From Malbec 2010 to Rioja 1994

One of the great things in life is not knowing how bad something is, until it's over. There is some satisfaction to be had knowing only once something is over, that it really wasn't that great. It's like drinking a bottle of  2010 Argentinean Malbec and then sucking back on a 1994 Rioja- only on first smell and taste of the Rioja do you realise just how bad the Malbec was.
I am having this exact feeling right now. And I am having it because I had no idea what a dump our last apartment was until we moved into our new one. Don't get me wrong- the interior of all these corporate housing places is all the same (Though this one missing the blue wall- thank God) but it's the (and I hate to use the phrase) " location, location, location" that has transformed NY from a young, new world Malbec into an old world Rioja for me. In English terms, I have just moved from Canary Wharf to Nottinghill, in South African terms I have just moved from Midrand to Parkhurst. Oh yes baby, I am a rocking and a rolling in the junction between east village/greenwhich village and Soho. It is a crucible of hip/retro/vintage/urban chic and I am bubbling away right in its epicentre.

Here are, in my opinion some of the most obvious benefits of our new abode:
1. Roof terrace above (private, open space is sheer luxury in NY)
2. Wholefoods below (no need to cook anymore)
3. Restaurants, cafes, bistros, delis in abundance around (reaffirms point 2)
4. Double glazed windows (to drown out the sound of traffic which otherwize abates only between 5 and 6am)
5. No corporate blue wall to match brown furniture (guarantees my sanity for at least another week)
6. Subway across the street (just in case I ever contemplate not going in a cab)
7. Laundry service (to ensure I NEVER get into the habit of washing Steve's clothes)
8. Gym ( To help work off that Rioja that I am starting to enjoy so much)

We celebrated our new home by showing off and asking an old friend of mine from South Africa to stay for the weekend. He was thoroughly impressed, particularly by the double glazed windows. It was satisfying to show him that I was moving up in the world, even if it was only because Steve must be doing something right at work. (for those of you who did not detect any irony in that last paragraph... you know me so well)
On our first night alone in Avalon at Chrystie, we decided to step out and see what the neighbourhood had to offer. We realised just then just how much we had to get through, but thought PRUNE was a perfect place to start. One more bottle of Rioja please.....