TRAINS & BOATS & PLANES.....

....are all on the final day agenda. But first, Tinno advises me the new record isn't the blues album it's the 'Surf Cats' album - when too much twang is never enough.

JJ and I decide to give finding a decent coffee and fresh food brekky one last shot. We pop into a gym (most have health bars attached to them) and we get another linguistics lesson. "Is there a good cafe nearby?" The response isn't so much a suggestion as a directive: "You're going to turn right and then turn right at the end of the block and look for the blue awning." It turns out we are at the Brazilia Cafe and....it's FABULOUS!

Absolute best service we've encountered all trip, great coffee, and fresh produce (even going out of their way to accommodate JJ with non-menu items). As we walk back past the gym, the young girl who gave us directions comes out and chases us up the street to enquire how we went. The affronted elderly lady two days earlier is right - New Yorkers are nice people. (Travel Tip: if your in funky town, i.e.NOHO, try Brazilia on the cnr of Broadway and Great Jones St. Don L will stake his coffee reputation on it - and that doesn't happen too often).

Not much is gratis in the Big Apple but the Staten Island ferry is, so its on the subway and down to the terminal. At the subway, the plastic bag holding all Don L's one and two cent coins breaks, no doubt someone in more need than me will pick them all up.

Dang!

 Next door to the terminal is a beautiful building currently under restoration. We ask a tourism official what it is (you know something good's coming!) who explains that it was built as army barracks during the independence war: "You know, when the British invaded America!" Now none of us pretend to be historians, but we're scratching our collective heads and agree that the friendly official might need to brush up on his knowledge!

We take the ferry over, the receding Manhattan skyline dominated by the new WTC, and get a first hand look at the Statue Of Liberty, which of course requires a few bars of LRB's hit to be sung.

We contemplate having morning tea there but choose to come back straight away. We decide to ask someone else for directions and a lovely young tourism lady provides us with excellent help. However we're left with tears flowing down our cheeks when she introduces herself: " My name's Sharnell, like the perfume!" 

Sharnell

As we're on the train heading Uptown we reminisce about the bevy of unusual names we encountered in New Orleans, three of which rise to the top causing uncontrolled, spontaneous laughter for the next hour. This is GOSPEL TRUTH....the checkout assistant at Rouse's supermarket was called D'zire (without being unkind, no one did), better still was her female workmate named Treva! Given the similarity I couldn't resist mentioning what an interesting name she had: "Yeah, my dad wanted a boy and so he just dropped the 'or' and stuck on an 'a'". But the gold medal goes to one of the IOU housekeeper, who it has to be said was a little sensitive about her name. "My name is Sha-Tay"...her name tag was 'Shitheadd'...GOSPEL! Some parents have a lot to answer for.

We come up to the surface at 125th Street in Harlem, and there is a very different feel to the south of the city.

Time for a slice of pizza, so we jump into the Two Bros Pizza store, where you get 20 minutes to sit and eat, and my vegetable slice was very good.

$1 a slice!

Up the road we get to our destination, the world famous Apollo Theatre. The footpath has name plaques for the legends of soul and Don L can almost hear James Brown in full cry. Dress rehearsals are going on and so we can't go inside, but the security guard kindly takes some snaps for me.

We all get to touch the Tree Of Hope which, since 1934, has stood on the stage for Wednesday's Amateur Night and performers rub the tree in the (forlorn) hope it will bring good fortune. It's considered to be the toughest audience in the world - I have got to go and see a show.

Harlem is north of Central Park and marked by a particular street. One of Don Legsy's all-time fave songs is Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" and it is beholden that we actually do this; a simple moment perhaps, but poignant for Don L.

Rumours persist that video footage exists of this memorable moment, and of Don L singing his unique version of 'the song', but fortunately it hasn't surfaced! The real thing goes like this, and you simply must listen to it:

The family on the other side of town
Would catch hell without a ghetto around
In every city you find the same thing going down
Harlem is the capital of every ghetto town

Across 110th Street
Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak
Across 110th Street
Pushers won't let the junkie go free
Across 110th Street
A woman trying to catch a trick on the street
Across 110th Street
You can find it all in the street

We're winding down now, time to pack and have a quick stroll up St Marks Place and check out the local stores. The comic store proprietor is paranoid and confiscates my bag, giving me a suitably appropriate bag tag for later redemption.

And like everywhere you go, there are always interesting things to see on supermarket shelves and images that contradict the ambience.

Funky - not!

Contains no milk - go figure!

Switchel - water, vinegar and ginger!

I'll have six please!

For our final dinner, Tinno's putting his local knowledge on the line and we're going to Koreatown (I didn't even know there was one). The great man selects BCD Tofu House and it's terrific. Marley, whom we first met at the IOU in Nawlinz also joins us and we have a memorable evening. Don L can highly recommend the chicken terriyaki (whaddya mean it's not Korean?). AND - the staff were all great too, earning a little extra in the tip.

The last word on a fine dining evening should rest with Tinno. Across from the hotel is a dessert bar where mi hermano is accosted by a table full of chicas, but Tinno's no fool - he knows what they're after - and he isn't sharing his dessert with anyone!

Anyone would think it was Nigel Tufnel

The real object of their affection - Tinno's dessert

That's it. We're flying in different direction, Tinno to Memphis, JJ to Hawaii and Don L to London. It's been a fabulous trip, memories shared with old friends and lovely new people we've met on the journey. New Orleans never fails to disappoint - go there! New York hasn't grabbed me previously, but now I get it - I need to get back there. And a special thanks to JJ who has helped me with recollections from her copious notes and some candid snaps - gracias hermana.