apple, big, the
After a long and eventful journey (I'll spare you the details, but it involved fog in Vienna plus a tyre that needed to be changed on our plane) I landed in snowy, sleety New York on Tuesday evening. By the time the shuttle bus had navigated its way through all the stranded cars whose drivers obviously weren't prepared for this kind of weather it was night and I fell into my hotel bed, positively knackered.
The next day, I worked at the Firm's NYC branch, impressively spread out over 4 floors of a downtown office building. Its female "inmates" looked like extras in Sex and the City, all high heels, highlighted hair and teeth so bleached or capped they were blinding. The males, mostly of the engineer variety, were rather grungey in comparison. Just as well I don't work there all the time, I'd probably explode after a week, what with free snacks beckoning at every corner. After I'd dumped my laptop at the hotel, I did some bargain shopping at Century 21, which I'd expected to be a bit more glamorous. In fact, it was pretty tacky, but bargains there were aplenty if you could be bothered to dig through piles of clothing, which I wasn't really. I can see why they chose "fashion worth fighting for" as their slogan. It did seem a pretty physical exercise, a bargain to be earned. Apart from a LeSportsac bag I only bought some small gifts.
On Thursday, l'Italiana picked me up from my hotel and after a day of power-shopping (me) we transferred my bulky suitcase and numerous purchases of the day (I only say: Banana Republic. Sale) 100 streets uptown to her place in a cab. I immediately fell in love with that apartment - shiny pine floors, wonderfully old-fashioned windows with brass handles and cute radiator covers to mention just some of the details. Due to her by now quite impressive girth and the fact that she generally doesn't possess my shopaholic-stamina (thinking of that, very few people do...), l'Italiana usually joined me after my shopathons, although she patiently succumbed to being dragged through Macy's, fortified only by the fact that she could sit down in the spacious changing rooms I seeked in 15 minute intervals. Speaking of shopping, thanks to the good exchange rate, the following made it into my bags (customs officials please skip the next lines), to mention only the big purchases:
2 pairs of jeans
1 bag
1 pair of black trousers
3 t-shirts
1 blouse
2 dresses
2 jumpers
1 silver Tiffany's pendant
several make-up articles
presents for upcoming birthdays
etc.
etc.
Yes, it's a tough job single-handedly boosting the American economy, but someone's gotta do it, right?
Since my last visit in 1994, some things had changed. For example, the "don't walk" on traffic lights was replaced by a red hand:
The next day, I worked at the Firm's NYC branch, impressively spread out over 4 floors of a downtown office building. Its female "inmates" looked like extras in Sex and the City, all high heels, highlighted hair and teeth so bleached or capped they were blinding. The males, mostly of the engineer variety, were rather grungey in comparison. Just as well I don't work there all the time, I'd probably explode after a week, what with free snacks beckoning at every corner. After I'd dumped my laptop at the hotel, I did some bargain shopping at Century 21, which I'd expected to be a bit more glamorous. In fact, it was pretty tacky, but bargains there were aplenty if you could be bothered to dig through piles of clothing, which I wasn't really. I can see why they chose "fashion worth fighting for" as their slogan. It did seem a pretty physical exercise, a bargain to be earned. Apart from a LeSportsac bag I only bought some small gifts.
On Thursday, l'Italiana picked me up from my hotel and after a day of power-shopping (me) we transferred my bulky suitcase and numerous purchases of the day (I only say: Banana Republic. Sale) 100 streets uptown to her place in a cab. I immediately fell in love with that apartment - shiny pine floors, wonderfully old-fashioned windows with brass handles and cute radiator covers to mention just some of the details. Due to her by now quite impressive girth and the fact that she generally doesn't possess my shopaholic-stamina (thinking of that, very few people do...), l'Italiana usually joined me after my shopathons, although she patiently succumbed to being dragged through Macy's, fortified only by the fact that she could sit down in the spacious changing rooms I seeked in 15 minute intervals. Speaking of shopping, thanks to the good exchange rate, the following made it into my bags (customs officials please skip the next lines), to mention only the big purchases:
2 pairs of jeans
1 bag
1 pair of black trousers
3 t-shirts
1 blouse
2 dresses
2 jumpers
1 silver Tiffany's pendant
several make-up articles
presents for upcoming birthdays
etc.
etc.
Yes, it's a tough job single-handedly boosting the American economy, but someone's gotta do it, right?
Since my last visit in 1994, some things had changed. For example, the "don't walk" on traffic lights was replaced by a red hand:
I hope it's not a sign of growing illiteracy...
View from the 15th floor of the Firm's on rainy Wednesday and from MoMA:
Times Square by day and night:
5th Avenue shopping. The entrance to the Apple flagship store reminded me of the Louvre pyramid:
posted at 6:37 PM
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