No trip to NY would be complete without hitting the shops, so after a zoom through Macy’s, dodging the predatory cosmetics saleswomen, I started down Fifth Avenue with a mix of window-shopping and a few sorties into Bloomingdales and Saks and more dodging of extremely predatory cosmetics saleswomen. What is it – do I really look like I need their help that badly that they just about tackle me as I dodge past??? I suppose they must all be on commission, so you cannot walk down an aisle “Just looking, thanks” without being accosted and cajoled in a most off-putting fashion. I might actually have bought something if they had left me alone. However, more looking, then fainting at the prices on the tags achieved no purchases, so I wandered off the Avenue into St Patrick’s Cathedral during the crowded lunch-time Mass. (Rather a valuable bit of real estate, I imagine...). It is a beautiful cathedral, and seems quite a “lived-in” church with workers popping in, not like just a tourist attraction as some cathedrals can seem.
Further on down the Avenue is the wonderful New York Public Library whose Reading Room I had been told was a must-see, so that was my next stop. The Reading Room was indeed beautiful, with amazing ceilings, but the star of my visit was the amazing exhibition of mediaeval illuminated manuscripts. There were dozens of these, some religious books, some history books, map books and atlases, and all hand-decorated in exquisite colour and detail – and this is just a part of the library’s treasure trove, only on display for a few months. I snuck some photos despite the camera ban, as I just could not resist. Another of those surprising treats........
That night was dinner at Lo Scalco in Tribeca with an old friend from Auckland, Ross Collard. Two star Michelin restaurants are indeed a special treat for the country-cousin-come-to-town!!!!!
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