After a late night watching the unfolding story of an unexpected Trump win, we wake to the news he has won. Wow. Media reports abound mostly displaying shock. How did so many people get it wrong. Or like Brexit, did the media talk cause the result. Who knows.
Whatever happens we start our four weeks and four days in NYC with the same sense of excitement and awe at this mad and magical place.
Our room, on the tenth floor, is wonderful, but one of the lifts is being serviced and the second lift (there are only two) may be out of action for some servicing as well. Hmmm. Ten flights of stairs. That’ll get the Fitbit working!
After a lazy morning we head out. The weather, warm, overcast and perfect for a day hitting the streets refamiliarising ourselves with some favorite places.
We get to the lift lobby and both lifts are broken. Ten flights down, let’s hope they are working when we get back. We leave our building and turn right to head into Times Square. The massive Toys R Us store on our corner is gone, GAP will be opening in 2017. The good thing about this is the myriad cartoon characters chasing you for a selfie are also gone.
Times Square itself is quieter than we can remember. It’s a bit wet, but still quiet.
We head off to AT & T for a SIM card, grab a wrap and orange juice for breakfast and setup our phone. Metro cards are next on our list.
We then jump on the subway and head downtown to the East village. I’ve been reading about a cool shaver shop recently, so we track down Harry’s Corner Store. We pop in and pick up a nice new razor and some blades $2 each. A lot cheaper than we pay at home for blades, so over priced.
We then grab some tea from David’s Tea. Cheese from Murray’s Cheese. We then head into Bosie Tea Parlour for a full Tea service. We sit and chat to the staff and relax for a while. The rain falls slowly outside as we watch the afternoon slide by. So relaxing, sipping tea in the warmth of this little haven we’ve been visiting for years.
We eventually drag ourselves away and catch the subway back to Midtown. We pop back to our room, yes the lift is working, to pick up some vouchers for tickets for our bus trip tomorrow and head out to collect them. We wonder up 7th avenue to 47th street to collect the tickets. Popping into the odd store here and there. Muji, one of Mardi’s favourites, then Sephora, Mardi’s favourite, well this time for me! So we are only in there for three minutes as I grab some face washing stuff.
We head back to our hotel, news reports are suggesting protests in Times Square, so we opt to stay in for dinner. Some Mexican. Yum. Love the irony of that. We can hear protesting outside, yelling and lots of police sirens. After a while the noise abates as we settle in for the night.
