Things we love about New Yorkers.

1. They may dissolve in the rain. Results are inconclusive because they  always put their brollies up before it rains. Y'know, just when it's thinking about it. This is hilarious to a kid from Yorkshire.

2. They wear wellies.
In the height of summer.
In the middle of the city.

3. If they ask you where you're from and you reply 'Wales', there is a chance they will reply, 'Oh, that's very regal' . Of all the adjectives you could use to describe me I doubt that 'regal' would be anywhere in your top 50.

4. Security guards are often on their phones. Or smoking, or drinking coffee (all three seen here..).

5. They really do drink alcohol from brown paper bags. 

We met a bloke today, in a shop. Got chatting (as you do) and he said, 'I'm a guy from the street' (we think he meant a gang person, he wasn't homeless) 'an I can talk to you all respectful, later on I may be out on the street drinking a bottle of Hennessy.'

'She may be out on the street later with a bottle of Hennessy.' Says NN1. we both laugh. Then I had to explain to man of the street that we don't really bat an eyelid in the UK if someone were to roll around, say, in their local park after a few beers. Or even on the comfort of their own well built decking, in full view of the local canal. For instance.

6. They have a van which delivers weed..?!? It says 'weed deliver' on the side (we both enjoyed the pun) but weed. Is it legal? They mentioned weed flavoured candies, but we thought that was just a ruse.

7. They have trucks which travel on train tracks and carry equipment. Not train carriages which carry equipment, but real trucks.

8. They walk around with basket balls.

9. They do a really great line in skeletons.

10. When they hear a British accent they usually react favourably. The best reaction was yesterday. I went to a shop, chose my item - costing a dollar - and put it on the counter.
I said, 'I'll have this please.'
The man regarded me quizzically.  'Hey?' He responded.
Again, 'I'll have this please.'
He looked at me. Very slowly he lifted one finger in the air. He spoke slowly.
'One. One doll-ar.'
He studied me with finger aloft, willing the words into my brain. I gave him five dollars. He elongated his explaining face, closed the one finger, then raised four. 'Four. Four doll-ar.' He told me. Slowly he counted out my change. 'One. Two. Three. Four. Four dollar. One dollar.'
'Thank you.' I replied, taking the cash.
He closed his hand. 'Thank you.' He said kindly and 'very good.'
My English is coming on.

11. Their diner meals are great. Although today we both felt saturated with white bread, dough and meat products. We needed salad.

12. They do a fantastic free ferry.

13. They have Times Square but openly say they rarely visit and never, ever drive through. Can see why.

14. They have a dinky doo squad of two person police cars.

15. They randomly display great quotes.

16. They do amazing iced coffee or cold brewed coffee (better). Mmmmmmm.

17. They have Madison Square Gardens. That place today! It was Madison Square Gardens.

18. New Yorkers are really very friendly. 

19. There is actually and really a place called Yonkers.

Give us Mo.

We left Buffalo at 7.05am on Friday. This meant getting up at 5am and leaving the house at 6am.

The station was a squat building, serving one track. NN1 was not impressed. 'I am not impressed.' were his exact words.

The train system is quite different. For starters, people seem to use the trains for long journeys and the bus for short (well, less than 6 hours). The train seats are wide and very comfy, they recline. You can't reserve a seat on the train, you just get on and hope to sit together. They tell you where to line up in the platform and only open one door. Apart from in NY when everyone was getting off. The sandwiches, though, are the same.

We arrived back in New York to the same stifling humidity which we'd left. We walked ten mins to the metro and stopped in Bryant Park for a breather. Its a really cool sort of park that serves as a community centre. Free yoga and tai chi, free table tennis and boules courts, free music concerts and summer evening films. Well worth a visit.

We made our way to our final accommodation in Brooklyn. Of the five boroughs of NYC we have visited four: The Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan. We haven't visited Queens. Brooklyn seems the coolest, the biggest hotch potch of people and the most relaxed. We decided to go for food and had a wander.

We were both entranced by a leaky fire hydrant.

Our accommodation is great. We're sharing someone's flat. She's really friendly, very sweet. 'Go up on the roof' she said, 'There's a great view of Manhatten'. We did.

The view of Manhatten was really great.

NN1 went exploring. 

'Where's Manhattan?' He asked me.
It's behind you, love.

We've seen more cops (so many overweight, seriously, there's no way they could run) and more kids playing sport than anywhere else. Brooklyn has a great vibe. 

Headed back into NYC to do some final shopping. During our wandering we found a lovely place where people were taking photos.

We didn't know where we were but thought we should join in. Everyone was taking selfies of the same thing (that building behind us)

Turns out its called the Flatiron building, because its shaped like an iron. We're not sure why it's famous. Please tell us if you know. 

We did a load of shopping and then wandered back. On the way NN1 became really animated (this is unusual, this kid's so laid back he's virtually horizontal). He'd spotted a spot where Liverpool player, Mo Salah, had recently had his photo taken with a mural of himself. 

Here is Mo. 

They're taking over the world...international conspiracy.

Police in Germany rescue man being chased by baby squirrel

Officers in Karlsruhe arrive to find man unable to shake off tiny rodent

Josie Le Blond in Berlin

Published:07:33 Fri 10 August 2018

 Follow Josie Le Blond

German police have rescued a man after he called for help saying a baby squirrel would not leave him alone.

Emergency services received a call on Thursday from the man, who claimed he was being chased down the street by the tiny animal.

Police in Karlsruhe said the unnamed man called them in desperation after he was unable to shake off the small rodent.

Officers sent a patrol car out to investigate and arrived to find the chase still in full flow. But the drama ended suddenly when the squirrel, apparently exhausted by its exertions, lay down abruptly and fell asleep.

Officers took pity on the animal, which had probably become separated from its mother. Police said it likely targeted the man because it was in search of a new home.

“It often happens that squirrels which have lost their mothers look for a replacement and then focus their efforts on one person,” said Christina Krenz, a police spokeswoman.

She said the animals could be “very persistent, not just running behind someone, but entirely fixated on them. It can be pretty scary. The man didn’t know what to do and so he called the police. He was certainly feeling a bit threatened.”

But police on the scene appeared more amused than alarmed.

“A squirrel will be our new mascot, it will be christened Karl-Friedrich,” said the police write-up. “The squirrel has fallen asleep in fright.”

Krenz said: “It was just a bit of fun. The officers thought up a name that would suit the baby squirrel.”

Officers took the sleeping Karl-Friedrich into police custody, and then to an animal rescue centre, where it was said to be doing well.

Krenz said the rescue centre was looking after two other abandoned baby squirrels brought in on the same day for similar reasons, though theirs was the only case in which police have had to intervene.

I did not make this up.

Shuffle off to Buffalo *

*was a song, written in 1933 for the film 42nd Street, which actually has some really saucy lyrics served with a healthy dollop of marital pessimism.

We thought we'd visit somewhere where there aren't many tourists, so we headed for Buffalo. It's a medium sized city, built on a really flat plain next to Lake Eerie. I was trying to imagine a flat, grassy plain with a load of buffalo roaming freely. Canada was still in sight, so we could wave at our favourite country.

Following the hold up at immigration by officials, because the man from Pakistan couldn't find his address, we arrived at the flat at 4pm. Another great place. As usual Goldilocks tried all the beds.

We had run out of clean clothes, so I volunteered to go to the launderette. It's no hardship doing the chores, places like that are where all life is. It's like waiting at a bus station...you get to see the natives in a way you never would at Macy's. 

 There was a helpful, blonde lady, a really drunk man, lots of tvs - all with subtitles - and a woman who was eating her tea from a pan which she'd brought over with her. I did the washing, got a bit of shopping and took wings home (chicken wings, a local delicacy) for NN1. When I got back he ate the wings, then had a go at ironing. His first time.

 On Thursday we decided to visit the inauguration site of 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. They make a big deal about this in Buffalo and the house where they have created a sort of museum is actually fantastic. Cost $14.

This is the story. Abridged:
- 25th president, Mcinley, visits Buffalo for an exposition, September 6th 1901
- He gets shot in the stomach in an assassination attempt
- Doctors can't find the bullet, but they sew him up anyway
- His vice president, Roosevelt, comes to see him. He looks OK
- Roosevelt goes on a camping holiday with his family
- Mcinley dies 14th Sept 1901.
- Roosevelt comes back, stays with a very old friend called Wilcox (I think)
-Gets inaugurated as president (Sept 14th 1901), doesn't have any clothes because he's been on a camping holiday, so does it in borrowed garb
-He stays in Buffalo for a week or so until the funeral, sets up his presidential office in his mate's house.

Things to know about Roosevelt:
- He cared for the environment and set up lots of national parks
- The teddy bear was named after him (after he refused to shoot a small bear which was sitting down and eating honey, whilst on a hunting trip)
- He was the first president to invite a black man to dine with him at the White House (Dr. Booker T. Washington).
-He created acts to prevent children in the work place
-He successfully negotiated between industry and supporters of the environment / between industry and unions
- He had six children and built the West Wing of the White House to accommodate them
- The Oval Office did not exist in his time
He was a distant cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Franklin's wife Eleanor, maiden name also Roosevelt, was Teddy's niece

A recreation of the office he used in the White House.
NN1 feeling presidential.

 Me n TR having a catch up.

Good stuff he did.

 More good stuff.

 Some details about his children. I particularly liked the quote by Quentin in the last line (below). All TR's sons fought in WWI. Quentin was killed and TR never fully recovered from it.

Quentin, aged 4.

 He also had a child called Kermit, which amuses me immensely.

The house.

Afterwards we went to a little cafe on a corner. We'll, it was actually called a salad bar, not a cafe. We ate well and the server raved about her internship in the UK. View from the corner.

NN1 chose a meal called 'The Jeff' which is apparently hugely amusing if you're a teenager. On account of some bloke calling himself Jeff in a squeaky voice in some film.

He tucks in.

 Buffalo's last buffalo?

 Then we went to City Hall, which you can go to the top of (28 floors) and see from the observation deck.

 It's very ornate inside, with paintings and carvings, brass and marble.

 The lift door.

As you enter there are four large marble statues, two men and two women, each with a resounding word beneath. The words for the men read: Fidelity and Diligence. For the women: Service and Virtue. Why do we get service and bloody virtue?

As you approach the observation deck, they tell you about Buffalo's famous..

 Red Jacket later stabbed his fellow indigenous brethren in the back when he fought with the Americans against them, but we don't talk about that.

 Seemingly, when Wild Bill, wasn't forming the precursor to the CIA he was rehearsing as an extra in the musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers....

 And this! My favourite famous thing to come out of Buffalo.

 The Liberty Tower.

 View of downtown.

 Other stuff that happened in Buffalo. Apparently the underground railroad was well linked up here.

Finally...if the British can't have it...no body can!

 After our observation, we descended and went to look for some new headphones. Somebody had accidentally washed the old ones after somebody accidentally left them in his pocket...

 So we took a subway to the mall. Bought the headphones and found an amazing cinema, where we watched half a rubbish film (we didn't realise it was a documentary).

 On the way home, saw a man wearing a fez. I think my life is now complete.

Back to New York today (Friday), by train. The journey is 8 hours but the train is clean, the seats are big and comfy with loads of leg room and the views are good.