In a panic, I contacted 'cousin' O'Leary who assured me between her daughters and herself that I would have something to wear. I went over for my fittings and discovered some fashionable tops and jackets. Then off to the mall for a pair of black pants. Whew! Packing on Monday, I realized I didnt have closed toe black shoes that I can actually walk in...so open toe it is - with Mark's black socks.
It was an arduous trip, a 2 1/2 hr flight that ended up taking 6 hours due to weather in NY. We ended up in Baltimore for a large part of the night. Waiting in the long cab line at LaGuardia, I heard 'the airport is now closed. All passengers must leave the building'. It was 1:30am and the airport was full of people just arriving after the delays. But I finally got to my funky SoHo hotel (over $400/night) a few hours before I needed to get up again.
I raced back after work each evening so that I could explore. Wow, SoHo has definately changed since I lived over here.
Here's what I found:
- Shops, bars and restaurants every where. The neighborhood is no longer edgy, but upscale gentrified. I walked to the Bowery which used to be walking to the edge of hell - but there I was with well dressed young people walking on the sidewalk. Granted, there were some very dark, scary men standing in the doorway of what looked like a club with no windows, lights or name. I didn't hang around to investigate.
- A restaurant that sells only rice pudding, in different flavors like coconut, almond, chocolate, raspberry.
- Streets busy with mostly young people...in their 20's. Where do they get the money to live or even eat here?
- A shop of chocolate powders from all over the world.
- my taxi driver helping out another driver who was lost by telling her to follow him as he led her part of the way to her destination...on my fare
- The owner of a bakery handing out free pastries when a customer didnt pick up their purchase
- A shop called 'the worlds best chocolate cake' which is about 10ft wide and serves...chocolate cake (milk and dark) and coffee.Not a heavy chocolate cake - its 3 layers of baked meringue-like chocolate with chocolate mousse fillings and chocolate ganache topping.
- An elegant young woman riding her bike to work in the morning in black slacks and a short sleeved lined white lace top. She slides off her bike to walk it into her office when I notice her stunning blouse is...inside out with the tag waving in the breeze.
- Restaurant gave me free glass of wine when the bottle was empty before the glass was fully filled.
- Tried Pinkberry frozen yogurt - always wondered about them after their american express small business ads
- Many non-native speaking people, mostly from Europe (the value of the Euro brings them in) and from Russia. Did Russia kick out their twenty-somethings to the US? What is going on with Russia?
- Very personable and friendly people - like you'd expect to find in a small town, not a big city
- Cab drivers were friendly and not wierd.
- JFK requires you to check your bags up to 1 hour before the flight, or else you can't check your bag!
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