I've got to be a part of it

I don't think I stumbled across Sinatra's New York, but what I did experience was an earthy and real Brooklyn experience away from the tourist hotspots. Sarah lives in a neighbourhood that I never would have ventured into had it not been for her. It would seem that this trip has instilled a spirit in me that will not allow a little uncertainty to stand in my way. Yet again, I feel as though I have reaped the rewards. My only wish is that it would have been appropriate to carry my camera more often, helping me to capture some of the places and characters.

We spent a good portion of Saturday volunteering at Prospect Park, a spectacular oasis in the middle of Brooklyn designed by the same guys who laid out Central Park. It has a network of trails that wind past lakes, through forests and across large open meadows. It's so easy to lose yourself and completely forget you're in the heart one one of the world's largest cities. So 12 of us (most of whom were school kids completing their community service requirement) weeded and mulched a section of trail; dodging the occasional jogger and avoiding the poison ivy.

Later that night I was intorduced to what has become somewhat of an institution for Sarah and her friends - an evening at the Four Faced Liar (an Irish bar in the West Village area of Manhattan). Although it seems that it seems that after a few beers is not the best time for me to learn new card games, I got to experience another, completely different, slice of New York life.

Keeping with the theme of a slightly 'non-traditional' visit to New York, Sunday afternoon saw us wandering aound the shores of Dead Horse Bay, on the southern side of Brooklyn. I'm a little sketchy on some of the details, but it appears as though the parklands on the shores of the Bay have, at various times during the last century, been home to a slaughterhouse (hence the name) and a landfill. In amongst the horseshoe crabs and remnants of long forgotten piers, was the most amazing and extensive array of glass refuse I have ever seen. Some of the bottles were remarkably complete and came in all shapes, sizes and colours, and seemingly from nearly every decade of the last 80 years.

I had a great weekend in New York, a fitting (almost) finale to the best adventure I ever could have hoped for.