Travel Rogue

June 22, 2005

Uptown, Crosstown, Whatever

Today was crazy! Had three back-to-back meetings, all crosstown, uptown or downtown from the other. First stop was at a building right by Union Square. Easy, just jump on the 6, head uptown and I'm there with enough time to cop a squat and swap out my orange sherbert flipflops with a pair of BCBG heels minutes before the meeting. Next up, a meeting at a Times Square hotel. I cut through the Union Square Greenmarket to get to the subway, passing piles of organic produce, fresh flowers and herbs galore. Bushels of sugar snap peas looked so enticing, I briefly pondered quitting my job and starting a vegetable garden. I have a favorite apple stand on the north side of the market, so I bought two winesap apples and a cup of fresh apple cider ($2 total!) to accompany me crosstown. Thus far, the subway has been remarkably convenient. It's only a few blocks away from my hotel and there always seems to be a stop within steps of my destination. I've also never had to wait longer than five minutes for a transfer. (That's unheard of in Chicago.) While I was waiting to catch the crosstown L, I noticed a collection of tiny, whimsical bronze sculptures hanging from rafters, hiding in corners, crawling under gates. Turns out it's an art installation: Life Underground, Tom Otterness, 2001. Funny I never noticed that before. Wonder how many do pause and wonder in the crush of commute? Times Square meeting ran longer than expected, so I hopped a cab back across town to Park and 28th. Business lunch at Rice, a very funky Asian-Jamaican-Latin fusion spot where I had a salmon salad. The dressing was a bit heavy, drowning out the delicate mesclun taste, but my colleague's chicken wing appetizer smelled heavenly and the black rice with curry chicken looked gorgeous. Atkins aside, the place was packed for lunch. Strangely enough, conversation turned to barbeque. Must be getting trendy these days, all those shows on FoodTV Network must payoff. Finally free for five hours, I plunged back into the subway and hit Delancy St and the Lower East Side. The goal was to end up at Teany, a tiny tea house founded by Kelly Tisdale and Moby (I guess they were a couple, and are no longer?). Alas, when presented with a north-south decision, I opted south down Orchard. A minor and somewhat pleasant digression, as I was able to hit two spots in my Top 10 NY guidebook. Fishkin Knitwear and Forman's. Both would have been great shopping spots if I were in my 40s. Now, not so much. However, I did find a great little costume jewelry shop that had plenty of baubles to rummage around in. $5 necklaces and funky charm bracelets from the 50s and 60s. One charm had inexplicable letters on both sides of a disc. When you spun the disc, it spelled "I love you." Sappy science at work! After realizing that I had gone five blocks in the wrong direction, I flipped it and reversed it and am now finishing up this entry at Teany with a lavender infused lemonade. A bit on the tart side, but the atmosphere is fantastic. Moby playing in the background and a hip but unpretentious bustle. At the table across from me is a man in a horribly purple button down shirt talking about his desire to go back to Egypt. Across from him is a cute blonde dressed preppy with lemon yellow polo shirt, collar turned up, and a pink and brown rugby shirt tied around her shoulders. She is looking very interested in what the purple shirt has to say. It appears that the dwindling number of eligible men in Manhattan has reached crisis levels. Thank God for Chicago. I love this city, but there's no place like home. It's started raining, think I'll go brave the weather and get me back to my cozy room to rest up before dinner tonight. (Uptown, of course.)

Posted by carolyn at June 22, 2005 03:37 PM

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Posted by: Brady at June 22, 2005 05:21 PM

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