23. ANNE BOGART AND SITI TRAINING. Disinct, challenging and innovative methods of actor training. Viewpoints & Suzuki, Master Classes-Guest Artist Series, Drop-in Classes. www.siti.org

24. CRUSH WINE CO. 153 E. 57th St. offers a quick wine tasting primer for $50.

GREAT PUBLIC SPACES

25. PALEY PARK @ 53rd Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues. Located within Midtown's cultural district and surrounded by high-rises, this celebrated "vest-pocket" park is a welcome respite from sights and sounds of urban living.

24. NY PUBLIC LIBRARY @ 42nd street and Madison boasts a gorgeous reading room that would make anyone feel like royalty - indeed, it rivals ballrooms of European palaces. But out in front, along street, is where this illustrious institution truly connects with city around it. A series of well-linked spaces - steps, plazas, little nooks and pathways - provide innumerable places for sitting, meeting, eating and chatting.

26.CONEY ISLAND streets, buildings, public beach and boardwalk may be a bit down at heels, but it remains a one-of-a-kind destination. Vicinity of Surf Avenue & West 15th Street, Brooklyn, NY www.coneyisland.com

27. HUA MEI BIRD GARDEN Community garden that hosts daily, early-morning gatherings of Chinese men who bring beautiful songbirds in fancy bamboo cages. Sara Delano Roosevelt Park. Lower East Side, New York, NY

28. GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL- One of most well known and impressive indoor public spaces in country, Grand Central Terminal- provides an unparalleled experience to over half a million people every day. Park Avenue and 42nd Street, New York City, NY

29. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM STEPS- The grand, granite steps leading to The Metropolitan Museum of Art are a destination themselves: a place to meet, eat, talk, and watch both people and Fifth Avenue traffic. Fifth Avenue from 80th - 84th Streets, New York, NY

IN PRAISE OF THE LOCAL BOOKSTORE. -- Owning a bookstore is a labor of love, and financial rewards are slender. Independently owned businesses, like bookstores, drugstores or hardware stores, help define a community.

30. " Oh joy! Oh Rapture!" COLISEUM BOOKS, WELCOME BACK!! 11 W. 42nd Street New York, NY Phone: (212) 803-5890. Across street from Bryant Park.

31. LABYRINTH BOOKS- 536 West 112th Street, for university presses.

32.ST. MARKS BOOKS- 31 Third Avenue, for a wide selection of all books.

33. THREE LIVES AND CO. 154 West 10th Street, for fiction.

34. THE DRAMA BOOK SHOP Drama Books is one of largest book stores specializing in theatre related material. 250 W. 40th St Phone: (212) 944-0595

SMALL BUSINESSES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

35. A beautifully made hat is a headturner. BARBARA FEINMAN MILLINERY- 66 East 7th Street NY, NY 212-358-7092.

36. Wahoo! Elisa Miller knows how to throw a class act Swank! SOMEDAY PRODUCTIONS handles all aspects of party and event planning-- 347-432-8949 www.somedayproductions.com

37. GO YOGA- Located in heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A small, friendly Yoga Center offering a variety of classes all day - every day. Go Yoga is located within Girdle factory at: 218 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn NY. www.goyoga.com

TO MARKET WE GO

38. GREENMARKET FARMERS MARKET is a program of Council on Environment of NYC, promoting regional agriculture and ensures a continuing supply of fresh, local produce for New Yorkers. Comprehensive regulations govern what may be sold at a Greenmarket. With few exceptions, all items must be grown, raised, foraged, caught, or otherwise produced by seller. www.cenyc.org

39. CHELSEA MARKET includes The Juice Factory, Amy's Bread, Chelsea Wholesale Flower Market, Fat Witch, Chelsea Wine Vault, Hale and Hearty Soups and lots more.... Eat, browse and leisurely stroll. 75 9th Avenue New York, NY 10011

40. UNION SQUARE PARK AND GREENMARKET- Three-square-block urban park that hosts a year-round, open-air farmers market four times a week. 14th Street and Broadway, New York, NY

On October 20th, 1932 in Amsterdam in presence by land agencies from Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Belgium, International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) was created.

The federation has its seat today in Welwyn Garden City near London. Richard Schirrmann was selected as president. Conference language was German.

On following conference in 1933 also Isabel and Monroe Smith from USA participated. Within one year they could open thirty youth hostels in United States. Also in 1933 national socialists arrived in Germany at power.

All political and religious youth combinations were dissolved and replaced by a system of obligatorily university-formed youth organization, under line of "realm youth guidance". Richard Schirrmann must withdraw as a chairman of German youth hostel factory.

He let himself impress by idealistic elements of new movement and became honorary president of realm federation for German youth hostels. A decision which he should bitterly repent later.

In 1936 for political reasons it had come to break with international youth hostel federation. In 1947 after end of world war, 247 youth hostels with 1,158,500 overnight stays were counted again in Germany.

From 1949-1990 also in GDR were an extensive network of youth hostels developed. Initially still led as federations, these later had become to state led institutions of youth. The existing federations were dissolved. In 1960 were most youth hostels in Federal Republic. More than 720 houses realized 11,300,312 overnight stays.

In 1990 after end of GDR also in new Lands of Federal Republic youth hostel federations were created. In November these federations joined German youth hostel association.

Youth hostels today

World-wide there are more than 4,000 youth hostels in 65 countries, whereby more than 600 alone in Germany.

The youth hostels in Germany offer to their guests far more than an inexpensive overnight stay. Beside small cosy old buildings or experience in castles and residences you also find many houses in scenic delightful environments as well as in large cities. For more details go to www.smart-travel-germany.com/hostels-germany.html.

This true story was published in German language by German Youth Hostel Association, and translated by Marcus Hochstadt.