Delighted with the location of the hotel on W57th Street, just a few minutes walk from most of the Midtown highlights: Central Park, Fifth Avenue, Broadway, Times Square are all very accessible.
Having promised myself a visit to the renowned B&H Photo store which is to photography equipment as Hamley’s is to toys, I was very happy to discover that it was an easy walk from the hotel, but less pleased to discover that they did not have stock of the charger I needed! Second-best camera to the fore!! The service didn’t disappoint, though, despite the warning that row assistants would be less than helpful. For me, they were as goods any others we dealt with in the city, with a certain New York off-handedness. They certainly tried to help. Though it was strange to see a row of cash desks and many information points manned by Hassidic Jews with their ringlets and traditional dress!
That doesn’t mean we bought nothing! The shop is a veritable treasure trove over three floors with everything the film, digital or video photographer might need ( except my charger!!) and, of course, the price in $$$ is less than it would be in £££ in the UK. We simply succumbed to temptation – but not to excess.
By the time we walked there and had a good mooch around the effects of the journey the previous day had begun to set in and we were both ready for a lazy afternoon.
First, though, came our initiation into simple American food. We found a very basic, but very tasty cafe called ‘Burgers and Cupcakes’ – neither of us had either! My cajun chicken sandwich and Somjit’s Caesar salad
were both delicious. She loved the garlicky mayo! This was the inspiration for trying as many different types of food as we could on the journey.
A long siesta and an opportunity to catch up on the first day’s play at Wimbledon took care of the afternoon before we ventured out to find food again. Not feeling much like walking far we turned on to Tenth Avenue and found a lovely Turkish restaurant called Hanci. The atmosphere and decor were reminiscent of Le Spice in Chiang Mai and we both delighted in the food. Must remember fresh apricots stuffed with almonds and cream and scattered with pistachios – yum!!
By the evening the searing heat of the city had become more bearable, but after a quick visit to the corner deli, we were more than happy to make the most of our well-appointed room before the first of many reunions planned for the next few weeks.
Living the Journey 