Mark and I decided to have a bit of a rest day because our feet were not holding out too well, even with the help of some Badger Foot Balm I was still feeling like the little mermaid must of when she walked on dry land. We visited the local post office and while trying to find it stumbled upon some excellent views of Manhattan from the local college on the banks of the Hudson River, I saw my first frat house, and imagined what it would be like to be an all-expenses-paid blond college student with a VW, a self-obsession and eating disorder (lots here!)
The Plaza Hotel.
It has been very hot and I was dreading coming back home to change into my dress to wear to the Plaza Hotel, where we had booked a High Tea. We managed to get to 59th Street, my composure still in tact, and sat down in The Palm Court Restaurant and enjoyed three courses of tiny delights, complemented with French champagne. If you'd like to treat yourself, this is an amazing New York experience. Scones hot out of the oven, miniature sandwiches which ooze exotic flavour, and sweet treats that taste like little clouds of exquisite-ness, all at a price much more reasonable than one would expect! (Well, cheaper than the US$850 a night for a room!) Not to mention the location, which over the years has had guests including F Scott Fitzgerald and The Beatles. The history!
Yes, we ate HERE!
Slightly tipsy from the (one glass of) champagne and drunk from the atmosphere, we walked out onto 5th Avenue where we visited FAO Schwartz and the creepy baby nursery, with it's very own matron, and the build-your-own hot wheels car station. I needed to visit a bathroom and stumbled into Bergdorf Goodman and Good golly! My head just started spinning at the possibilities here. Not the potential purchases, just at the fact that a place like this would even exist in this world! While trying to find the bathrooms I traversed through some of the most beautiful rooms full of some of the most divine designer goods I have ever laid eyes upon. Suddenly my fake Max Mara coat and Witchery dress was not enough. I was greeted constantly with 'How you doin?' and 'Can I help you dear?' People stepped out to serve me in a symphony, and all I was doing was looking for a bathroom! I ended up in the basement, in a pink tiled confection, with free product samples everywhere and a very thoughtful 'ladies sitting room.' If I ever come into money, I promise that you will find me back here, with a personal shopper in tow.
After dragging Mark back in to look at the diamond watches we walked down 5th Avenue and into Saks, where he had to hold my hand to stop me from buying a cream Marc Jacobs Bag, lined in purple fabric, with a big gold frog charm on it with gleaming ruby eyes. We took the express elevator to the shoe floor where the first pair of shoes I picked up (a pair of tan Chanel riding boots) was US$1350. Somewhere around there my bubble burst and I knew it wasn't worth teasing myself any longer, at some point I would surely give in to these worldly delights! So we walked through Rockerfeller Plaza bound for the The Broadhurst Theatre to see the play Equus, with Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths.
Yes, I saw his willy!
The play was nothing short of amazing in my humble opinion, and an excellent career move for Daniel Radcliffe, who pulled off his (very difficult) role most convincingly. I believe the other main character, Martin Dysart, played by Richard Griffiths is just as crucial in the success of the play and I am still thinking about it all today. Being in New York really has been a one-off opportunity to see a production such as this and I rue Sydney's distance from this source of quality and exciting entertainment!
I came back home happy and exhausted, a bit of a sparkle in my eye. I really could do the very same thing all over again today, and tomorrow, in fact, every day for a month! For fear of American immigration reading this, I shouldn't say it, but I now understand why people come to America, and STAY.
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