New girl in New York: lazy day with harry

Feeling a bit homesick today, I decided to get out and see Harry Potter. So I dawdled up to 12th and 3rd to feel at home in hogwarts (yes, geeky potter fan right here). It's Saturday, and a beautiful one at that so New York was out in full bloom. Happy weekenders and their dogs were everywhere soaking up the sun and the good vibes. It was a really cool walk around the East Village. There's loads of cool funky shops around this area. It's a very arty district populated mostly by musicians, artists and generally creative people. And I had to have the REAL new york pizza today. It's so ohhh....just deliciously fresh. Here in New York you have a couple choices of pizza style (which you can buy in full or by the slice...which is ample for lunch) there's the thin crust, the calzone and the pizza pie. 1 down 2 to go.

As I walk through the streets I get daily doses of real life in a big city. The US has a pretty poor welfare system so unfortunately there is a high number of homeless in this city. Down the street I pass many people who live out of trolleys collecting cans and depositing them in vending-style machines to get food vouchers (I think...I don't believe they return money anymore). Today by the park down the road, some people had set up stalls and started cooking on the street. I thought it was a market style venture until I saw the long line of men and women taking their place to get a good feed.