone, but there are still many memories and cool places to show to those 2 Europeans who just want to see it all.

After trying some Italian Cannoli and taking some more pictures, we realized my BF forgot the lens cap of his camera near the Chelsea Piers. Yes, quite far from where we were. Since the chances to find it were slim, our friend took us to B&H to replace it so that his lens won’t get dirty or scratched. The Empire State Building was close and he invited us to see it too.

It was Wednesday, so the tourist crowds meant just few people who were patiently waiting to get into the Observatory. It gave us enough space to see the amazing floors and all the luxurious design elements in the building. And then we stopped at the security check and I had to leave those 3 balls there. Can’t really guess why, maybe they were scared I’d drop them from the 80th+ floor, who knows. Since they weren’t vital to us, I just left them with the security guys and enjoyed a spectacular view in that cloudless day. Manhattan and the near boroughs looked just like in a dream. Money well spent.

Almost 1 hour after we took the lift back to the first floor, when I remembered I had some balls. And yes, I got back to the security check to get them back. The dialogue will surely make a funny memory for the security guy too for years to come:

“Hello, I left some balls”

“Ah, golf balls. Wait, they’re dirty”

“Yeah, they’re used. We found them”

“…”

“We don’t have these in my country”

“…”

“We’re from Europe”.

Yes, I am sure he’ll always remember the crazy European who came back for her … balls.

[View with PicLens]

In our summer vacation we were able to visit a country that was pretty interesting in many aspects. And the most interesting one was they had LOTS of Mercedes cars.

Guess what that country was …

Was it Italy? Was it Serbia? No.

It was  ALBANIA.

You can see my car (the light coloured Opel Corsa). I have a Mercedes behind me, 2 on the other side of the road, another following the VW on the street and (you can’t see them, but they are there) lots of other Mercedes cars. Some are very old, we saw some newer ones too and 2-3 of the latest release. Still, they seem to have a passion for Mercedes