New York, USA
Christine sent me this cute piece about shopping in New York city. As I have not yet been to the Big Apple — shocking, I know! — I find stories like this to be fascinating! Some day I, too, would like to go shopping (or at least pretend shopping) in New York and bring home a bag full of…?
Shopping is not a huge priority for me especially when I’m traveling. We were in New York City so there certainly are, in my humble opinion, way better things to do. Who can afford to shop in those “fancy-dancy” stores anyway? I couldn’t see the point of going in to any of them.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
My exception was to visit Bergdorf-Goodman at 5th Avenue at 58th Street. I didn’t go looking for the store, but when it was right there on our way back from skating at Central Park, well, you know I had to go in.
This is no ordinary department store, as you noticed if you checked out the link. (I always wonder if people check out the links—I check ‘em out, and think that others like to, so I put them in.) B-G, as it’s known, would not be on your “what’s cheap in New York City list”, but it’s free to wander through. We made our way up to the 7th floor—thanks to the friendly elevator operator [a job I didn’t know still existed]—and then weaved our way down through the store using the glass-sided elevators to get a good look at the sales floors, which are beyond fancy. Shiny marble floors, crystal chandeliers, brass counter fixtures, you name it—if it’s high class, it’s in this store.
I tried to find something I could buy, just so that I could say I shopped there, but everything was way out of my budget league. I resigned myself to leaving the store empty-handed.
Then, just as we were getting ready to go, an elegant looking Sales Associate—they’re all elegant-looking—asked me if I’d like a bag for my skates. I thought she felt sorry for me that I was empty-handed, but then I realized she was likely worried that my skates might snag on one of the scarves I was looking at. I use skate-guards so there was no danger of any damage being done, but I happily accepted the bag.
Didn’t I feel like the glam shopper walking down 5th Avenue with my over-sized B-G bag. In my head I imagined that everyone was looking at me, thinking, “I wonder who she is, and what she bought—she’s carrying such a large bag.” In reality, I was one of many people with bags that no one likely notices.
We had the pleasure of staying at the Hotel Giraffe, one of the four HK Hotel properties in mid-town Manhattan. Of course we noticed the extra luxuries like the ribbon-wrapped toilet paper. My husband was taking photos of the room and couldn’t resist taking my skates out of the B-G bag, and putting in the toilet paper. Now THAT was worth having the bag for, never mind my imagined envy-inducing stroll down 5th Avenue.
Photo by Jim Peets.
Our motto is fun is where you find it, whether it’s just wandering through a fancy department store or making very good use of their shopping bag.
Christine Peets is a freelance writer based in Napanee, Ontario, Canada. She and her husband Jim, her official photographer, love to travel as much as possible. As she says, “I work to travel, and love to travel for work.” Check out Christine’s work on her website, www.CaptionsCommunications.ca
You can read more of her adventures, and see more of Jim’s photos on her blog, “With Humour and Hope: The Only Way to Live.” http://christinepeets.wordpress.com
One update: HK Hotels is now known as the Library Hotel Collection. Same great hotels, with wonderful service, and many lovely amenities. You can check them out at http://libraryhotelcollection.com/
We didn't do much shopping on our trip to NYC either. Too much else to see and do! I think the highlight for me was our visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All I can say is … WOW!
I'm a sucker for museums myself. Was in London for WTM and made sure to schedule some time for the British Museum. :D
I see that you like chocolate, Doreen. When I read that my first thought was to share Kristin's blog with you: http://www.camelsandchocolate.com/ My second thought was to share Meg's guest post on TA: https://www.tourabsurd.com/swiss-mountains-of-chocolate/
…and now, I have to add chocolate to the shopping list for tomorrow!
NYC is a great place to buy designer jeans and if you are Canadian you can go to the service desk to get a card that gives you a discount for the price of the sales tax.
Great tip for our friends in the Great White North, Ayngelina. ;)
Thanks for the opportunity to write this for you Katrina. I certainly appreciate this new venue.
Thank YOU, Christine! :D