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"Burgers and hot dogs." 

"Then?" 

"Hot dogs and burgers with different sauces." 

"They don't seem like particularly interesting meals to me." 

"But yes. The self-services are organized in a fantastic way and then you meet the most varied people, just as you would in the theater. And the vending machines are real miracles: put a coin in and in a few seconds you find yourself with that which you want in your hand and everything nice and warm, to top it off. So we eat 'typical American,' we don't waste time and we spend less: 'three birds with one stone,' we would say in Italian."

"Maybe I better cancel the shrimp and order hotdogs," Ed Hotchner teased. 

"No, that's okay: in a chic place like the Stork it is typical to eat what you can find identical-identical to Savini or Chez Maxime."

We made the most of our days in New York: endless walks, visits to the fascinating department stores, the Metropolitan, interesting museums, organized sightseeing trips. One evening we decided to take a look at the famous Waldorf Astoria and, now too tired to face the search for a bus, we got into the first taxi that passed the hotel.

"To the Waldorf Astoria, please," I told the taxi driver. 

"To the Waldorf? Are you sure you want to go to the Waldorf by taxi?"

Since we had got into a taxi I found the question a bit curious but, since I had discovered that in order to chat, New York taxi drivers asked the strangest questions, without being too surprised: "Sure we are sure" I replied.

"O.K. But I warn you that there is one way."