The Big Apple

Sunday

Arriving at JFK (we had to!!) we gave the long subway ride to the hotel a miss and paid (more) for an equally long bus ride to the Port Authority in Manhattan, where we still had to walk 40 blocks to our hotel! Ha! Not so well planned, but we did get to see New York's famous buildings on the drive in, which made us all the more excited!!

After dumping our lightly-packed bags (room for shopping!!) in our cosy Upper West Side hotel room, we headed through pretty central park where we watched a bunch of local guys (and a few girls) playing softball. Here we had

our first proper American hot dog!!

We walked to the opposite side of the park to 5th Avenue to look over the shops (mostly designer - Gucci, Fendi, Armani, Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, etc etc) and across to Madison Avenue

where they were holding a weekend market with lots of yummy food and a cool jazz band!

Afterwards we wandered down to Times Square where we were both completely awe-struck!! It was an incredible feeling to stand in the middle of Times Square and see all the hectic things going on around us... All the lit up screens, flashing lights, yellow cabs! Fantastic!!! From Times Square we walked all the way up Broadway (which pretty much runs the length of Manhattan) to our hotel, checking out all the fantastic-looking restaurants and shops along the way!!

Monday

Feeling more jet-lagged than I do travelling to New Zealand from the UK, we got up a little later than planned. But we headed straight to the Empire State Building and still managed to get there before the long queues formed. After passing through security we headed straight up the lift to the 80th floor, then the 86th floor for a panoramic view over Manhattan and the surrounding suburbs.

We could see the Flat Iron building from the top of the Empire State building so that was our next stop. This iconic building is in hundreds of films so it was really cool to see it in real life! And it's so beautiful, as are so many New

York buildings! They have fantastic architecture!!

We spent a lot of time today wandering around the streets of Manhattan, heading to Grand Central Station via the Chrysler building and generally just checking out the scenery, filling up on yummy cheese pretzels and hot dogs and peanut butter chocolate bars!!

Earlier in the day, in Times Square, we came across a guy giving away David Letterman tickets if you could answer a trivia question. I wasn't convinced I could get it right so Russ said he's answer it, but when he asked the question Russ didn't know so I guessed and got it right! So we got tickets for that night! No one famous was on the show unfortunately but it was still really fun seeing how it was filmed!! And seeing Letterman in person after having watched his show on and off for years!!

After the show we headed to Brooklyn Bridge for some gorgeous views over Manhattan at night!!

Tuesday

We were up very early this morning as Russ had booked us in for am 8am trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. As soon as we got off the ferry we walked around the statue for some prime photo ops while the rest of the tourists were elsewhere... Well, that elsewhere was actually in the ridiculously long queue to get into the statue to check out the museum and to the first observation deck. After queuing for over an hour, we finally got through to the security bit where it was tighter than an airport! We were puffed with air bursts to check for residue before going through the standard metal detector and our bags x-rayed. Why this took so

long I'm not sure... The view wasn't

amazing and we probably would have been happy just with the view walking

around the island, just in case you attempt to do the same...

Ellis Island was interesting and a bit educational, learning about the US immigration system and reading some stories about those who passed through that main building back in the late 1800s.

Afterwards we hung around Battery Park taking in the views of more pretty Manhattan buildings and watching some young guys do a routine for busking where they definitely earned their money!!

Wall Street was the next stop and the Stock Exchange, just because. Russ thought I was a loser for wanting to see it but I don't care! I love being a tourist!! :o)

We stopped briefly at the site of the World Trade Centre then headed to the Lower East Side to Babycakes, a vegan, gluten-free bakery with a lot of famous customers that my flatmate, Annica told me about. My god, their cakes are AMAZING!!! Their carrot muffins the best I've EVER eaten!!! And the icing is incredibly delicious and creamy even though there is no butter in it!!! SO SO good!!!

Wednesday

This morning we met up with our landlord's brother, Neil, for breakfast in a cool, proper American-style diner where I

stuffed myself on pancakes with bacon and syrup!! Neil had flown in the night before as he's a pilot for South

African airways.

We spent most of the rest of the day shopping down 5th Avenue and around after we checked out Radio City Music Hall and the Rockefeller Centre where we took the cool see through and multi-coloured-roofed lift to the Top

of the Rock for some fantastic views over Central Park.

That evening we took the subway up to Harlem to the new Yankees Stadium to watch our first baseball game - the

New York Yankees vs the Texas

Rangers! Apparently baseball is the only game without a time limit. Most games run for around 3hrs but we heard that the other week one game lasted around 6hrs!! Luckily ours was around 3hrs

and was an exciting match! Thankfully the Yankees won!! I knew most of the rules so could happily cheer along in the right places!! We had a nice guy next to us to ask questions when we got confused! And much to my

excitement, Jack Nicholson and Sir Paul McCartney were in the crowd, just visible from our seats!! I looked the part in my Yankees baseball cap!!

Thursday

This morning we checked out the Greenwich Village and Soho area. Parts we couldn't miss, from what we heard. Was a great area with fun shops and cafes where had had

some yum, cheap sushi!! Finally cheap sushi! You don't get decent sushi in London that doesn't cost a small fortune!!

Most of the rest of the day was spent wandering the streets below Central Park, shopping on Broadway and at Macy's where I found a $99 DKNY trench coat!! (though didn't buy it as their XS was still way too big!)

That night we wanted to have some drinks in this city famous for its night-life along with the rest. We checked out the Meatpacking District but after looking in a few bars realised it really wasn't for us! More a place for a bigger group of friends to take the edge off the fact you don't own an Aston Martin!! Busting for the loo we walked back to

Greenwich Village where we found a bar/restaurant to use. It was pretty low-key and seemed pretty American-style casual. Here we met a great NYC couple (we assumed they were a couple) who we chatted to all night and learned loads about New York. No better way to learn about somewhere than from locals! Was a great night in the end!

Friday

Our last day and we wanted to get in some last-minute shopping. We had a list - sort of. We headed straight for our new favourite street in Soho, full of fantastic shops and cafes/restaurants, Spring Street. Almost every shop on that street was full of things I wanted to buy!! *sigh* if only I'd won the lottery! Spring Street (and a few of the streets off it) have such a great vibe - pretty artsy and chilled out! After deciding I wouldn't be shopping in New York

'cause of my last trip being only two weeks ago but that all went to pot as soon as I stepped onto 5th Avenue only a couple of days in! Spring Street stood no chance!!

All in all we had a fantastic trip! Instantly I felt instantly at home in New York, everything around me felt so familiar! New Zealand's a pretty Americanised country so it was fantastic seeing all these sights for real!! And the food was sublime, despite the gigantic portions! I can see now why so many Americans are obese!! It takes some serious self-control to not eat all that's on your plate! The hot dogs, pretzels, peanut

butter M&Ms, Reece's peanut butter whipped, twinkies, etc etc etc... To die for! And I'm pretty sure I put on a few pounds in our week there!

Being in New York completely changed my (generalised) opinion of Americans. I had always thought of them as a bit full-on, arrogant. Though le me add that I do know plenty of fantastic Americans, so that IS really a generalisation!! But every single person we came across was friendly, polite, helpful and just generally really really nice!! It really makes you question London and why everyone in it is so grumpy and rude all the time!! Everything I experienced in that city made me want to be there longer! One week was definitely not long enough! Green Card lottery, here I come! :o)

All of my NYC pics are here...