This morning I realised how much I have grown accustomed to the island of Manhattan. And how much money it is going to cost me to live here. At 10 am I had an appointment to view an apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Having seen a part of Williamsburg I had some expectations of the area. However, not only do the different boroughs of New York City differ greatly from one another, even different areas of the individual districts can be quite different. I hopped off the subway (well actually once you get onto the Williamsburg bridge it becomes an above ground train, so dont know if that is technically a subway) and found myself in a place where I felt like an outsider. All eyes were on me, who was this skinny white girl wandering around the streets? I had arrived early as I didn't know how long it would take me to get to the area so I had about half an hour to kill. I thought, I'll just wander and find a Starbucks to sit and have a coffee. The one time I actually wanted to find a Starbucks, there were none to be found. It took me a few blocks to find a Dunkin' Donut to find sanctuary.
The apartment itself was a whole other experience. I meet the broker, your typical Jewish New York man, and walk into this apartment block. My first reaction was, "I'm going to be stabbed here." So this was already a "HELL NO!" But we went up, and I kept being reminded that this is "pre-renovation" state. Basically it was an apartment falling to pieces. And no matter how good it is going to look in 3 weeks time, it is not going to change the building it is in. So we parted ways and I got back to my safe happy Manhattan as soon as I possibly could. I will venture back to Williamsburg again soon (I'll make myself do it) because that does seem to be the best area for me cost wise as beautiful Manhattan will empty my pockets.
I tripped up to Union Square to have a wander and stumbled upon a farmer's market. It was amazing, the most beautiful cheeses, fruits and vegetables. There were even huge crates filled with ice to sell organic beef, turkey and lamb. The aroma's coming from each stall were intense, and definitely crowd pleasing. So I made the most of this accidental find and bought up big in the vegie department.
Union Square Farmer's Markets
So I came home for lunch with Sake, a funny old pekinese dog Irene is dog sitting, and ended up asleep on the couch for a couple hours. I guess I needed the nap! To cheer me up (have been feeling rather homesick these past few days) I made a trip to Times Square where I let myself be swallowed up by the masses of people that flock to the neon flashing entertainment district. Here you feel extremely comfortable to take as many photos as possible...because that is what everyone else is doing.
My first star spotting!
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