LAST DAY IN WONDERLAND: New York City - Day Five

If you missed day four, you can read it here.

Our last day in New York was bitter sweet; I was sad to leave this amazing city but I was also so excited to not have to wake up at 6am every morning or have to go bed with aching feet every night.

Shopping

We started the day shopping again! We had a quick run in Forever 21 (I so wish we had more of these in the UK because I loved nearly everything in there) and Sephora. I’ve done another blogpost going through everything I bought in Sephora which you can check out here.

Hope Statue

I love the photos of people next to the iconic ‘LOVE’ statue in New York but to be honest, when we were there, I completely forgot it even existed! However, we stumbled across this ‘HOPE’ statue by the same artist whilst trying to find a taxi which proved to be even better as our friend’s surname is Hope. As I posted on Instagram, it was as if by magic.

On the note of taxis, a lot of people slated them to us before we went to New York but trust me when I say they are completely fine. I probably wouldn’t get in one alone but we had nothing but good experiences in the ones we used and they meant we could get around the city fairly quickly at a not too extortionate rate.

Central Park

This was meant to be overly pose-y I swear

After packing up our bags, we went to wander Central Park. I think that everyone who visits New York should visit Central Park (perhaps not midday like we did – we took a LOT of sit down breaks); it’s almost surreal that a place so quiet sits in the middle of Manhattan.

Whilst in Central Park, we first stopped at Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial west of the park. Although I am not the biggest Beatles fan myself (I don’t mind their music but I also don’t listen to it regularly), the atmosphere here was great. It was just full of people sat round listening to a busker singing the Beatles and having a nice time. I loved it!

We also went on a search for the Alice in Wonderland statue. In the process, we also found the Hans Christian Anderson statue too! I again absolutely loved this place as it made me feel 8 again, not 18 and I am totally willing to take any opportunity to go back to my childhood. It was fun seeing everyone pose with the statues and discuss the memories that they had in conjunction to them.

 

We also found the sort of 'Friends' but not Friends fountain!

Overall, I loved New York and I cannot wait to go back; it will happen. I feel it’s a place that everyone should try and visit once in their life as it seriously is a place like no other. I am, without a doubt, a city person (I grew up in London and Edinburgh, would you expect anything less?) but even so, New York was somewhere where there is something for everyone! If you have the chance, visit, because you will come back planning your next return.

WII SPORTS?: New York City – Day Four

If you didn't catch day three, you can check it out here!

Our fourth day in New York was HOT and humid, I’m talking like 35˚+ weather. We don’t get things like that in the UK and we were for sure not acclimatised.

Statue of Liberty

One thing I would say about going to the Statue of Liberty is to go sooner rather than later as there are huge queues all day and you do not want to be stuck in those midday. I would also say to pre-book your tickets as this acts almost like a fastpass does at Disney and you get to skip a large proportion of the queue. I think our time at the Statue was slightly short lived due to the fact that our backs were literally wet with sweat and humidity but it was still such an amazing place to go.

We booked tickets online to go to the pedestal (tickets for the crown were sold out so if you are going to NY and desperately want to go to the top, book early!) so once we got to the island we joined another queue and made our way up. I would definitely say to go if you are going to visit the island anyway as it gives you a good view of the Statue itself as well as a great view of the Manhattan skyline which cannot be missed!!

9/11 Memorial

The One World Trade Centre, the only photo I got of anything near or around the 9/11 memorial

Next we made our way to the 9/11 memorial, something I don’t have any photos of because quite honestly it didn’t feel right (it made me feel sick the amount of people smiling and taking selfies). I am well aware that events like this happen worldwide, especially recently, but there is something about being in the place where it happened and seeing all the photos of everyone with their families or the videos of people running out of the building, that hits home. I think in the UK, we don’t have many of these attacks luckily which is why the MP Jo Cox being shot made such a huge impact, so seeing something like this in real life was such an important but harrowing experience. The best way I can describe it is with the words I said as we were walking away “in the best possible way, I hated every single second of it”.

Baseball: New York Yankees V Boston Red Sox

I genuinely was loving everything about this moment!

This was hands down my favourite experience from the whole trip. The game started and I’m not going to lie, I had no clue what on earth was going on; we genuinely relied on Lauren’s previous Wii sports addiction to guide us through the rules of the game. However, the atmosphere was electric! From the 10+ Mexican waves to the constant chanting and YMCA, it felt like some kind of party with thousands of people. We also somehow got on a Subway carriage in which a load of people decided to bring a radio and have a dance party on so it made the night so much fun! Seriously, whether you’re into sports or not, grab a ticket to a major league baseball game and you will love it!

Stay tuned for our last day tomorrow!!

Oh, What A Night!: New York City - Day Three

If you didn't catch day two, check it out here!
Sarabeth’s

Knowing we had to visit the Met Steps at least once in our trip (I mean who doesn’t want to pretend they’re Serena and Blair sat eating lunch and gossiping on the upper west side of Manhattan?), we grabbed a taxi and tried to find a breakfast place near there. Although there weren’t many, google took us to this little café where we all grabbed another super yummy breakfast. The only downside to this place was that it was slightly pricier, most likely due to the location, but we gained nothing more than we got for almost half the price at Andrew’s café. If you’re in the area then this is a good place to visit, but otherwise I wouldn’t suggest you go out your way to go as there are places that are just as good for a fraction of the price.

Met Steps

Just imagining I was Blair Waldorf in a photoshoot that we had on the steps

Though we didn’t go in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was so nice to sit for an hour or so on the steps and listen to the buskers and chat. It’s such good place to chill out; and as I said before, we are all Gossip Girl fanatics so I think the Met will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Shopping

The rest of the day we just spent shopping. We quite literally shopped till we dropped as I swear all of us collapsed on the floor and beds the minute we got back to the hotel. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, here, one place we loved to visit was Sephora (we ended up going three times altogether) so be sure to check out my haul which I posted last week!

Broadway- Jersey Boys

I’m not going to lie to you, I probably spend a good 80% of my day singing Broadway songs to myself in the mirror (currently it is the Hamilton soundtrack, I am OBSESSED) so Broadway was a must when we were planning where to go on this trip. We kind of whittled it down to three shows we wanted to see and then picked Jersey Boys because it wasn’t super expensive for good seats and the theatre was literally across the road. This show was honestly amazing. The soundtrack is full of songs that you want to get up and dance to (some people even did) and the actors appeared so enthusiastic all throughout their performance.

Remember to come back to check out day four tomorrow!!

MANHATTAN HEIGHTS: New York City - Day Two

If you haven't read up on day 1, be sure to check it out here. Day two was by far our busiest day in New York City and I think it was the day that we realised that we vastly underestimated the size of this city.

Andrew’s Coffee Shop

We began the day on empty stomachs, deciding to walk to the Empire State Building first and just get breakfast around there. Now remember around 10 seconds ago when I said that we didn’t realise how big Manhattan was, turns out 20 blocks is slightly more than a quick walk.

Despite this, this place was amazing! I had banana pancakes and fresh orange juice and for somewhere so close to the Empire State Building, this place was way less expensive than it could of (and in my opinion, should of) been. We had to wait only a few minutes before getting a table and our food came as quickly as it disappeared from our plates. Honestly, if you’re anywhere near 34^th Street and 7^th Avenue, pop into here and you won’t regret it!

Empire State Building

We went to the Empire State Building twice on our second day in New York, once mid-morning and once at night. We were able to do this as prior to our trip, we bought the CityPASS which honestly is a life saver. This pass not only saves you money but it makes your trips into different attractions so much quicker and stress free. If you know that you want to go to all the main tourist-y spots, I would definitely recommend you do this as you still have a lot of flexibility of when you visit each of the attractions so I can see it working for almost everyone.

I feel like my first reaction to it was that it was so much smaller than I had expected it to be. Whilst inside, I loved the art deco feel. Despite this being one of New York’s most famed landmarks, I would definitely say not to go if you had children with you as there was long queues and whilst on the observation deck, there is a sort of ‘push your way to the very front without acknowledging anyone else’ attitude. However, the views from here were incredible. It made me feel like I was a giant as everything looked so tiny from so high up; so worth the visit. If I could chose a time to go, I would chose the night as I think it was so pretty seeing all the buildings lit up. It gives you such a different perspective of the city as a whole compared to what you see on the ground and honestly is phenomenal.

Rockefeller Centre and Top of the Rock

When it’s the middle of summer, New York is experiencing a heatwave, and you’ve just walked 15 blocks at 12.00, the Rockefeller Centre is what I imagine as heaven on earth. If you’re on Fifth Avenue and need a place to stop for lunch or a quick break, take a stop in here and you’ll be dandy. The Rockefeller Centre is full of lots of little cafés and restaurants as well as some shops you can peruse upstairs so it’s great for a little stop midday.

At the top of the Rockefeller Centre is the Top of the Rock observation centre which I think, dare I say it, I preferred to the Empire State Building. This is because they give out timed tickets so you aren’t waiting in queues and the deck itself is so much bigger which prevents crowding and means for a much more pleasant experience. You also get amazing views of central park and the Empire State Building so this would for sure be up there if I created a list of places you needed to visit in NYC.

Tiffany’s 5^th Avenue

Oh don't mind me just pretending to be Audrey Hepburn whilst welling up in the middle of Manhattan

When we decided to go to New York, this was somewhere I knew I absolutely had to go. As someone who has been pretty much obsessed with the film ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and Audrey Hepburn for most of her life, even seeing the store made me well up. As much as I would have loved to grab a croissant and a tea (something which is seemingly hard to come by in New York) and channel my inner Holly Golightly, just walking in the store felt magical. The staff here were lovely and always willing to help (both times we went) and basically everything in this shop is beautiful. I don’t think this is one of the places you have to visit, unless you’re as obsessed with that film/novella as I am, as unless you wanted to buy something, I can see many people using that time on another tourist attraction and it being a better use of their time. But if you’re in the area and fancy a wander in, go for it, but also prepare for your bank account to feel some pain.

Stay tuned for day three tomorrow!

WELCOME TO NEW YORK : New York City- Day One

I love reading about other people’s trips and so I thought I would tell you, in depth, about a recent one I took to New York City (honestly one of the best trips I have ever been on). One tip I would give, if you are thinking of going, is booking everything well in advance, including any trips to the Statue of Liberty or Broadway etc because tickets sell out fast (I will talk about the CityPASS option which we used in tomorrow’s blogpost which worked out well).

Flying

We flew with Thomas Cook Airlines and honestly, it was really pleasant. On the flight outbound, there was lots of legroom and staff were really helpful. On both flights, I took two carry-on bags (one was my handbag and the other was a larger cabin bag) which I know sounds slightly excessive but I had everything I needed to make the trip comfy.

In my handbag I just had things such as my phone charger (a must for long haul flights as most have USB charging ports and you can be asked to turn your devices on when you land) and my passport etc, basically everything I needed to keep close. I also had my IPad but I found that I didn’t even use it as the inflight entertainment was more than enough.

The cabin bag, on the other hand, had a pair of shorts I changed into on the flight and things like clean underwear and a spare pair of clothes in case my luggage got lost. I also took sun cream and makeup (I know makeup isn’t for everyone but it killed an hour or so and make me feel slightly more human once I had it on) so that I could get off the flight not looking like I had just spent 8 hours in a plane.

Airport to Hotel

To get from the airport to our hotel, we used a service called GoAirlink, a service I probably wouldn’t recommend. After waiting nearly an hour and a half in JFK, we had a highly rude driver whose bus actually broke down after 20 minutes of driving. Though the second driver was much more pleasant (he put the radio on loud so we could party on the bus), we would have saved a lot more time and money had we just hopped in a yellow cab.

Hotel: Novotel Times Square

The hotel was honestly amazing. Located a stone’s throw away from Times Square, this hotel boasted large rooms with amazing views and staff who were always smiling and happy to help. Given the location and the fact it was a 4* hotel, it was also not extortionate and meant we were literally across the road from the Jersey Boys theatre (the show we had decided to see on Broadway).

Grand Central Station

After walking through Times Square and seeing the Ghostbusters cast get out of the car from the film (!!!!!), we walked to Grand Central Station. I feel like whenever people think of Grand Central, everyone links it to different things, movies they’ve seen on the TV; for Lauren and Lucy (the girls I went with) for example, all they could think of was Gossip Girl. Me, however, I could not erase the scene from my head from Madagascar where Melman (the giraffe) gets his head stuck in one of the clocks in the terminal. It still confuses my why that is the thing that came to my mind.

Dinner: Naples 45

Say hello to the largest pizza I have ever seen!! It was huge!

For dinner, we ate at Naples 45, just round the corner from Grand Central and boy was it amazing. If you ever find yourself near grand central around dinner time, seriously pop here and you won’t regret it. It’s full of yummy Italian food and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we all went home happy.

We also saw the end of Manhattanhenge! I had no idea this is what it was or that it was happening until the day after but I got a few pictures.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my first day in NYC! I will be posting each day we went there daily for the next few days so look out!