Another thing I’ve learnt in the last few weeks: 4th July is a public holiday in the USA. I thought it was like bonfire night – a reason to have a party on the Fridays and Saturdays near the actual date.

Went to a wonderful barbeque at Nina’s. One of the dishes was a chicken stuffed with a beer can…

Night has fully fallen by 9pm at this time of the year, so we went up on the roof of her building.

Few people were out and about. They were at parties or organised firework displays. It is illegal to private individuals to buy fireworks in many US states including New York.

Sadly there was a big building between us and the largest display that was happening in the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Going back down to the 21st floor, I took a picture from the balcony during the firework display:

Twenty-five minutes later, the smoke from the display had reached us:

The view reminded me of the opening of Blade Runner.