On Sunday I left Chicago and the boyfriend behind and settled in to a 20-hour train journey to New York city to hang out with Alana, a good friend from home. It was long, but I had good company with an Alaskan hippy and we chatted and played cards until we drew into Penn station, where, with a crunching headache, I summoned a cab and headed over to the hotel for dinner and a long-over due catch up with my friend.
So far this week, we’ve walked a very, very long way, managed to not get run over by crazy traffic and successfully navigated the grimy, grungy, ever-so-slightly confusing subway network. Here’s some of the other things we’ve done and seen…
The Met: Fantastic art museum, with a never-ending warren of galleries and rooms. The full-sized stone Egyptian sarcophagus was particularly cool.
Veteran’s Day Parade: We lined up on 5th to watch this parade go past. Took a shameful amount of time to connect the parade title with the day’s date (Nov 11th – it made a bit more sense once we’d added all that up). The parade was much more entertaining than the stuffy Westminster ceremony in London. First we had a procession of Harley Davidsons, then regiments from different areas of the military past and present, marching bands, floats and finally a stream of classic cars. Fun and engaging, but still managing to keep the deeper meaning of what it was all about.
Cool corners to eat: So far we’ve been to Serendipity, a beautiful, kitsch fairyland of a café, where we indulged in extreme ice-cream based food. Alana selected the chocolate cake sundae, and I chose a strawberry cheesecake one. Final result: sundaes 2 girls 0. Today, we went to the Clinton Street Bakery for brunch. It’s a delightful café in a lower east side neighbourhood that doesn’t look much, but this gem of a place was worth the trek and the wait. The best pancakes I’ve ever had. Period. Tomorrow we’re heading to the Alice in Wonderland café for some more fantastical food.
Empire State Building: High. Windy. Cold. Better done at dusk.
WTC site: A big building site. Come back in about five years.
Broadway: We saw Mary Poppins last night and it was awesome! We’re still singing the songs and the dance routines and sets were a visual/audio feast. We left feeling as sparkly as the lights around us.
Shopping: But of course! We’ve covered Macy’s, Century 21 and Saks, lots of 5th and much more. I indulged in another pair of jeans. Having found my “perfect fit” brand in Vancouver, it was only sensible that I should get another pair as I’ve never seen them in England. It’s exhausting though, and there is no chaos greater than women rifling through handbag sale boxes. Time to head back to the hotel…
I’m really enjoying girl time and re-visiting New York. Under the surface, though, I’m churning over my impending return to the UK. Bed time seems to be the time when Fi’s brain goes into obsession mode on the subject. Cocktails, I was reminded last night, are an excellent way of over-riding brain to fall straight asleep. Plans to repeat process tonight are afoot.
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