We are both fans of SATC and so one of the very first things we did when we decided on our dates for NYC was to sign up for the SATC Tour. It was a good thing we did as our tour was a complete sell-out as we found out when we gathered excitedly at the pick-up point which was the very classy Plaza Hotel (the setting for Mr Big’s and Natasha’s grand engagement party).
I had expected W to be one of very few (if any) guys to be on the tour. In fact, as we were waiting in line to board the tour bus, two women who were standing in front of us predicted that W would likely be the only guy on the tour and promptly christened him “Mr Big”. Imagine our surprise when we saw at least 5 other guys also on the same tour! W instantly lost his “Mr Big” status then but that was fine since we all know that the real stars of SATC are the 4 girls – Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.
Our guide for the tour was Lou, a leggy blonde who is an aspiring singer and actress. She shared many interesting nuggets of information with us, like how there is a glaring inconsistency in the opening credits of SATC. Let us know if you think you know what the inconsistency is and we will let you know if you are correct. Also, how the role of “Aidan” was supposed to have gone to another actor whose real name was Aidan. But he turned it down and in the end John Corbett got the role. But apparently the producers of the show liked the name “Aidan” so much, they kept it for the character.
The format of the tour was a simple one. We essentially took a bus and walking tour around Manhattan with the guide pointing out the various locations where certain pivotal scenes were filmed (both in the movie and the series). To jolt our memories, she would also show us clips from the series that feature the same sights that she just pointed out.
Our first real stop on the tour came in the West Village. We were brought to “The Pleasure Chest”, where Charlotte first discovered the Rabbit. We were welcome to buy what we wanted in the shop but the catch was you had to show and tell the entire bus what you bought (I am only kidding).
Next stop was to Carrie’s apartment stoop. If anyone is interested, the apartment stoop featured in the show is on Perry Street in the West Village. If you are ever in NYC, you can check it out. You will not miss the exact apartment stoop since the current owner of the apartment has a chain-link fence across the stoop and there is a sign warning against loitering, trespassing etc.
Then we were each given a cupcake from the Magnolia Bakery. This was the bakery where Carrie and Miranda each got a cupcake and Carrie first told Miranda that she had a crush on Aidan. The cupcakes attained cult status after they were featured on the show and there is a long queue at the bakery on most days. Apparently there is also a limit to the number of cupcakes that one can buy. My take on the cupcakes? Way too sweet for my liking. And the cupcakes are also rather dense. I much prefer the lighter version that was served as our wedding cake (then again I may be biased). Both of us did not finish our cupcakes and had to surreptitiously dispose of them since the rest of our tour members obviously loved them and ate every crumb.
The West Village is a lovely place and it has many cool shops too. W must have rued the moment he said “Hey there is a Lulu Guinness shop there- let’s check it out.” Check it out we did and we emerged 10 minutes later with a cute red handbag from the Couture line. It is small and feminine and I simply love the colour. It is going to be my dinner / functions bag from now on. Thanks dearie!
(With our Magnolia Bakery cupcakes)
Our last stop on the tour was O’Niels – the setting for “Scout”, the bar owned by Steve and Aidan. We had to have the requisite cosmos at the bar and they were pretty good actually. What struck me was how small the bar was when in the show, the bar looked fairly large.
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(Cosmos at O'Niels)
We totally enjoyed ourselves on the tour and it’s a great tour to do with your girlfriends (although W was a real good sport on the tour too). I only wish we could have seen places like the apartment that was featured in the movie. But I guess those are movie sets and are inaccessible. What was really nice about the tour was that throughout the tour, I overheard people reminiscing about what they were doing when they first watched the series and how they became hooked. It was amazing that after all these years, people can still remember the exact moment they first watched the series.
Clearly SATC has left a deep impact on many people’s lives.
- M
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