New York, New York

My friend Lisa at a midtown diner 

My travel to Rome included a stop at New York. I had not been to the city in over twenty years, and I was excited to see it again. I watch scenes every week in one of my favorite shows, Gossip Girl. Unfortunately I saw neither Blair nor Serena, but I did meet up with a good friend and client, Lisa.


The taxi ride in was quite eventful. The driver, who was new to the city and from Africa, kept asking me where my hotel was located. I kept telling him I had no idea. I gave him the exact address, and the whole way there he sweated if we were going the right way. When we finally arrived on the street in midtown where the hotel was located, he told me we had passed it. But I told him no, as I fortunately had google mapped the location earlier and knew it was next to Ruth's Chris steak house. I saw the steakhouse a bit up the street. I have to say I was never so glad to get out of a cab. 


I stayed at a four star hotel which was fine, but the price seemed outrageous to me for what I got. Welcome to New York! The bed was comfortable and the room was decorated tastefully. I did get a kick out of where they locate the safe though.As you can see in the picture below, it was located on a shelf in the closet way over my head. I had to get on a chair to use it.

Safe location at the hotel

Lisa met me at the hotel the next morning and we went to breakfast and did some shopping. The little diner we went to had a great omelet and even better service. I snapped a few photos going to the bathroom though. It was really creepy and felt like something out of Criminal Minds. I kept waiting for someone to pop out and grab me.

Staircase to diner bathroom

Written on the inside of the stall at diner bathroom

Thanks again, Lisa, for your hospitality and taking me shopping. Per my pleading, we even took a ride on the subway!

Me in the subway NYC