We all woke up really late and decided we were going to get OUT of midtown to experience the less touristy parts of Manhattan. We caught a train to the upper west side. catching a train is so easy and The underground tunnels are an incredible engineering feat. for some reason they didnt use concrete as the main structural material in these tunnels. Instead this underground universe is a labyrinth of hot riveted steel 'I' section columns and beams. The trains come every 5minutes stat. and the stations are numbered like the streets the are on so you never need a map and you can never get lost- the casual order of this city is absolutely incredible- its absolutely incredible how the logistical magnitude of a city of over 8million people is so fluid and ordered- Sydney struggles with a population of 150 000 and it was designed over 150 years after New York City.
We came out of the tunnels on 86th street and instantly we felt like we were in another country. You dont realise how touristy Times Square is till you hit the suburbs. It was a beautiful serenity in this area, rows of 12- 15 storey apartment blocks which are full of old charm and character. Expressed windows and facade extremities, with the characteristic cast iron fire escapes linking the floors.
We went to a well known Jewish Deli called BARNEY GREENGRASS. Jewish deli's are very traditional new york food and they sell only kosher food. This means that they cant sell dairy and meat, so they sell all types of smoked, cured and pickled fish. We all ordered bagels with cream cheese and different types of fish- Stugeon, cured salmon and smoked salmon. All the fish is cured and smoked on premises so the quality was amazing- the fish taste was fresh and not overburdened with the taste of smoke. The Sturgeon was a definite stand out- it was a subtle cured fish which is thick but delicate and went perfect with the cream cheese. The bagels were the best yet! they were much more dense but still very soft and had a sweet maltiness which made it taste incredibly authentic.
We than strolled south looking for a bargain shopping outlet called 'FILENES BASEMENT'. The store stocks designer brands at well under 60% off- and because this particular was going out of buisness (and you hear that a LOT around here but they actually were going out of buisness- they were selling the clothes stands) we got an additional 30- 40% off. AND THAN because the checkout lady thought i was a member i got another 20% off- THATS 120% OFF designer brands- I MADE MONEY!! seriously- the savings were absolutely unequivocally and unimaginably low. I bought heaps of work shirts, a couple of suits, heaps of jumpers and cardigans- ALL OF THEM DESIGNERS like Calvin Klein, Hillfiger, DKNY, nautica. The girls stuff was no where near as nice as the guys stuff.
I completely retract my previous statements about shopping- its AWESOMEEEEE (thanks Jodi).
LOVEEE it.!!!
ReplyDeletexx steph