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Woke up pretty early courtesy of residue jetlag, but it was kinda nice to get a jump start on the day before it got too hot in the city. The temperatures in NYC can climb into the high 30s (Celcius) in August & because of all the high buildings & pollution you really feel the heat! Fortunately it was still relatively cool in the morning as I went for a LONG walk from the very top of Central Park to the bottom, all along the West side of the park. It's a really beautiful park & it's quite amazing how, if you get far enough in away from the sound of the traffic & the view of the high rises above the trees, you can almost forget you're in the centre of one of the busiest cities on earth. I really loved the Strawberry Fields tribute area which was established the year after John Lennon in his memory & contains the Imagine memorial mosaic at it's entrance.
After emerging into the bustling metropolis at the southern end of the park I went to have a look in the Time Warner Centre just across the road & spent most of the time gaping with my mouth wide open at the sheer size if this department store (if you can even call it that). I then joined a queue of New Yorkers in line at Starbucks, practicing my order in my head so I wouldn't slow down the extremely fast pace of the people working behind the counter - there is no time for um-ing & ah-ing at a downtown NYC Starbucks people! And OK, the coffee isn't great, but when in New York, do as the New Yorkers do!
Freshly caffeinated I made my way further downtown & explored the Diamond District: Carnegie Hall, Trump Tower, the Rockefeller Centre, & of course, Times Square. I visited the M&M store (3 stories high!) where you can buy every single kind of M&M merchandise you can POSSIBLY imagine…the NBC Studios store…the Magnolia Bakery (home of the world's most delicious cupcakes!)…then I sat on the big set of stairs over the TKTS box office & just drank it all in. It's ridiculous - the number of people, the size of the billboards, all the flashing lights…amazing!
Had a power nap in the afternoon to get me through the evening & then met a group in the lobby for a tour through Harlem & a chance to attend a church service at the most well known African American Baptist church in NYC (& the oldest!). Every Wednesday evening & Sunday morning they allow people who aren't members of the regular congregation to attend a service, although they do require (understandably) that you respect the rules of the church & participate fully in the service. It was bucketing down with rain we left & I hadn't brought an umbrella or a jacket with me so I was completely drenched by the time we got there. Our tour guide Ed did his best to give us a brief rundown of the history of Harlem every time we had to stop to wait for a light to change at the cross walk.
The service was awesome. Amazing! The choir sang the most incredible gospel music & were on their feet belting out tunes with exhausting enthusiasm for over an hour. People in the pews yelled out "Amens" & "Hallelujahs" & it was all so joyous & lively. When the preacher gave his sermon he had a very Martin-Luther-esque way of speaking & the whole time the organ player kept the music going quietly in the background. We all got to our feet & raised our hands in the air & joined in the singing - SO much fun! :)
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