On the Road
with Flip Byrnes ...
travel.com.au Roving Reporter Flip Byrnes takes to New York.
With Christmas a heartbeat away, New York and its boroughs are expecting a white one and what better way to spend the festive season than in a city that never sleeps? New York may nap, but it certainly never slumbers.
New York is possibly the best city for jet lag, where jazz plays every night until dawn, there will be some bar to serve up a Cosmopolitan Carrie Bradshaw style and if you're feeling a little creative, check out a Poetry Slam.
A what? Yep, a Poetry Slam (held in the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the East Village) with poets "battling" in a series of rounds -not for foreign clowns from southern towns filled with rhyming sounds. (Sorry, it was a bit inspiring). With an intimate venue, a live music atmosphere and more angst than high school classrooms, it's worth a look.
Even if you have visited NY many times before, there is always something new to hit you in the face like a wet fish. If you haven't been in the last few months, here's what's changed to tempt New York veterans and virgins alike.
Firstly, if the Poetry Slam is not your thing, (but who can resist?) the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) regularly changes its 6th floor exhibit (currently 'Safe' for the latest designs in arty thermo nuclear outerwear).
Gap, Macy's, Bloomgindale's are all shopping staples, but only two months old is Edge *ny NOHO, a collective of 65 young designers under one roof operating out of one shop. For one-off, quirky pieces it's the place to be. Then give your credit card a good thwack a good thwack and wander the Village where roads meander and crooked twists beckon with secret boutique treasure.
Hungry? For lunch fight your way into the 32 seater Bread, 20 Spring St, SoHO, for noisy chatter and beautiful people, and Supper is for, you guessed it, Supper, 156 E. 2nd St. (East Village). Catch a snack at The Knit Point, (201a Bedford St www.thepointnyc.com) a yarn filled cafe for when you have the itch to stitch.
But for a completely new take on New York, head into the boroughs, this time to the up and comer Williamsburgh - if it hasn't blipped on your style radar yet, trust me, this vibey area is the one you'll hear about next.
Seven days, is not enough in NYC, apparently nor is seven years, but four feet of fresh snow is calling and it's time to ditch the big city and head west young lady, for Vail, Colorado............
Cheers Flip
