Here we are again, then…

This pre-Christmas shopping jaunt has become a bit of a tradition for us.  The first year, we snook away in the depths of a miserable November, hoping for a little lightness as Mummy failed to recover as hoped from her stroke.  We took advantage of remarkably good prices for flights, treating ourselves to the luxury of Upper Class for the first time.  We were amazed to find few people travelling that weekend because of the Thanksgiving holiday, cheap hotel rooms for the same reason and unbelievably deep discounts on top of discounts in the shops.  The start of the Christmas season in the USA is so delightful, too.

It was a little dreary when we arrived yesterday but the forecast is good and from reading emails from friends back home, considerably warmer here than there.  Today, sunshine is forecast with a chill wind, tomorrow the wind will drop, we’re told, and it will be a glorious day.  We’ll see…

Of course, it’s warm in the shops, so warm last evening, that people were wearing T shirts, making us look very strange wrapped up in coats and scarves.  We took advantage of some of those offers, after all, 30% off the whole purchase in my favourite store just couldn’t be refused.  There was 40% off everything in the shop opposite too, where lovely twinkly cashmere gloves and scarves were in the window, tempting me in.

I can see, it’s going to be a fun day today!

Meanwhile, Edward’s at home, holding the fort and driving himself in my car to a party tonight.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the snow holds off.

Less structure – or more?

I’m thinking here about the Big Bambu which we saw yesterday morning…

Our last breakfast of the trip savoured and off we went again, enjoying another great late summer morning in the city.  Our hotel on 44th is ideally placed for everything and a short step to the bus stop, a ride uptown on the M2 and we were there at the Met in no time.

We’ve been so lucky with the weather this time.  It doesn’t really stop us from doing what we want, but being here under blue skies lifts the spirits so.

We had just a few hours so Edward zoomed off in the direction of his favourite Byzantine and Classical rooms, Mark and I made our way to the American Wing.

I can’t visit the Met without seeing the Tiffany windows

taking a close look at his drawings

and designs on furniture.

We spent a while in the room sets – this one from Richmond, VA.

However, it’s the stained glass windows which really make the heart sing.

The colours and textures within each small piece of glass are altogether breathtaking.

There were not too many people around, either, so we were lucky to have time and space to enjoy all the treasures as we wanted.

Time to admire the gorgeous arts and crafts era ceramics.

To savour those beautiful shapes and lustrous glazes.

After which we were meeting Edward up on the roof, firstly to admire the view, but then…

The Big Bambu!

The brothers are still working on this amazing structure and though we had no time to book a place on one of the tours, we could still walk amongst it, beneath the walkway where a guided tour was taking place.

Altogether an extraordinary installation, it soared above our heads, our beyond the parapet of the building and was growing outwards as more lengths of bamboo were being prepared and tied onto the framework.

Securely held together with polypropylene cord of varying thickness, it brought pictures of Asian scaffolding to mind, of building sites in Hong Kong where skyscrapers were constructed using this very technique.  The whole installation had an elegance and lightness and I regretted the fact that I couldn’t hover above it to get a glimpse of the whole assemblage.

Before we left, there was time for more conventional art.  The European galleries were more crowded by now, but there’s always time and space for  a little Van Gogh.

Some found it too much though, and curled up for a snooze!

For us, it was time to leave.  To make our way through the traffic jams created by the UN Assembly, under the watchful eye of New York’s Finest.

On arriving at JFK in plenty of time for our 10pm flight home, I half-seriously asked if there might be three seats on an earlier flight.  “Seven pm suit you?” was the reply.  So, after a speedy snack in the lounge we were away and six hours later woke to find ourselves about to land at Heathrow ahead of schedule.

Bless British Airways!

The Bead Crawl

(aptly named…) 

Our first stop was a familiar haunt, Tinsel Trading.  Full of bits and bobs, artfully arranged and presented, we soon got into the groove!

Had I not already got more than my fair share of heavy books and magazines in my suitcase, this beautifully photographed book would have found its way home with me.

Leaving it in place, we crossed 37th St to our next port of call, York Beads.

This was interesting.  I must have walked up and down this street many times, been into Tinsel Trading and walked straight past this incredible bead shop.

Not any more.  A great stock of all kinds of interesting beads at very reasonable prices.  Good place!

Back across the road was City Beads, another treasure trove of all kinds of Delicas, seed beads and crystals.  Surely, I couldn’t have walked past this shop front without noticing it?  Perhaps these stores have all spruced up their shop windows recently, to attract more attention?

Final store along 37th was Margola, where there was a fine selection of cut stones alongside the cheapest seed beads I’ve seen, in every colour imaginable.

Thank you, Bad Cat Designs for a few more additions to my NYC address book!

Our next stop was an old favourite, Toho beads on 6th Avenue.  I had bought a cheapish pendant which had a few “diamonds” in the design.  As soon as I wore it, a couple dropped out, so I was in search of replacements.  The assistants in Toho are excellent and sure enough, I left with exactly what I was looking for.

Hoping that this lady, dressed as a Hershey’s Kiss wasn’t being abducted by the two gentlemen marching her across 7th Avenue, we left the bead stores behind and headed for Mood.  Never an easy place to find, because it doesn’t have a shop front, we joined a crowd of fashionable types and waited for the cranky metal lift to take us to the 3rd floor heaven.

Busy as always, what we were looking for was right in front of us. 

But oh my goodness, there was so much more…

and more.  Rows and rows of rolls of fabric like this, every colour, fibre imaginable.  We bought what we needed and worked our weary way back to the hotel.

We had dinner to look forward to!

Monday morning

8.30am, at the junction of 6th and 42nd St.

The street vendors are wheeling their carts into place.  People are rushing into the office.  I’m waiting for the M7 bus which will take me to the Upper West Side.

I know the subway is quicker, but I’m a bus fan.  I love to people watch and the people watching on the bus is somehow in an altogether different league!  This morning, I watch as one lady of a certain age boards the bus and opens all the windows, after which she asks if everyone’s ok with that.  All round muttering suggests that everyone most certainly is not ok with that, but apart from a couple of people who move seats, nothing is said or done.

Except that two minutes later, she complains that it’s a little breezy and moves away from the window, which prompts another lady of a certain age to remind her that it was she who opened the window in the first place!  Neither looks at the other as they speak – they address the whole bus as they continue to mutter about one another for the rest of my journey!

But soon, I’m here, at the junction of 96th and Amsterdam, where I’m going to walk towards the park and north along Columbus a short distance, to my target destination.  It’s a beautiful morning!

I walk along, wondering about the folks who live in these small brownstone apartments.  What would it be like to live here, with no need for a car and living the city life?

In no time at all, I’m here, at Michaels.  Though I’ve been to many of these stores, it’s the first time here, for this is a relatively new development in NYC.  I spend an hour or so looking around, free from any pressure to hurry or be quick.  There are irresistible offers – 40% off a die cutter for example – but I’m strong and bear the size of my suitcase in mind!  The staff are friendly and the store unusually tidy – sad to say that Michaels stores I’ve known have not been the tidiest or most organised of places!

I haven’t resisted everything in there though, and having made a few purchases, I make my way back to the downtown bus stop, outside Whole Foods.

A couple of years after seeing these 2D barcodes for the first time, they seem to be popping up a little more frequently: here for a discount coupon.  Good idea!

My bus is soon at Columbus Circle where I’m meeting Jordi. This trip’s interesting passenger was a lady who claimed a seat by pushing her shopping trolley to the side of it, but preferred to stand elsewhere on the bus.  Woe betide anyone who dared consider approaching that seat, however, because they would get the sharp end of her tongue as she bellowed from wherever on the bus she happened to be that “I’m sitting there”!  The other passengers watched on, bemused, like me.

My photo is too dark to reveal the small detail of the large bronze figure which draws the attention of many, these gentlemen included.  I was more interested in the shop beside it!

I couldn’t resist a look in another favourite store, Eileen Fisher. 

Neither could I resist a couple of the lovely things which were inside!

After a quick run into WholeFoods, I stood admiring the view and heard my name.  Jordi was there too – what a grand place to meet!

We were women on a mission now.  We hot footed it back to the hotel to drop off a couple of packages, then headed straight out with a list in hand.

Once we’d had some lunch, of course…

(to be continued)

Structures

Sometimes, when I review the photos I’ve taken throughout the day, a clear theme emerges.  Today was one such day.

Edward was keen to see inside Grand Central Station, so after our Red Flame breakfast, we walked over Fifth Avenue and left the sunshine outside.  Such a magnificent building, especially at this time of the morning, when there is peace and quiet.

Back outside, we spent time admiring the finer details, enjoying the old and new.

Sometimes, both together!

The peace and quiet doesn’t last long in this city though, Sunday or not, there is business to be done.

We were delighted to have the company of Jordi on our afternoon adventure and were glad that Mark’s business in Pittsburgh didn’t detain him from a bit of fun too – the four of us set out on the subway to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon in the fresh air.

The subway station offered a clue to our intended destination.

We love the way the art installations in the stations reflect the location, particularly so in this case.  Have you guessed yet?

Along with thousands of other tourists and New Yorkers alike, we set off to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  It’s a narrow path, half of which is set aside for cyclists, some of whom were travelling at an alarming speed.

The structure is amazing, the patterns and networks of cable fascinating.

Not to mention the view.

Nearing the Brooklyn end of the bridge, the crowds thinned out a little, allowing us to dawdle a bit more, to enjoy and appreciate the engineering skills which had built this fantastic bridge.

I especially liked the plaque commemorating the role of Emily Roebling in the building of the bridge.

Reaching the Brooklyn side, feeling footsore and weary, we stood a short while to admire the mosaic sign in the subway station before catching the train back to Union Square, where structures of an altogether different kind had materialised since Friday evening.

These are sukkahs, built as part of the Jewish Sukkot holiday and they were altogether rather striking, standing there in the square.

One, in particular, caught my eye, with the hint of the rather special patterns and details inside

All of which was a somewhat surprising end to another lovely day. 

Oh, and of course we ate dinner!