Moving Day

We had to move out of our apartment today.

It was always planned that after day five in New York that we would be moving to new accommodation.  Our rental agent Marton had told us that we would need to move from East 37th street to a different apartment on the lower East side.  We were initially happy to do so, but after the hell hole he put us into in midtown, Marton does not enjoy our confidence anymore, so we have cut loose from him, leaving him $900 short in payment which we withheld on day 1 pending repairs to our accommodation which never happened.  Fortunately, this, along with the balance owing on the second apartment which we also withheld, gave us enough cash to book into a hotel for the last two nights.  We did in fact move to the Lower East side into the Holiday Inn on Delancey Street.

We are delighted with the new location. It is in SoHo, very close to Little Italy and Chinatown. The housing is older and really interesting, and the shopping is GREAT. The female members of our party are in Heaven, with the designer shops just a walk away, but even the guys seem to have found a bargain so far, with well priced clothing and shoes.

Lunch in Mott Street in Chinatown was excellent and very cheap.

We then ventured into the financial district of downtown. Wall Street was abuzz and security was everywhere.  We managed to get a closeup of the nether regions of the famed Bull of Wall Street, and I think that everyone in the party fondled his rather large cahunas as it is said to bring financial gain.

A short walk away was the Freedom Tower -built to replace the twin towers destroyed on September 11th 2001. The new main tower is a wonder to behold, and when the precinct is finished with all seven new towers, it will be unbelievable.  The memorial ponds are quite moving, with the names of all victims engraved and surrounding the ponds.  The crowds flocking to see the memorials are enormous, and the security is just as tight as at the airport, with scanners and searches happening to everyone who goes in.

Even though the rain bucketed down for most of the day it did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the group, and we all agreed that the move to SoHo has been a real positive, as it has given us a completely different perspective of New York.   Parts of the area are certainly seedier than Midtown where we were prviously based, but it has so many interesting places.  One of these is the Atlas coffees shop on Clinton Strret just two minutes from the hotel.  The coffee is the best we have had in the US, and the bagels and croissants for breakfast are addictive. This place has quickly become or local. The other local we are intending to try is The Donnybrook Pub, almost as close to us, where happy hour goes from 11.30am to 8pm.  I hope we have time to do everything.

The rain has signalled the start of what appears to be a cold spell coming, so we may yet get to use the coats, gloves and scarves that we have brought hi us but not used yet.

Tuesday was rounded off by a very pleasant meeting of all parties in the Retro Bar in the hotel, and our barman Edward treated us well. He also had a slight windfall when he was prepared to bet us (Rod) double or nothing on a coin toss for the tip. Needless to say Rod called wrongly, and Edward pocketed a $30 tip.  He has, however promised us the chance to get even tomorrow night. My guess that he will win another $30 and be very sad to see us leave on Thursday.

Wednesday the girls are headed for the Staton Island Ferry and then more retail therapy - this time at Macys.  The evening will be a visit to The Donnybrook or the 230-5th rooftop bar prior to a trip uptown to see Mama Mia.

Cheers.