Day Seven - Retail Heaven

If anyone ever asks you what the very bowels of hell look like, you might consider directing them to the Boxing Day sales at Macy's in New York. I figure that place would come pretty close and I should know - I spent a bit of time in there today. On the upside, I did get to ride the iconic wooden escalators that were the first of their kind in the world, and part of the original Macy's fit-out. They're still in use today - very groovy. And my wallet stayed in my bag the entire trip around the store - can you believe that?!

When we finally emerged back onto Seventh Avenue, we sought refuge at the curiously-named Irish pub, The Pig N Whistle for a restorative drink and bite to eat. Yucky fries but cold Diet Coke, so one out of two ain't bad.

Then it was back underground to take the subway to Chelsea Market, the cool shopping place on 9th Avenue. I like the big push towards local and organic foodstuffs at this place, so it stood to reason we would stuff in a coffee from Ronnybrook Dairy and then I followed my nose to the Tuck Shop to purchase some delicious (and authentic) Aussie meat pies for dinner. The smell of warm pies wafted through the food market area. How could we resist?

Off we continued back along 14th Street in the direction of our bus home, stopping long enough in Union Square to browse around DSW, Filene's Basement (which is about to close down anyway), and finally we ended up at Nordstrom Rack. Phew - it was a retail bonanza!

After the long day out and about, it felt excellent to finally sit still on the bus and know that in a few short minutes, I'd be able to sit on the sofa with my fluffy slippers on. Blissful.

We're off to Washington DC tomorrow, so my daily holiday updates will be on a brief hiatus. But don't worry - a bumper catchup post will follow. Stay tuned!