New York - a different view
Date Posted: Sunday, March 11, 2007Author: Christen Pears
Central Park in the snow
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It wasn’t quite as I’d planned. For months I’d been psyching myself up for a full-on Sex and the City-inspired trip, following the Manolo-clad footsteps of Carrie Bradshaw and her friends. But when my friend dropped out at the last minute, I had no choice but to hook up with my parents for a week. They were going to New York for their wedding anniversary and I’d been planning to meet up with them anyway but the thought of spending the entire week with them was worrying. How were we to accommodate such different tastes, not to mention budgets?
Accommodation
The first hurdle was accommodation. I’d been researching trendy, boutique hotels where my friend and I could drink cosmopolitans in the bar and meet potential Mr Bigs but when she pulled out I was left with just three weeks to find a half-decent hotel on a single girl’s budget. My parents’ hotel was too expensive and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend seven days in such close proximity – too many memories of childhood holidays. After a trawl through dozens of websites I settled on the Portland Square Hotel. A stone’s throw from Times Sqaure it would cost me just under $1,000. The only problem was that the reviews ranged from ‘basic but great location’ to ‘the worst place I’ve ever stayed. I wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy’. I gritted my teeth and booked.It was indeed a great location – W 47th street between Sixth Avenue and Times Square. It was also basic. The room was small and didn’t look as if it had been decorated for years but it was clean and for the price, I couldn’t really grumble.
Shopping
After a few months in Bermuda I was desperate to get stuck into some serious shopping, if only to stock up on some warm clothes for the week ahead. My mother wasn’t averse to the idea but there was no way my father was going to rummage through the rails looking for bargains. Fortunately he discovered the Heartland Brewery where he was able to indulge his real ale-loving tendencies. Meanwhile, my mother and I hit the shops.February is a good time for bargain hunters to visit New York. There are still plenty of sales on but new stock is arriving too. First stop was Century 21 – the downtown discount store I’d fallen in love with on my first trip to New York. This was followed by a visit to the Barney’s warehouse sale. I’d heard great things about the twice-yearly event but it had been on a week by the time we arrived and all the best buys had gone. Still, there were sales on at the department stores too and I picked up one or two bargains at Saks and Bergdorf Goodman. Of course I had to buy a pair of expensive shoes in honour of Carrie and her pals. Sadly they weren’t in the sale and were taxed to death when I arrived in Bermuda.
Seeing a show
Entertainment was another potential sticking point. We all wanted to see a show. I was dead keen on an opera while my mum favoured the ABBA musical Mamma Mia. We eventually settled on Wicked – the musical based on the Wizard of Oz that charts the life of the much-misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. It was certainly spectacular with some great performances but few memorable songs. With Sex and the City still at the back of my mind I was pleased to notice that the witch was played by Julia Murney who’d once had a minor role in my favourite show.
The one thing we did all agree on was spending an evening at the Village Vanguard, the legendary downtown jazz club. Monday night is set aside for the Village Vanguard Orchestra, whom I’d recently seen performing at the Bermuda Festival. I had been blown away by their big band sound and couldn’t wait to see them in their native environment. The Village Vanguard is a surprisingly small cellar-like room with formica tables and dark green walls covered in posters of all the greats who’ve played there over the years. It wasn’t quite what I’d expected but once the band started playing I forgot the dingy surroundings and enjoyed some of the finest jazz New York has to offer.
I did manage to get my opera fix in a slightly different form later in the week by visiting the temporary exhibition of Maria Callas’ stage jewels at the Metropolitan Opera House. Created by Swarovski, the stunning pieces were commissioned by the soprano for productions spanning her legendary career.
A different view
We’d all been to the Big Apple before and wanted to do something a little different this time. So instead of heading for Empire State Building, we made our way to the Top of the Rock – the observation deck at the Rockefeller Center. It was closed in 1986 while the famous Rainbow Room below was being renovated and only re-opened in 2005. Occupying the 67th to 70th floors, the area has been restored to its full art deco splendour and offers incredible 360 degree views across Manhattan.
My previous visits had been spent walking round museums but this time I was keen to get more of a feel for the city itself. We spent a day wandering downtown, starting at Washington Square and working our way through Greenwich Village, TriBeca and Meaypacking District. Differing from uptown Manhattan in architecture and atmosphere, this is where warehouses rub shoulders with brownstone mansions and dilapidated buildings are converted into trendy shops or apartment buildings seemingly overnight.
The weather was bitterly cold and although I’d missed the big storm by a week, it was still snowing. Central Park was transformed into a winter wonderland, complete with sledgers and ice skaters. My parents went for a walk while I wandered down Fifth Avenue, soaking up the atmosphere and drooling over the window displays in the designer stores. Maybe it wasn't Sex and the City but it was as close as I would get on this occassion and it proved that I'd had no reason to worry about my trip. In a city as diverse and as exciting as New York, there's something to keep everyone entertained.
Christen travelled to New York with JetBlue. The airline operates direct flights from Bermuda to JFK and will be launching a direct route to Boston on May 1. For more information visit www.jetblue.com.