Quinta Avenida: o que há por perto, como chegar e quando ir · 2026

OKOlga Kovachol-kovach · 8 de dez. de 2017Ler

Story 2: Oh, New York, New York… Chap.1 Yeah boy Manhattan, skyscrapers, The Great Gatsby, avenues… – That’s how I imagined New York for 20 years. And then… The plane lands, the passport is stamped, the suitcase is picked up… and from the taxi window, to an Aerosmith song, you inhale the wind of freedom… (which is supposed to make your hair flutter, of course). Oh boy (as Americans would say). Geographical ecstasy. But after 5 minutes in Times Square, you realize that this very wind, on whose wings you flew from Balandino airport to JFK, is firmly and long-soaked with the scent of homeless people sleeping on every corner, handsome guys, and the smell of trash rotting on the sidewalks of the unofficial capital of the USA. “You just went to the wrong places!” they tell me in response to my indignation. Seriously? The wrong places? Where should I have gone? Why did no one warn me that Wall Street would smell bad, and on Fifth Avenue, I would have to do a grand battement over a sewage river? Well, yeah, we didn't see any homeless people in Central Park, consider yourself lucky. Fine, we were just “in the wrong place,” okay. Chap.2 Subway surf If your life is too calm, then, as they say, “Welcome!”. So, on Kasimina (see story #1), an African-American grandmother leaned over to rest on the subway. Standing up. And that would be fine, but for some reason, when she woke up, she exclaimed with a dissatisfied face: “Miss!”. Like: “Hey, woman, why aren't you holding me?” Lifehack: in any confusing situation in the USA, start speaking Russian. Even the most brazen ones don't know how to respond to our polite: “Young man, unfortunately, I don't understand a word of this gibberish you just uttered.” Problems are usually solved with one sentence. Any word with our Russian “rrrrr” sound scares people: they raise their eyebrows, nod respectfully, and walk away silently. This worked always and everywhere, but not at the “Brooklyn Bridge” subway station, where I again said with an impassive look to a tanned gentleman that I didn't know how to speak his language. And then he replied with his tanned mouth: “You understand everything. And I remember you.” Really? Just… You would remember, there’s no one else white here besides Kasimina and me. #saynotoracism Chap.3 This side of Brooklyn Bridge As you guessed, we spent the last 2 days of our stay in the USA living in Brooklyn. It’s a place where if your skin color is even slightly lighter than the earth, you are “beautiful”. And I don't even know what hardened me more: 3 years of studying at the “heat engineering” department or 2 days of living in Brooklyn. Anyway, not a bad experience. Sharing: A) “Hey Arnold!” was “filmed” in Brooklyn. B) We lived in a house like “Hey Arnold!”’s. C) Not with Arnold, but with his tanned friend Gerald. D) And with other very tanned guys. E) Better lock the door at night. F) And push the wardrobe. Against the door. Another lifehack: if you belong to this very “beautiful” category, then even on a hot day in Brooklyn, don't forget to wear something baggy that hides your body from neck to toe. The main thing is not to attract attention: nobody likes show-offs. Although no. They like them too much. #usatoday #tobecontinued

NZNatalia Zhilinanataliazhilina · 31 de jan. de 2015Ler

The next day was supposed to go differently, if not for the rain! Although even the rain wasn't an obstacle for Ilona and me! We decided to meet at the well-known Apple store on Fifth Avenue. Being sure that I would get there in half an hour at most, I didn't rush. I walked to the subway and... voilà, the subway was closed! I was horrified, I didn't understand what to do... it was nonsense, to be honest. I immediately hurried to figure everything out. A woman told me that on weekends, the lines leading to Brooklyn only go to a certain station. And to get to that station, you have to take a free bus that only runs along the main streets. In my case, it was Ocean Avenue. Men at the subway station told me how to get there. It was only three blocks away from me, fortunately. I had to break all traffic rules because I saw a bus, but I wasn't sure if it was the right one. A woman was standing at the stop, I approached her and started saying: "Do you know...", to which she interrupted me and said in Russian, albeit with an accent: "Yes, you can speak Russian!". It seems my accent is much more noticeable, but I was even happy. She told me how to get to the necessary subway station and gave me a taxi number so that I could easily get to the airport the next day. Well, that's how I got to the Apple store. Ilona, it turns out, didn't know about the subway either. We were both late, but only by a little bit. I was amazed to see the queue already formed for the brand new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Before, on TV, it seemed funny to me, but... I saw it all with my own eyes. The most fun, of course, was our walk in Central Park. For $15, we rented bicycles and, like real tourists, rode along the perfect path. Crowds of people walking along the narrow paths in the park, quite a lot of other cyclists on the bike path, or just city residents jogging. The park area is huge, we stopped at the most favorite places of New Yorkers and tourists, one of them was the Jacqueline Kennedy Reservoir. A stunning place, the largest lake in the park. You can walk there forever, really, but it would take a lot of time, and we wanted to see a few more places. I enjoyed our bike ride until the small hills started, and I terribly dislike riding uphill, exclusively when it comes to a bicycle! We ignored the sign that said Hard Way, deciding that nothing difficult would be encountered on the way, oh, how wrong we were. A great workout after months of staying in America. Those in the know take a shortcut along the easy path. And yet, we were satisfied with the walk. Unfortunately, we were caught in the rain. We didn't really manage to see anything after Central Park. We ran from one cafe to another. We visited Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, ran into shops where we bought a couple of things, and souvenirs. The choice of souvenirs in New York is very large. On Fifth Avenue, you can find not only branded boutiques but also souvenir shops, although you will have to walk quite far. That day we also visited the New York Public Library, one of the largest in the world. Inside you will find a souvenir and bookstore, you can afford whatever you want. We also visited Grand Central Terminal in New York. An impressive sight: a luxurious waiting room, columns, windows, arches. A huge number of people taking pictures against the background of this beauty, and we were no exception! But our day was coming to an end, we said goodbye and went our separate ways.