Rain & Sun ( Tuesday the 13th of August )

(pictures at the bottom)

This day we woke up extremely early due to jet lag - looking at the clock it was 4.45 - but we did not get out until 5.45. We knew that it would rain - not just normal raining.... it would rain a LOT! 30 mm in one day.

Rain; Soeren made omelets for breakfast - and after a pretty relaxed morning Soeren and Alberte went out to buy water (in gallons) and an umbrella (there were only one in the apartment), and with 30 mm that is not enough. They returned with 2 raincoats, a pink princess umbrella and another Black "grown up" umbrella.... We don't fail on equipment;-)

Prospect Park; We packed - and plan was to head for Prospect Park - which lies just at the end of 12th street where we live these days. Prospect Park is a huge urban oasis located in the heart of Brooklyn, New York City’s most populous area. A masterpiece of the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who also designed Central Park (Central park is much bigger - but still compared to parks in DK, Prospect park is enormous). Prospect Park features a big Long meadow, a Lake and Brooklyn’s only forest. 

To quickly summarize we actually made our selves ready to leave 3 times before we dared going out in the rain! Two times we went down the stairs and concluded it rained to much - Kaya would get so wet sitting in the stroller! We do have a water cover - but with this rain it would not be of any use. Alberte was furious - luckily cartoons in TV helped! It was 12PM before we suceeded in leaving the apartment - and then it only rained for 5 more minutes before the Sun appeared!:-)

We walked around in Prospect park for some time. We met a lot of squirrels, birds, and one eagle! Very nice scenery - with many different things to experience. First encounter was a playground - which Alberte happily used. The playground was ideal for Alberte - though everything was still quite wet.

ZOO; We then walked around in the park - heading for a carousel, but unfortunately the carousel was closed.  (It's only open Thursday to Sunday). But just beside the carousel there was a Zoo - so we decided to go there. Prospect Park Zoo is not as big as Copenhagen Zoo or Central Park Zoo, - but definitely worth the visit! Since it had rained - we pretty much had the park to ourselves - along with 25 other guests. There were all kinds of animals - and Alberte enjoyed it very much. So did the parents and Kaya. Best experience was the Sea Lion Feeding - and on top there were two cute baby sea lions. ( www.prospectparkzoo.com - adults $8 children 3-12 years $5).

Brooklyn Botanic garden; Just on the other side from the park lies Brooklyn Botanic Garden - so we decided to go there. We didn't read about this place before we got there - so we were positively surprised about the beauty of this park. And it was HUGE - just as everything else here in New York. Especially the Japanese garden was beautiful, and I can imagine what the cherry tree garden will look like when they are blossoming (late April or early May) - and then the shop they had made me want to really have green fingers and a garden (even though I have none of these - and I keep forgetting to give plants water). Really worth a visit! This day there were no admission fee - but usually there is (www.bbc.org)

This botanic garden has grown from its humble beginnings as an ash dump in the late 1800s,  and represent today the very best in urban gardening. 1897; New York State legislation reserved 39 acres for a botanic garden, and in 1910 the garden was founded - so in 2010 Brooklyn held it's 100 Years birthday. Sorry to say that the botanic garden in Copenhagen cannot compete here;-)

Food: Time had passed now - so we headed home. We had to buy some food for dinner, - and that always takes time for us! We are not fans of poor quality food - so it takes time to find. We ended up at a place called "Gather" close to home - and bought some ginger chicken with various salads. It tasted good! Prices are the same as in DK! 

We were home around 6PM, - Alberte capitulated and fell a sleep soon after we returned, so she didn't eat anything. Kaya was also pretty tired. Around 9.30PM both kids were sleeping - so we got some Rose' and started planning the next Days sights;-) In Bed around 00.00 (zzzzz)

NB: We bought a SD reader gadget - so now there are pictures as well;-)

Danish Summary:

Jeg har besluttet ogsaa at skrive paa dansk - da min mor synes jeg virkede alt for fremmed paa et andet sprog, saa nu laver jeg et lille referat:-)

Vi vaagnede tidligt pga jet lag, og var ude af sengen kl. 5.45. Vi vidst at det ville regne meget, saa vi besluttede at det var yderst vigtigt at faa koebt nok paraplyer (i lejligheden var der kun en enkelt). Alberte og Soeren kom tilbage med en paraply, 2 regnfrakker og en lyseroed prinsesse paraply:-) 30mm er meget regn!

Vi havde planlagt at tage i Prospect Park, der ligger lige for enden af den vej vi bor paa. En kaempe park i forholdt til hvad vi ser i DK - men langt mindre end Central Park. Vi naeede faktisk at vaere klar 3 gange foer vi bevaegede os ud i regnen, da det simpelthen regnede for meget. Alberte var ikke glad - men med tegnefilm i TV saa overlevede hun.

Klokken blev 12.00 inden vi tog afsted, og regnen gik faktisk vaek efter 5 min. - og solen kom frem. Vi vandrede rundt i Prospect Park - med foerste besoeg paa en legeplads, og paa den videre tur moedte vi mange egern, fugle og endda ogsaa en stor oern! Det var planen at vi skulle paa en karusel i parken - men den var lukket, saa vi tog i stedet i Zoo som laa lige ved siden af. Prospect park Zoo er meget lille, men ogsaa hyggelig - og vi havde det meget for os selv (sammen med 25 andre gaester). Der var alle mulige dyr - men bedste oplevelse var fodring af soeloeverne, og der var endda to smaa soede baby soeloever.

Herefter tog vi i Brooklyns Botaniske have - som var utrolig flot! Vi havde ingen forventninger overhovedet - men blev meget positivt overraskede. Haven var kaempe - og havde saa mange foskellige afdelinger at man slet ikke kunne naa at se det hele hvis vi havde vaeret der hele dagen. Specielt den japanske have og kirsbaertrae haven var smukke (kirsebaertraerne var ikke i blomst - men man kunne forestille sig det). Denne have er i den grad vaerd at besoege, og i 2010 var haven 100 aer gammel.

Vi tog herefter hjem med mad koebt som takeaway - Alberte faldt om med det samme, og omkring 9.30 sov begge boern. Soeren og jeg brugte resten af aftenen paa at planlaegge dagen efter. Klokken 00.00 sov vi alle.