Back from The Big Apple

Just arrived home from The Big Apple. A few observations:

•  If the traffic on 5th avenue is any indication, people are drowning in cash, or at least acting like they are. Maybe they just know something I don’t? I have a great job and am fairly well off for my age, but I wouldn’t dare step into one of those boutique’s. I guess there’s one thing Walmart and Armani have in common, they both take credit cards.
• There are lots of little cafe’s all over the place. They are not as cute as what I saw in Cologne, but the wall of pastries at a Cafe Europa in midtown did look similar. The difference? I actually saw lots of people in Cologne enjoying the desserts, breads and croissants…and sipping their espresso at a leisurely pace. In New York, I didn’t see a single sweet-tooth (despite the options), and most people were grabbing stuff on the run.
• The city is surprisingly clean.
• Cabbies have a sixth sense…really….it must come with the job.
• $420 a night buys you a shoebox for a hotel room, with a half-decent view. I stayed here (on Lexington Ave.).
  
• The service culture in New York has a lot to learn from Europe. When someone pays you for a service, don’t make it seem like you are doing them a favor…it’s the other way around.
• The lobby of the Trump Tower is stuck in the 80’s.
• The city is really beautiful during the summer.
• The Apple store is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city (judging from the number of mass tour groups I saw walking into the place)….and quite possibility the busiest “internet cafe” in the world!