One evening, while walking through Manhattan, Lena and I stumbled upon a shop that I recognized from about 300 meters away. It's one of the most famous skate shops in New York - Blades. Ha, and of course, I didn't leave without a board, since my old one broke back in Rochester.

That's how I found a way to pass the time while Lena was working during the day. I would skate at the skatepark on the beach in Staten Island, and towards the evening, I'd head to Manhattan, and we'd walk until late.

I met a couple of guys, and we skated the streets together. Honestly, I thought that when I arrived, everyone here would be doing incredible tricks. As it turned out, that wasn't the case, and even I managed to impress the Americans with my skating more than once. It felt good.

Anyway, that's how the days went in New York. I'd skate during the day, head to Lena's in Manhattan in the evening, she'd feed me crepes and coffee from work, and then we'd go for a walk. It was incredible. It was just so nice to do nothing, just hanging out on the streets of evening New York.

I'm going to miss this city for a very long time.