We arrived New York City around 1:30 P.M. the city that never sleeps. Eventually we arrived at our hotel The Royal Hotel, Upper West Side and were impressed with the welcome and the room given. We then headed out and bought the customary pizza slice followed by purchasing a 7 day subway pass (fully recommended for ease and for the mistaken exit!) and getting on the subway on 96 ST to Times Square.
It was so bright, hot and busy so headed to Dave and Busters bar for a well earned Blue Moon beer The service was really good and the nachos we had were huge. We then went for a little walk getting lost near 5th Ave and 7th Ave and admiring the Chrysler building and the architecture. Feeling the jet lag we then called it a night. We started the day with breakfast at Manhattan Diner close to 96 st station, I had bacon and pancakes – yum! We then caught the no.1 subway to South Ferry and boarded the Staten Island Ferry. Everything was close by and the view of the statue of liberty was great, on the return journey we swapped to the other side to see the Manhattan bridge and skyline. After we took a walk down Wall Street and did a little shopping in Century 21 followed by visiting 9/11 memorial at 1:30pm.
There was about a 15 min wait to get in and once inside the fountain area it was really nice to reflect on what had happened and take in the huge size of each towers foot print. After we visited St Pauls chapel and walked towards Brooklyn Bridge. About half way across a storm caught up with us and the heavens opened – we were soaked to the bone with no shelter close by! Note to self to take the weather forecast more seriously! With a reservation at 4:45pm at Peter Lugers we did not have enough time to change so headed to the restaurant wet. The food was absolutely fantastic and the best steak I have ever eaten but would leave the chips.
The chocolate fudge Sunday was also nice, we particularly enjoyed overhearing a conversation between the waiter and a local which was very curt and different to how we brits speak. We then headed back for an early night and put on some dry clothes! The weather was dry with grey clouds so we tried our luck and walked through central park down the right hand side towards 59th st. This was one of my favorite memories of our trip, watching runners, dog walkers, seeing the lake, Belvedere Castle and a small turtle balancing on a rock in Turtle pond. The park was such a beautiful and peaceful place and such a contrast to the high rise buildings. We then headed downtown on the subway and enjoyed a dougnut and coffee at Doughnut Planet. We then did some shopping and got some bargains on 5th Ave and Visited the central library – the husband a Ghostbusters fan loved the lions.
We then went to Jean-Georges Nougatine restaurant at the bottom of Trump Hotel. I fully recommend the pre-fix lunch menu, the chicken was great and the pudding the best I had on the trip. A reservation is definitely required and we felt very underdressed in jeans and t-shirt beside businessmen and graduation families oops! We then continued shopping and before heading back to the hotel stopped at Grays Papaya for a hotdog and fruit drink – yum! After changing we went to the Majestic Theatre to see The Phantom of the Opera this was good however I am ashamed to admit I fell asleep during some of the long songs. We then went to Don Antonio’s for pizza before calling it a night around 12am. We started the day with a salmon and cream cheese bagel from Lennys Bagels and went to Columbia University so the husband could look at more Ghostbusters scenes.
We then went back to do a little more shopping and I was treated to a Tiffany charm bracelet – the store is fantastic and felt I couldn’t leave NY without one! We then visited the The Museum of The City of New York – this was $15 on a Saturday – the museum was just the right size for us and had a nice collection of war and modern history exhibitions. We then walked back and stumbled across Shake Shack! I had a Rocky Shack, which was delicious and the husband had a milkshake. Feet feeling very achy we headed back to the hotel for a little rest. We then headed to Tribeca so husband could see Hook and Ladder Ghostbusters HQ! We then went to Greenwich and were put on a waiting list for a table at the Spotted Pig. As it was very busy and we wanted to explore Greenwich a little more we decided to head to another bar, to our delight we came across Baynards Ale House – this was a cool bar/pub similar to back home with a huge selection of draft beers and really friendly staff/clientele.
After waiting an hour we headed back to Spotted Pig and were shown to our table, the pub/restaurant was very quirky with lots of pig ornaments! We ordered olives and Roquefort cheeseburgers and shoestring fries – the food quality was great and service was great and the food price reasonable – but alcohol was expensive! After feeling a little tipsy and full we bought a cup cake for pudding in a cute little shop near the subway and then headed to the Empire State Building. It was about 11pm and the sky was now clear but windy, there was only a little queue and we headed up to the observation deck. The view at night was phenomenal but it was a little hard to get your bearings and the wind made the experience a little uncomfortable – I swear the building was moving or I had drank a little too much Blue Moon beer! The husband then dragged me to Planet Hollywood for a cocktail and to get our collectible shot glass (we have a few now from different cities!). Our last morning We got up early, the sun was shining and we headed to Top of the Rock – I enjoyed this more than Empire State, the lift experience was fun and the view immense! There was no queue at this time and we could take as long as we liked. After we visited Grand Central Station and then made our way to Katz for a well-earned breakfast! The pastrami sandwiches were scrummy and it lived up to our expectations! It wasn’t too busy at 10ish but when we were leaving at 11am there was a queue and a group of tourists arriving.
We then headed back to 5th Ave for last minute shopping and so I could visit the glass Apple store and buy my much wanted Ipad. We then rushed back to the hotel and made it just in time for our pick up! We were really sad to leave and absolutely loved the city this was a once in a lifetime trip for us and we hope one day to return!
