NEW YORK DAY 3: Shopping Day.
Waking up was slightly painful. I was exhausted but at the same time wanted to do EVERYTHING.
We made our way out, after grabbing some mixed berries at the coffee shop downstairs, towards the subway. Our goal: Chelsea/Greenwich Village area for some shopping. Missed the sentence in the guide that warned us how easily it was to get lost in these areas.
**NOTE: When taking the New York subway it is important to make sure your subway is going in the right direction. It may be the right train, but you don’t want to go uptown, if you need to go downtown.**
This is where we got lost the first time. We couldn’t find the train going “DOWNTOWN”, for some reason each one was going UPTOWN…. Well time goes by and we find it. We get on and I don’t know if it was because it was a weekend, or if we were on an express train, but this line wasn’t making a regular stop. We had to decide which of the surrounding stops we rather get off on. So we get off and are now aimed at getting to Bleeker Street.
**NOTE: To condense this story I am skipping all the corners we stopped at to relocate ourselves**
We come across this adorable street. It was made up of brown brick walk-ups, with black wrought iron fencing around the property, as well as the lowest level windows. I could actually hear birds and the trees arched over the street. I can only imagine how much this property costs, but I am dying to live here.
We then passed some really nice gardens on the corners of some of the streets, there was usually a women collecting donations (she probably took care of the property), and most were attached to a church.
The book was right, the streets were crazy! After lunch, we ended up walking the complete wrong way down Bleeker Street. Sure we saw a pair of cute Great Danes but we wasted some time. Once we got closer we found Rocco’s. Rocco’s is a pastry shop that Martha Stewart raves about. My mom said that their pistachio cannoli was infamous. Naturally, we got some and I indulged in a three chocolate mousse cup.
Continuing to shop, we saw an array of flower boutiques and small shops. Most of these shops were more high-end, however you can easily find some amazing individual items.
To my disappointment, I didn’t find anything worthy of my financial investment.
Next we stopped by the hotel to drop off our things.
**NOTE: If you have a hotel fridge that is stocked, nowadays it is most likely weight sensitive. My mother not knowing this, removed the contents so she could cool her cannoli. She was then billed $60 for the imported beer she removed, and had to spend time explaining at the front desk.**
Next we decided to wander down 5th Ave. To our surprise there were some reasonable stores. H&M proved itself above my expectations. This was an entirely different store if you compare it to the Windsor or even Michigan locations. The merchandise was 70% nice, as opposed to the usual 25%-30% being decent………..Spent 1 hour shopping these three stories.
Tommy Hilfiger had a great window display had these great white and globe inflated beach balls in their windows. I had to stop in and ask if I could buy one.………………….. Fail.
Next was Zara. My mother had a field day in here. At this point my feet are absolutely killing from the last two days of walking.
Forever 22. We all know this gold mine takes digging to find those diamonds- Another hour here.
After covering 4 stores it was dark and dinner time, we dropped off our bags and went back to Grand
Central Station. I loved this restaurant, it may have been a little on the pricey side but it had a live band
playing, and the entertainment of people getting off the trains. For dinner to sit on the side with the dressed table you had to pay $52 for the coursed meals. However if you set on the bar side, without the table linen you could order à la carte, get the same music, same food and the same view. I had the Lamb, my mother had the Scottish Salmon, the portions were smaller but AMAZING.
**NOTE: Charlie Palmer’s— Metrazur < ——- the name of the restaurant. I just Googled it.
After this I struggled in the lobby with crappy internet to blog.
Love Always…. Lindsay.
