Showing hubby around in the big apple for the first time seemed like an ok idea at first, but having lived in NYC for most of the 90's I so did not want to follow the obvious tourist trail. As a result of the heavy gentrification programme on the LES with subsequent higher cost of living, many of our friends have left Manhattan for the greener pastures of Queens and Brooklyn. Now, back in the late 80's and early 90's those areas were definitely not my hangout of choice, so it was with some trepidation I ventured on the 7 to Sunnyside, Queens.

I could not have been more wrong. Getting off at 46 Street and Bliss I realized that a) Manhattan definitely looks better from a distance b) prices are so much lower and c) I can practice my spanish without feeling ashamed, as the guy selling flowers did not understand much english anyway. Both of us decidedly relieved, I walked away with a beautiful bouquet of roses for half the price of what I would have paid just 20 minutes ago in midtown Manthattan.