NY - Breakfast at Tiffany's Smith's

The beginnings of this, my second visit to New York started off on a somewhat debaucherous note. During the bus ride from the aircraft to our hotel it became apparent that there was a common goal among some of us - to have a big greasy breakfast at an all-American diner in downtown Manhattan.

Myself, another Australian girl (Natalie) plus three of the cockpit crew jumped on the subway and before we knew it we were seated at a 'classy' diner/bar/establishment by the name of Smith's Bar perusing the greasy alternatives for brunch. All three of the men (Canadian, American and Kiwi) decided two jugs of American beer would be the perfect accompaniment to our artery hardening meals, this suggestion was met by an encouraging response from the two of us girls. The amber ale cascaded (a little too easily) into our glasses and sure enough it was indeed an excellent addition to our late morning feast. It wasn't long before the liquid gold started to drape a relaxing blanket of impaired judgement over me, but alas I had to put an end to the bender and pull myself together - it was essential I was of sound mind for the very important purchase of a fascinator for the upcoming Dubai races. I knew the address of a little hat shop near Greenwich Village that sold beautiful hats, and my intuition told me there was the perfect number waiting to be bought back to Dubai with me.

Smith's Bar - a rather bold statement

Natalie and I walked through the streets on the way to our destination, we were frequently distracted by gorgeous little boutiques and funky vintage shops - it was a much softer side to New York that I was seeing this time. People were sitting on park benches talking, playing board games, laughing and eating in the unseasonal warmth of the day. I felt like I was in one of those places where I wanted to look at everything but my eyes couldn't move fast enough! We entered the gorgeous little hat shop and the first thing I noticed was a sharply dressed lady with snow white hair seated inside on a stool wearing a black top hat.

Dolores introduced herself with exaggerated hand gestures and a very thick New York accent before making quick work of placing a number of fancy feathered, felted and netted alternatives on my head in the quest to find the right one to wear with my race day outfit. Natalie and I couldn't stop giggling at Dolores, who was small of stature but certainly not of personality. She had so much character we could have sat there for the rest of the afternoon while she entertained us and lead us around the shop (literally) by the hand, describing each of the one-off pieces on display and getting us both to try her favourites on. Natalie fell in love with a big floppy Sienna Miller-esque hat, parading around the little shop in the jaunty piece with extremely positive reviews from her fans (ie me). Apparently this hat was an example of how they start off, before any bells and whistles (or hat bands for that matter) are added. It wasn't long before I was walking out of the store holding a round black hat box, quite satisfied with my (sober) decision.

The beautiful Ms Dolores

Natalie and I then met up with one of the pilots which we had farewelled at breakfast. We strolled around the suburb marvelling at how hot the day was (easily around the 25degree Celsius mark), a world away with what was to come three days later when JFK airport would be closed down following a winter storm, leaving 5" of snow and ice across the Big Apple. How lucky to have visited on such a summery day, despite swealtering in our layers of winter woolies, I can't wait for my next date with New York - I think I might have just fallen in love this time!