I’m sitting on the couch in our room in the occasional breeze of an oscillating pedestal fan. Warm air, cool air, warm air, cool air. It’s such an amazing feeling. You know what it feels like here? The weather is warm and humid and there’s a light breeze and it feels like summer is hugging you all the time. Summer can hug me anytime. This is great. Summer clearly turns me into a fuzzyheaded romantic… I think we’re in love.
So… Yesterday.
Tuesday began with “deluxe” waffles from The Aubergine Café, which is about 2 blocks from where we’re staying. Fuelled by this mountain of sugar we made our way to the nearest station, I bought myself a monthly MetroCard, and the three of us hopped a train into Manhattan.
And so began my basic overview of the island.
We got off the train at Times Square, which has to be seen to be believed. It is the most comprehensive hub of consumerism. From here we walked towards Central Park and skimmed the edge of this as we turned towards 5th Avenue. We hit FAO Schwartz, the famous toy store with the big piano. There are so many things I could mention, but mostly I just want to tell you that you can make your own Muppet there. Yes, I already knew this, but I was not prepared for the excellence that is a Whatnot. Want one. Still, after hugging the giant plush puppies goodbye we dragged ourselves away and continuedon, when Tiffany & Co came into sight.
I stood in awe for a brief minute… It’s an impressive building, ok? And in we went. I need to point out that we had an amazing experience with the staff. Everyone was very helpful and keen to make sure we saw the Tiffany diamond. (It’s really pretty and sparkly and yellow, by the way). On the third floor I found what I was looking for and built myself a necklace from three separate pieces… Dog tag chain, “Please return to…” heart, and a classic vintage-look key. It’s so pretty. On the way down to ground level in the elevator, the operator stopped at “Level 2, diamonds… Woo.” (Yes, he said woo). Anyway, I decided it might be a bit dangerous to leave the safety of the elevator, breathed deeply, and continued on down to exit in the pleasant haze of someone who has looked at (and bought) pretty things.
The retail experiences coming thick and fast, we made our way to Abercrombie & Fitch, a store the boys were keen to get back to, and I soon found out why! A velvet rope leads to the door, which is surrounded by at least four very attractive boys in red flannel shirts and jeans; behind them an even hotter boy without a shirt is available for photos. Inside smelt like… well, like sexy man, to be frank. And the male staff indoors managed to keep up with those on the door. Get it? Throw in loud music and the ambience of an upscale nightclub… Well. There’s not much more to say.
And so we walked, taking in sights such as the Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central Station, and Bryant Park where we kind of crashed. We sat and people watched and listened to public piano, before deciding to go to the East Village for a couple of drinks and dinner.
We stopped at an 80s inspired dive called Library. Clearly a “local” hangout, it was dark and a little dirty with what was obviously spontaneous and welcomed graffiti on the interior walls. The walls were lined with books and at the end of the room was a screen playing 80s classics. While we were there, I caught the end of The Lost Boys and the beginning of The Dark Crystal. They also had a Ms Pac-Man machine. I entered with caution; I left feeling all nostalgic for the 1980s.
For dinner, we stopped at a great vegetarian restaurant called Kate’s Joint on Avenue B. The waiter was somewhat amusingly surly, the food was pretty great, and I managed to eat my bodyweight in shared sides and a super vegie burger.
Stopping only to get Baskin Robbins we made our way home. Sore feet, tired head, totally pumped!
Looks like I’m going to have to write these one day at a time… So much to say.
Loads and loads of love…JC xx
0 comments:
Post a Comment