NEW YORK!!

I've always felt uneasy about driving in New York. Everytime I've ever been there the scale of the traffic and the amount of beeping (although I did notice some signs threatening a fine for 'honking') has made me think it must be the hardest place in the world to drive....in fact it wasn't so bad.

A friend of mine very kindly offered to let us stay in her flat in Gramercy. We found the flat and managed to park in a garage round the corner.

On the first night we went to a place in the Meat Packers (i'll post the name when I remember it). It was a very cool bar with a restaurant upstairs. Unfortunately the chef was rather too keen on chilli and lemon grass (a theme that was consistent throughout the meal). I had some belly pork to start ... think lemongrass.... and then a duck breast. The duck breast was a $30 lesson in how not combine duck with lemongrass. When we were offered desert I jokingly remarked that there was bound to be something with lemon grass on the desert menu....bingo! I politely declined.

Premium Outlets New York

We knew the end was nigh as soon as we started heading towards New York (only a few days to go -- strange how the last few days of a holiday no matter how long it was are tinged by a melancholy feeling).

We decided to head off for one more outlet extravaganza at the premium outlets outside New York. Last time I was in New York they had some great deals. Most of the shops were duplicated from our other outlet visits and the 'premium shops' fitted the premium niche rather than the outlet niche. In Gucci they were selling shirts for $400, a relative bargain from their original $800 price tag. Having been to the Gucci outlet outside Florence I can see that there are some hefty margins left in that price tag for Gucci.