Trip to New York City

Our 4-day trip to the Big Apple was instigated by Lily, who felt intrigued by the tempting tales of her sister Flor about NYC's famous sights and foods.  And I must confess we got a good dose of both !

Despite the cold weather, we spent a lot of our time walking outside, along numerous streets and diverse neighbourhoods, drinking in the amazing architecture and stopping for food at the hip cafés and restaurants that Flor recommended or that Alice and Lily spotted and fancied.

Alice takes a pose in Central Park for the photographic eye of Lily, painting goat-like shadows on the rocks. "So many crazy-high skyscrapers and so many being added still !" seem to be musing the stunned couple in the background...

Two museum gems in the same day: the Frick Collection recommended by Louis (top) and the Morgan Library recommended by Flor. The girls pretend to be nonchalant in the top picture, but they were actually enthralled by both visits :)

All the meals we had in New York were absolutely delicious, and fairly affordable.  Breakfast at Ceci-Cela Croissanterie, Russ & Daughters, Baz Bagel; lunch at Jack's wife Freda and Le Pain Quotidien; and especially our memorable suppers at Ben's Pizza, Panna II Garden and Raku.

Panna II Garden, in particular, was pretty outlandish.  Firstly, Flor forgot to warn us that this famous tiny Indian restaurant is flanked by two larger but otherwise identical Indian restaurants competing for its clientele while sharing the same front stairs !  So sure enough we walked headlong into the wrong one, completely empty, where we eventually realized that the name on the menu wasn't "Panna II Garden" but "Royal Bengladesh" and had to excuse ourselves, pay for our two mango lassis, and climb upstairs to a soon-to-be very crowded Panna II Garden.  This restaurant is smaller than most cafés I've ever seen; it's about the size of a subway wagon, with a kitchen hidden somewhere in the back, tables lined on both sides and a central aisle that can't have measured more that two feet wide between them.  Lily and Alice sat along the mirrored wall (see picture) and Rachel and I sat in the aisle where we had to squeeze our chairs and bellies in order to allow waiters to march up and down the aisle behind us.  With three million chilli-shaped lights dangling from the ceiling at about five feet above the ground, it was a challenge just to stand straight enough to remove our winter coats and hats, let alone move aside when another group of customers wanted to pass by or a waiter came by loaded with hot plates and full glasses.  Great fun, though, once you're finally settled in -- and gorgeous food, by Krishna !  Thank you, Flor ;)




It's hard to imagine visiting the fashion capital of America with three gals without entering at least one fancy shop of some sort.  Here I'm sitting on a long and comfortable sofa while Alice and Lily (and Rachel, off picture) sample the various creams and make-up cosmetics on elegant display at Glossier.