There are few places in the world where you can randomly stumble upon a hoola hoop and rope skipping competition performed to the sound of a steal drum quartet.
When I talk about Manhattan neighbourhoods I tend to forget all about Harlem. And with my obsession with the The Villages - Greenwich, East and West, I have completely neglected to actually visit anything north of the Guggenheim Museum. Well, apart from that one time when I misread the subway map and landed in the Bronx rather than Williamsburg - but I'm still too traumatised to talk about that.
Big Sis met my suggestion to walk from the Plaza Hotel through Central Park all the way up to the - apparently - very scary Harlem, with massive scepticism. And considering some of the social media comments following our updates on the adventures to follow, quite a few people were rather unimpressed with the idea of two Swedish girls wandering the streets of Harlem on their own.
Truth be told - I think Harlem has taken over the third place on my list of favourite New York neighbourhoods. I was getting too old for hard core partying in the East Village anyway.
The people and areas of Harlem are the most fabulous, bonkers, stylish, outrageous and simply wonderful I've seen for a long time and it has that great mix of soon to be It area and gang land you don't even experience in Hackney anymore.
I have never seen so many pimped cars. They were amazingly tacky and blinged more than all of Liz Taylor's engagement and wedding rings combined. I really don't think I could pull off a blue and gold monster mobile with the speakers virtually hanging on the outside of the car and dollar signs attached to the grill, but God do I wish I could.
As it also turns out, Harlem is probably the best area for people watching there ever was. Never before have I seen a guy run backwards around any block and never before have I seen a dog with a crystal encrusted muzzle and matching lead. Not too sure I agree with someone walking a dog that looks ready to kill any man, woman or child getting in its' way - but I appreciate the fashion statement.
Who knows, maybe I'll end up living in Harlem rather than on Bleecker Street when I move to New York in a future life. I will practice using the word Holla with some credibility until then.
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