NYC Day 2 07/01/2015

And so the magic started again! As soon as we stuffed down our breakfast muffins and got a large coffee to-go, we made our way through the Avenues to reach The High Line. This was one of the must-do things on my list- an old railway line that has recently been converted into a public park. What with it being slightly above ground level, I had read that the views were really worth-while whatever the time of year.

This day was a crisp one. Though it was once again below freezing, the sun was shining and a thin layer of snow lay on the ground. The High Line would lead us to the Borough of Chelsea and then we would walk to Soho so we all had our comfiest shoes on as this day was going to be a lot of walking.

When we reached The High Line the views I was taken away. It felt peaceful, and being in a City this felt unusual. There was a sense of calm up there as others enjoyed the walk also.



We reached Chelsea and walked past one of the shops that I had desperately wanted to visit, Story. It's a new retail experience where the concept of the store changes every 4-8 weeks, just as a magazine would. It's fixtures, fittings, merchandise and all. I was disappointed to see that it was closed due to the concept being changed when we visited but will have to return if I am ever to go to the city again. I am thinking about using this for my 'Next Big Thing'. 

We then stumbled upon the famous Chelsea Market. A small market open for independent art and food sellers to sell. Read my post about it here.

We then walked down Bleeker Street, popping into the small designer stores. This area was also a lot more peaceful than central Manhattan and the shop assistants had a lot of time to talk to us about the stores and why we were visiting New York, they were all very friendly. This was one of my favourite streets in New York. We visited Maison Martin Margiela which had my favourite Visual Merchandising, but unfortunately we were unable to take photos. We also went inside Marc Jacobs, Louboutin, Burberry, Michael Kors, Aesop etc.



We then walked to SoHo to visit the Opening Ceremony store. I have been to the Covent Garden store before but had heard that this one was 3 stories high. If you look at it on paper, it's basically a department store, stocking different designer's clothes, shoes, accessories, lingerie etc. However it's got an edge on any other store. The in-store visual merchandising is minimal and the clothes are extremely beautiful.



By this point in the day we were all so exhausted and a few of the girls headed back to the hotel but Chloe, Sophie and I headed on another adventure on a hunt for a thrift store that an employee in Opening Ceremony had told us about called Buffalo Exchange. We travelled by Subway for the first time and it was surprisingly easy (easier to understand than London's tubes!). The thrift store was really cool and certainly popular as it was busy full of people searching through the racks for hidden gems. We saw designer pieces from Versace and Oscar de La Renta next to Primark clothes. I didn't buy anything but it was a fun experience!

We then wanted to travel to Times Square again, and instead of walking we hailed a yellow cab which is something you should do in New York isn't it?! When we reached Times Square it was the coldest weather I have ever experienced. We went to the legendary red stairs and took some photos up there but had to keep popping into shops to shelter from the cold. We then headed back to the hotel about 11pm.