Down and out in New York
12 February 2009
FQR’s travel guru Kate Lenahan survives treacherous temperatures and adverse exchange rates in New York
Signs were ominous for my US trip in January when the dollar exchange at Heathrow was 1.27 dollars to the pound. “Are you kidding,” I spluttered incredulously to the bleary eyed man on the foreign currency desk at Terminal 3 (these days very much the poor neglected cousin to shiny smug Terminal 5). It was a shock start to the system for my usual 8.30 am American Airlines flight to NYC – one I seem to take on a more regular basis than the 319 from Tooting to Sloane Square, my usual neck of the woods. I know the breakfast menu by heart and I always have an aisle seat in business class so I don’t get trapped by my usually besuited bore of a fellow passenger when I have to get up to do my yoga stretches a la Gwynie Paltrow, who apparently has been known to indulge in various down dogs when on long haul flights. Actually for me it’s just a trip to the loo or a chat with airline staff if am really bored.
Immigration these days at NYC is fairly easy, at least for me, once they have examined your literacy via visa waiver form applications, checked your thumb prints and retina scans. I am looking forward to full dental, ear nose and throat checkups in the future.
I have always admired how there are plenty of smelly yellow cabs waiting for you outside with fixed Manhattan fares, unlike at Heathrow where poor first time visitors I have heard spend half their travel budget just getting to Hammersmith in our equivalent cabs on offer. I have a routine on arrival at JFK, prior to my interesting and occasionally life threatening journey into Manhattan, of loading up at the arrivals kiosk with my favourite must-have reads of People, National Enquirer and New York Post, as I like to visit most cities updated with the very latest trivial newsworthy information.
Fireside at The Lowell
On this trip I was staying at the quietly elegant Lowell Hotel, a favourite for high profile guests who wish to keep a low profile hence its uniqueness. You are offered a welcome drink on arrival (to calm your nerves as they know how terrifying the ride in has been presumably) and a bottle of good red wine gets delivered with fruit and a welcome note – unheard of at any other hotels I have stayed at. The bedrooms and suites are beautifully decorated (mainly by Michael Smith who just got the decorating gig at The White House) and the hotel has the only real working fireplaces in New York, which for seven months of the year is a valuable bonus. I especially love going there as you never know who you will ride in the intimately small elevator with, once for me it was the wonderful, charming Mr Clooney (yes I had to say something to him during the six floor ride) and another time the legendary Mr Robert Redford who I’m sure thought I was a stalker as I kept throwing him furtive glances.
The January chill and sleet was illegally freezing and I would have invested in a fetching balaclava from Barneys to keep the frostbite from my face but the strong dollar meant I could only stretch to a much needed blow dry, and anyway why then flatten the hair one has invested in with any hat wear so pneumonia did pose a serious threat while walking the streets (never further than two blocks on this occasion).
Even in the freezing wet weather conditions New York women manage to look chic. Alot of fur however, which in London would be a risky business to parade around. They have it all sorted this time of year, puffa coats and shearling lined boots getting them about their business in arctic conditions. It also helps when it’s this cold that New York has always had so many very good and diverse restaurants where one can feed the hunger pains and warm up the interior. I always consult my good friend and woman about town Robin Zendell where next to eat when I come to NYC – and as always she rose to the occasion with two flawless recommendations – Sandros, for authentically excellent Italian cuisine, and newly opened Flex Mussels serving fresh mussels daily in various guises and getting rave reviews. Both are located in the 80’s on the eastside which is great if you are staying at Lowell or Carlyle. Two days of business completed, food and wine consumed but sadly no shopping indulged in, I headed off to LA four days after arriving in NYC, rather relieved to be going towards blue skies and valet parking and another omelette special on American Airlines…To be continued…
