Jesse and I just came back from NYC. The food, people, shopping, museums, and the architecture make for a  magnificent town. The post office and many office building are art-deco, and they look as solid as Mt. Rushmore. The churches are goth and so are some of the apartment buildings. This is all viewed by just walking to a destination.

Let’s shop –  first stop Canal Street. My fabulous friend and maid of honor, Melanie Farkas, and her darling husband, George, picked us up and took us to Canal Street. I thought that I wanted a fake purse. After viewing “Chanel“, “Gucci” and so many “Tory’s” I just didn’t want one anymore. They looked fake and I just couldn’t help but think about who made those purses and in what country and how old those children were. Happy to say I will stick with the real deal and not venture back to Canal Street. Lower East Side (LES) shopping included Funky Town and our old haunt Trash & Vaudeville on St. Mark’s Place. Took pics with Jimmy Webb,  manager and buyer for the past 30 years. Melanie and I used to shop at Manic Panic, Trash & Vaudeville and many of the other stores. I once bought a paper dress at Manic Panic. Punk Rock ruled! Other great and more sophisticated shopping was done in Soho, the Upper East Side and the Meatpacking District. The Meatpacking District is a cool area that leads to the High Line park.

Food! Our first night in town we dined at Babbo, everything was excellent. Guinea hen, octopus, fresh pasta and their signature Negroni. Les Halles was the perfect French brasserie with ambiance to spare and tender steak frites, Balthazer was another highlight with perfect coq au vin. Our last night we stumbled on Sauce, a very cool Italian restaurant on Rivington. Delicious and fun. Very old building with 3 foot pots in the middle of the bar area simmering away with delicious sauce. Highly recommended.

Also recommended is the Jeff Koons exhibit at the Whitney Museum. Take a bite out of the big apple next time you are in need of a vacation!