New York: Manhattan skyline
One of our favourite walks in New York was to wander down from our apartment on the Upper East Side and along Madison Avenue towards Midtown. If you’re after some serious people watching, Madison Avenue in the 60s (between 60th and 69th Streets) takes some beating. On these blocks you’ll find many of the top designer boutiques, and the shop windows scream out ostentatious wealth. Women, blinged to the eyeballs, parade along the avenue (or hop along it via taxi), gathering an ever increasing array of bags as they go.
New Bond Street
One of the striking memories of walking along here is the number of middle aged ladies who bore more than a passing resemblance to the late Michael Jackson. Extensive (and expensive) sessions of plastic surgery had left some with what can only be called a patchwork face, and we would conclude that they were now paying the litigation fees that allowed so many lawyers to live in the very same neighbourhood.
Walking through London’s Mayfair this week brought back memories of our year of living in the swanky part of a big city. Among the embassies and high fee management consultancies that have their offices in the streets of this exclusive neighbourhood you’ll find businesses that scream out wealth. Aston Martin and Ferrari dealerships, the most garish interior designs and fashion stores that cater for the decidedly strange tastes of the millionaire locals.
Good taste - for some, obviously?
While we didn’t see the patchwork faces in Mayfair we certainly saw the outlandish outfits that seem to fit the requirements of the super-rich. On Bond Street, home to the likes of Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton, well dressed ladies strutted from store to store, while in the nearby restaurants their wealthy husbands sat smoking their large cigars and discussing the credit crunch (I’m guessing here).
As we walked through Mayfair, its leafy parks and quiet, orderly streets, we both agreed on one thing. It’s a nice neighbourhood to look at and wander around, but neither of us would feel comfortable ever calling it home (the £4m price tags for ordinary looking apartments rendered this a hypothetical discussion). I got a sense here, just as I had in our neighbourhood in Manhattan, that there was little feeling of being part of a local community. Residents here had put up walls around themselves; both physical in the form of their secure homes and apartments, and emotional in terms of their detachment from their surroundings. (While living in NYC and doing my daily walk to work along 2nd Avenue I was constantly amazed at the number of people who would talk to themselves without any inhibition)
Mayfair life
Earlier this month we were on the remote Scottish island of Barra and felt the exact opposite. People there may not have easy access to many of the trappings of material wealth. But their strong sense of community brought comfort and happiness and allowed them to compensate in ingenious ways for the lack of easy access to the mainland, and the conveniences that a population mass can offer. It’s quite a contrast to witness.
Next time you’re in London and fancy a wander through an interesting neighbourhood, head west and go to Mayfair. It’s well worth a look, even if you might feel like a stranger while you’re there.
Most of those heavily plastic-surgeried women on the Upper East Side aren’t middle-aged, they’re like 70-80. That’s “good” plastic surgery for ya!
If only that were true! I’m sure there are lots of great results of surgery walking around (they’re the ones where we can’t tell that they’ve had something done). The ones I referred to were, quite frankly, grotesque.