Our Trip to New York City!

I had wanted to go to New York for so long, I had dreamed about this city and I felt like I was already in love with somewhere I had never been, I felt an incredible pull to this place. So much so, I cried nearly the whole last day of our trip. Since this was a long anticipated trip, and probably somewhere I might not get straight back to I wanted to make sure that we saw and did everything that we possibly could. I'm not a shopping type so that's not what that trip was, when I go somewhere I like to see everything! This probably seems like a lot for a week! And it was, but oh wow was it so worth the sore legs feet and back because looking back now I don't remember any of that, only the amazing time I had there.

We arrived in Manhattan on Sunday afternoon around 4pm, when we walked out of Penn Station and onto the street my first thought was how amazing and big and different it was!Our very first view was unbelievable, when we got out at 32nd street we could see the Empire State building a few blocks over to the right! New York City, we have arrived! We checked into our incredible hotel on 42nd Street with a room overlooking the bright lights of Times Square, we can see the New Years ball and the NYPD sttion from our huge windowsill. The first thing we did was call home to check in and headed straight out to see our new home for the week. We set off for Shake Shack which I had heard only good things about, I had been anticipating this New York delicacy for months now! It was so worth everything I expected, the burgers are a little small and expensive for their size, but they are so unbelievably delicious I crave it at least twice a week now that I'm home. After our meal we headed back toward Times Square for a quick look around with the idea of an early night. Times Square was so much different than I thought it would be, it was both bigger, and smaller than I thought it would be if that can make any kind of sense haha. 98% of any review or guide I read told me not to stay too long because it's too busy and not worth, but I absolutely loved the bright lights and little things we saw on the way. We walked right to the end of of the Square and took it all in, our first real New York experience, passing street performances and little markets that we there for that weekend along the way. We made our way back to our hotel and we stopped to watch a performance where people tried to encourage others to dance, a huge crowd gathered and everyone took different turns to go into the middle and give it everything they had! No one was shy from old to young, it was the best experience I had ever had in a city, the atmosphere was full of pure happiness and god it was just infectious. Remember how I said we were going to have an early night? Well it was closer to 1 am when we flopped down in our bed that night but it was worth it, I went to sleep that night with the biggest smile on my face.

I woke up not long after at 4 am on Monday thanks to the "wonderful" experience of jetlag. I couldn't fall back asleep so I watched some tv for a while, talked to my friends back home which was great because we were five hours behind meaning everyone was up anyway! When the sun started to rise I sat up in our massive windowsill, legs crossed, and started my makeup for the day staring down at Times Square which was really different than a few hours before, quiet and empty of crowds, I loved watching it fill up and come to life. We had an early start for our first day because we had to make it all the way downtown to the financial district to make out ferry to the Statue of Liberty at nine. We left our hotel and walked over two blocks to take our first subway from Times Square station to the financial district, I was nervous in case it would be busy considering everyone would be heading to work but we were pretty lucky and it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. We stopped by Eatily when we got out of the subway and picked up some fresh fruit for breakfast, even though I had heard a lot about it it's actually somewhere we just stumbled upon. Eatily is somewhere I'd love to go back and explore a bit better next time. We set off to find battery park where we were due to take our ferry and took in the extreme heights of the buildings on the way, they were so high they were almost too hard to look at them because you're neck wont go back far enough! I was literally walking with my head straight to the sky at some stages just to take them all in. We got to battery park and were in luck to find there were no queues! I had heard so many things about the atrocious queues for Statue Cruises and heard the tip to go at the earliest ferry and it seemed to have payed off, it probably helped a lot that we had our tickets purchased and printed before we came, we were literally the only ones in the security queue and even got on the ferry before our time because it was so quiet! It had started to drizzle and the fog had started to come down on the skyscrapers as we set off. We passed Lady Liberty and she looked bigger than I thought from that distance, I didn't think I was going to be that impressed with her to be honest and I wasn't overly excited about going to her but our main reason was to see Ellis Island and Statue Ferrys are the only ones with access to them both, but I have to admit I was really in awe when we saw her. We got to the island and walked down to the pier where we got such an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline with Brooklyn bridge, then we walked around the statue and again I was more impressed than I expected to be. It was still raining at this point when we headed to the ferry to go to Ellis Island, we got a cinnamon roll and a pretzel on the way just to keep us going. We got to Ellis Island and started to make our way around and it was nearly empty at this time in the morning which was great for us because we got to take it all in without being rushed, we took three and a half hours to go through it but by the end school tours had started to arrive and it got very busy and loud really quick so we left before we managed to walk through the top floor in full which was a pity but we still got to spend a lot of time there! It's definitely worth the trip if you have the time. When we got back to battery park we took a right and walked over to Fraunces Tavern where George Washington used as a headquarters to negotiate peace offers with the British, I'm not a history buff by any means but little things like this are so interesting to me especially if it's something that doesn't take much time to walk past on the way, then why not! We ended up walking around for a while trying to find certain buildings and decided to come back on Friday instead of wasting more time. We passed over to see the Bull but by this time in the day it was mobbed with people and tours, we didn't even know where it was for a while just because the crowds were keeping it from view so we thought no way is it worth getting crushed for and we decided to leave it until Friday also. We then went to Wendy's for some lunch and went back out in the rain and went to see Trump Tower and federal hall.

We went to go see the 9/11 memorial which looked very poignant in the rain and fog but I was taken aback and to be honest, a bit sick to see how many people were taking smiling family photos right where so many people had perished, it just didn't seem right. I have no problem with people taking photos but selfies and being in the photos? It just didn't sit right. The 9/11 museum was the one thing we didn't book ahead of time because I wasn't sure what time we'd get there and the queue for the ticket was pretty quick but the queue to even get in was super long even in the rain, but I can say it was so worth it! We didn't take a tour and decided to walk it ourselves but every now and then tagged on to the end of a tour for sneaky extra information. It was so heartbreaking and harrowing to be there especially in the second part of the exhibition where they show the moments people found out and you could listen or read the last phone calls to loved ones from the planes. I stuck to reading because I couldn't handle it. They have probably everything they could possibly get from the time from the fire trucks used, airplane windows from the actual plane to pieces of paper from people that had died in the tower that had floated down to the ground from their office in the explosion. It took us around three hours to get through it all and even then, by the end we kind of flew through it so we easily could have spent more time there looking at everything. We had tickets for a Yankees game that evening but after spending all day in the rain we were thinking twice about it, we made it back to the hotel to freshen up. We decided to go ahead and made our way to Grand Central subway station and followed some other Yankees fans all the way to the gates and headed inside. I know virtually nothing about baseball except it's basically rounders but it was surprisingly enjoyable and we had pretty great seats for cheap! We actually enjoyed it so much we decided to go again on Friday. Before we went back to our bed we walked a block or two over and got some $1 pizza, oh my god please get some $1 pizza! It's so bad that it's good. Trust me. It was around 3 am back in Ireland by the time we got home to the hotel so I was pretty exhausted and slept straight away.

I woke up again pretty early on Tuesday which would be a running theme throughout the week. We headed over to ihop to get some buttermilk pancakes with a side of eggs and bacon while Kealan got chicken and waffles. I was so excited about this breakfast and it didn't disappoint! After our fuel we took a subway back to Madison Square Garden where we had a guided tour booked. There was a graduation on that day so it was really busy but we got in pretty quick. The tour was really good and well worth it but I probably wont do it again as I think once is probably enough but I'm dying to see a game of some sorts there next time! I tried to find the hopes and dreams wall when we got out but it had disappeared unfortunately, maybe next time! We then headed over towards the flatiron building and walked through the beautiful Madison Square park. We had decided last minute to go to another Yankees game so we went to try find TicketMonster where we had purchase out first ones from, online was fine but if you want to get tickets while in New York I'd advise somewhere else because it was so hard to find the office and they didn't seem to know how to give us tickets when we were there even though they definitely advertise that you can buy them in person from them. It took a bit of time that I'd have rather spent walking around. We walked over to the Empire State Building and went into the amazing art deco lobby which was just unreal and very busy. We went across the street and had a papya dog which is supposed to be one New Yorks best hot dogs, and while it was good, the corn dog was much better! I tried to go into the Morgan Library (if you're a fan on books this library is something you should consider) but I wasn't aware we had to pay to get in to the room I wanted to see or even where it was and since we were already a little bit "behind schedule" we decided to leave it, maybe next time! Then we landed at Grand Central Terminal and it's everything you expect to see, I could have spent so long staring around. There was even people getting their wedding photos taken! How romantic! We walked over to the Chrysler building to have a look because you can't actually enter it because it's still a functioning office building. We headed back to the hotel to take a little rest and after a while headed back to the city and went to Radio City music hall and past the Rockefeller center to see the seated ballerina statue, after that we went to find St. Patricks cathedral and ventured inside. We love seeing cathedrals and bascillicas when we go away even though personally I'm not a very religious person I love that awe when I walk into a beautiful structure like that. Then we walked down the street and found the Lotte Palace hotel which was, of course, Serenas home in Gossip Girl. When we had finished there we caught a subway to blue ribbon fried chicken in the East Village (please have their mac and cheese for me because I could nearly cry at the thought of how good it was) and then like the fatty I am I headed straight over to petees pies to get a slice of real New York cheesecake, which, by far, was the best cheesecake I've ever had in my life and when I go back I'm going to order a whole one for the hotel room. On our trip to the East Village we saw so much incredible graffiti and even (I think, it was quite far up on a building) a Banksy piece. We strolled over to little Italy where everyones accents are so strong and it's filled to the brim with quaint little Italian restaurants, I was shamefully too full to have any nice treats or pasta (I promised myself next time we came through I'd get something) and we stopped by to have a look at China town which was next on our list and was just around the corner and it was so interesting to see how authentic both little Italy and China town were, it's like we stepped from one country to another! In China town the one thing I was really looking forward to was Doyer street where the most amount of murders in America has happened, it has a really interesting history if you want to look it up.

We headed back up the streets back through little Italy and went to the Rockefeller center where we had a half seven time slot. We made our way up to the top and made it for the perfect time (which I had cleverly planned) to see the city go from the bright daylight, through sunset and then watch the buildings light up with life. The Rockefeller is an incredible building to go to because you get a perfect view of central park and then on the other side you get to see the empire state building (and the one world trade center in the background) plus you can stay as long as you'd like which was perfect to see the city in every aspect of of the day like we did. Before we headed back to the hotel we stopped to get more pizza (seriously, it's so good) and sit in our big comfy bed and watch Family Guy before settling in to bed.

Wednesday morning I woke up and saw a crack of light through the side of our blinds and thought, yes! Finally a decent sleep! I bounced over to check the sky and...no such luck! I was actually just the bright lights of Times Square. It was still only 5 am. Shit. After a few hours and my new routine of sitting in the window doing my make up we walked down into Times Square and up the red steps to take some photos while it was empty and strolled over to Central Park to begin our adventures. I have to say today was the day I was most excited for. When we got into the park we walked over to the empire rock for a few photos and made our way to gapstow bridge, stopping on a big rock to take it all in. My favourite thing about Central Park is the fact it's so peaceful and easy going and green and then just over the trees you can see all the grey skyscrapers, it was the perfect juxtaposition.

The squirrels were super friendly too and Kealan even managed to make friends with one. While we were walking over to the Balto statue we met the cutest, fattest bounciest bulldog puppy called Violet and we made our way down the mall towards Bethesda fountain, sat and watched the row boats and listened to a busker singing with his guitar. Then we went to the Alice in Wonderland statue which we managed to see empty for a brief moment before a gaggle of school kids consumed it. and then we walked quickly across the road to the Natural History Museum so I could have a peek at the dinosaurs in the lobby, it's so strange to think these big beasts were walking around at one stage. I wish we had more time to actually go inside and have a look, another "next time" adventure. We came back over to Central Park to see Strawberry fields and listen to someone sing John Lennon songs, which I was really hoping would happen and we were in luck!

Walking through the meadows we decided to take a subway to Greenwhich village to see the exterior of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S apartment building (super exciting for me!!) and then over to see Carries house from Sex and the City, even though I don't watch it I just wanted to see those amazing brownstone buildings. I've officially fallen in love with them and now the dream is to live in one, even if they do cost a few million. Greenwhich is one of my favourite areas and I loved spending time just walking around the streets looking at the perfect houses. We walked down to the Chelsea markets where I got a long sought after lobster roll from C&P Galley. We headed back to the hotel after that long day of gallivanting for a little rest before our broadway show later! We went to see the Lion King which I had dreamed of seeing for the longest time and it was everything I had hoped it would be, it was the best thing I had ever seen in my life!

Thursday we had decided to have a rest day and do some shopping, we took a look at a few outlet malls and decided on Jersey Gardens, we started our day and took the bus to New Jersey to Jersey Garden mall looking for some great discounts!! We spent the day here and although I had great intentions of spending lots of money I actually had the worst bout of jetlag this day. Every other day it was just waking up early but today I had the worst case of vertigo and felt so sick to my stomach that I couldn't enjoy looking around at clothes so I picked up just a few things and some stuff from Bath and Body works, not to mention I was feeling extra bloated from our excessive snacking, next time I'll probably shop at the start of the trip to avoid any of this. We headed back to Times Square for a good look around and purchased some tickets to a comedy show that evening! We loved getting to see some really authentic New York experiences. Times Square seemed a lot quieter than we had expected, I thought we would be swarmed with crowds but we soon found out how busy it could get! We decided to go find some dinner at Shake Shack on W 44th and 8th but the line was literally out the door and around the corner!! Luckily for us, there's about a million Shake Shacks in New York so we went on google maps and walked a quick ten minutes to the one one on W36th and Broadway (Am I saying that right? I have no idea!) which was empty. After we filled up we went back to the hotel for a little rest before the comedy show and watched some F.R.I.E.N.D.S on tv (the perfect show while in Manhattan) and then we headed out to see our first comedy show! I have to say it was quite good with some being better than others, and because we didn't really know our way around New Yorks comedy scene and we had no intention of going to one we ended up at one that probably wasn't the greatest so I'd say to you if you want to see one, definitely do some research first.

Friday morning we wanted to head down to the financial district again to catch the sights we missed on Monday. We finally got to see the bull, the little girl and the Cunard buildings famous doors that we couldn't see the first time we visited, there were very little people around at this time and it was so much easier to get photos of everything, thankfully. We went back around to city hall as well while we were down here because Friday was a much more beautiful day than Monday and there was no rain to inhibit the amazing buildings. And then we went to something I was looking forward to all week! Breakfast in Denny's. I decided to have buttermilk pancakes with strawberry's and cream and a side of bacon and eggs! After our massive breakfast we were well fueled and turned the corner and headed over the Brooklyn Bridge!

What a beauty of a sight but slightly busy around eleven am when we went, so maybe go earlier again if you want a nice quiet stroll, and even busier again when we walked back. Along the way we had an offer from a photographer to take our photo on the bridge with the skyline in the background, he showed us and if we loved it (which I did) he printed it for us then and there for $10! It's only a half hour walk so I'd say walk it over and back if you can, it's really not that long unless you're short on time. Our plan was to visit Brooklyn all day today and we started by walking through DUMBO, which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, to see that iconic view of the bridge. We spent some time at the river looking at the Manhattan skyline and counting out blessings that we were even sat there. It was getting quite warm and we took a walk over to the beautiful Janes carousel and down to the pier before we wanted to head into Brooklyn but by this time it was so hot and we were dressed for rain so we made the decision to go home to the hotel, shower, change and head into Manhattan (trust me we were gutted).

After we had cooled down we headed down to lower Manhattan to do some more shopping. We had another Yankees game this night so we went to Times Square and bought some Yankees gear to fit in. Then we went for a stroll through Little Italy again and as we came back through I had to stop at Ferrara Bakery which has been open since 1892, to pick up their famous cannolis and New York cheesecake (well worth over stuffing myself). The Yankees game tonight was, dishearteningly, not as good as Monday nights. This was mainly because it was much busier and the game itself was slightly more boring. We still enjoyed it non the less but I think I'm a bit baseballed out!

On our last day (boo) we didn't have anything planned so we took a walk down to the Rockefeller center to have a look outside properly, we walked up to the upper west side to visit Dylans Candy Bar. The upper west side is so beautiful and you can definitely tell that there is so much money over there. I really enjoyed this area and I'd definitely go back for a longer visit next time. We eventually made our way over to 5th avenue to walk down and see all the amazing shop windows that adorn the high end shops like Prada, Tiffanys, Gucci and more. When we got to the end of the 5th avenue, which is again somewhere I'd like to spend more time, we wanted to have a look at the Public Library and those famous lions, we also walked through the absolutely beautiful Bryant Park (where they hold outdoor cinemas in the summer) on our way back to our hotel where we sadly collected our bags and made our last subway to the train station where I silently cried the whole journey to the airport.
If I loved New York before I  even got there you can imagine just how hard it pulled on my heart to leave it! I honestly think about it everyday and I will until I can go back.

Laura xx