best of new york

What a fabulous city! In ten days we have walked most of Manhattan - it is the best way to experience the richness of this place. We stayed in a quiet little sublet in Chelsea and wandered up and down the treelined side streets so we got to know our neighbourhood.

We ate breakfast at Pastis in the Meatpacking District (top right), rode the subway (bottom left) home each day when our feet were tired from walking. We sat in the reading room in the New York Public Library (one of my favourite experiences), visited MoMA, the Guggenheim and a host of edgy galleries in Chelsea.

Every day it seemed that we just wandered from one fabulous cultural experience to another. Walking down Mulberry St through Chinatown on a sunny Sunday afternoon we ended up in Columbus Park, the meeting place for Chinese locals where groups of men sat together at tables playing checkers while women sat at others playing cards or chatting. In a raised rotunda with open arched windows, we watched group practise tai chi. Across the road was a colourful collection of shopfronts with the classic New York fire escape painted in a vibrant red. Such a contrast to the subdued hues of further uptown.

We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, discovered The Strand bookstore, stumbled into an Italian cafe where they made the most delicious pannini and where the wine was bought to the table in a tiny carafe and swirled into crystal wine glasses too big to hold in one hand. We ate tuna carpaccio and fig and jamon with gorgonzola for afternoon tea (luxurious!) and found the best cafe latte in NYC at Grumpy's on West 20th.

We have had the time of our lives. (If you're interested, here are a handful of photos http://picasaweb.google.com.au/totalbalancekate/NewYork#).