Day 29- June 12, 2012; Day 30- June 13, 2012

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Sally's Day-  It rained all day on Tuesday- which resulted in a day similar to a snowy day in Minnesota. Someone told Al that when it rains here, you need to allow an extra 1/2 hour for travel to an event.  Very true!  The streets are clogged with people carrying umbrellas- which makes movement much slower- since everyone takes up about twice a much space as they would without an umbrella.  Plus it is difficult to see where you are going.  It is wet everywhere- on the steps going down into the subway, on the platform, in the buildings, on the bus, etc.  So much for complaining. And just like a snowy day in MN, it seems like a good day to stay home.

I needed a new pair of pants. My tan pair was threadbare, and we brought minimal clothing along.  Where to shop?  Too many places to choose from.  So I decided to go to Macy's, which advertises itself as the largest department store in the world.  I remembered watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade every year and the movie "Miracle on 34th Street"- making it rather enticing to see what the store is really like. Plus visitors get a 10% off coupon (fyi- there is a visitors' counter on the mezzanine where you get the coupon, which is good for three days). 

The store (which is located at 34th Street and 7th Avenue) appears to have the original escalators with the wooden sides and wooden slats on the steps.  They have a clackity sound.  It looked like they were part of the original store.  I can't describe how big the store is- there are 4 Starbucks and a McDonalds. There are nine floors which take up half a city block. I found my pants (plus 2 more pair, a top, and a dress).  The selection was far more than I needed. So I slogged home with my large bag.

We had planned to go to Museum Mile Festival, where the museums on 5th Avenue are open for the evening, and there are events along the street.  The rain ended that plan.

In the absence of much to write about, we are posting pictures of our apartment.  A few disclaimers- the place is furnished, which means that we have a collection of furniture that isn't what we would choose, but we are glad not to need to buy a couch, etc.  We received a high eating table with stools- impossible to use for sewing.  Al had the idea of moving the high table to the kitchen for additional counter space (a great idea since our counter space was about 2 feet square). Off we went to Bob's Discount Furniture to get a table and 2 chairs. The only place to sit in the living room was the couch.  We found a chair on the sidewalk which we added to the living room (since finding that chair, I have seen about 6 other chairs on the sidewalk, but decided to keep the first one).  We also purchased a set of lamps and curtains at Target.  Plus several storage boxes (you can see some in the pictures; others are under the bed and in the closet). You may notice there are no drawers in the kitchen- another storage challenge.

It now seems to be "our" home- at least for the next few months.  We have not really lacked for anything. So far, this has been a good experience in learning what we really need to live day to day.

Looking at the living room from  the kitchen

The rest of the living room from the windows.  This is the chair Sally found on the street.

Looking at the kitchen from the living room.  The first door on the left is our bedroom.  The next door is the bathroom.  You can see the hinges on the outside door.

Looking at the kitchen from our bedroom door.

Our bedroom.

Our bathroom.

Looking at the courtyard from our bedroom window.

Sally

I went to the Chinatown meeting at noon.  This was my second time.  The people there are very friendly and the food is great.  People just sit around a large table, eat, and talk.  They do do Rotary business, but very informally. 

Otherwise, I walked around Chinatown a bit.  Much of it varies from stores catering to Chinese and Chinese-Americans and then stores catering to tourists.  You can have a store selling live frogs (for eating) next to a store selling 5 t-shirts for $10.  It is a very interesting mix. 

The rest of the day, I just stayed home and read.  Nice.

Al