New York in 15 photos

Last week was better than average... I spent it in New York.

I've wanted to go to New York to see the Christmas lights since the first time I saw Home Alone 2 many moons ago, and it was absolutely everything I dreamed it would be.

We went for six nights and managed to fit in a highly impressive amount. As a result, I thought it would be a good idea to share one photo from each of the sights and attractions we visited. I took 777 photos in total so this was quite a difficult challenge, to put it mildly.

A separate post will follow next week about New York's Christmas decorations, including the spectacular Rockefeller Tree, so don't be alarmed at its omission from this post!

Empire State Building

Top of the Rock

One World Observatory 

9/11 memorial and museum 

Best of NYC Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise 

Central Park 

Times Square 

Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Madame Tussauds 

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum 

The High Line 

Grand Central Station 

St Patrick's Cathedral 

Mickey The True Original exhibition 

The Friends apartment building 

My Fitbit informs me that we walked 175,000 steps and 134km in total... this isn't surprising when I look back at all the places we visited and take into account the fact that we walked everywhere and didn't use any public transport! 

Look out for more blog posts about New York over the next few weeks, including the aforementioned Christmassy bonanza next Friday. 

New York #6: Times Square

I couldn't write a series of blog posts about New York without mentioning Times Square. There aren't enough superlatives to describe it though, so I'm not going to write reams about it. We went there for a wander on our first evening, and it was totally overwhelming. Massive buildings, lights everywhere, hot dog vendors, huge billboards, all kinds of shops, and streams and streams of people. Apart from the constant pestering from ticket touts, this was one of my favourite areas of the city and we spent a lot of time there. I'm not even a big fan of shopping, but the shops were irresistible. They're also ridiculously cheap compared to British prices!

Here are some of my favourite photos from Times Square:

Buildings, buildings, buildings...

Yet more buildings, buildings, buildings

Times Square at night - even more amazing!

M&Ms World

Disney store!

We spent some time in Times Square every day as we were staying around the corner from there. Again, the photos don't do it justice at all but it gives you a little flavour. Magical!

New York #1: Such an amazing city!

As you all know, I've just come back from New York. I had an amaaaaazing time and would recommend it to anyone. We went for 4 nights and managed to do and see almost everything we'd decided on before we went. It's not really the kind of place you'd go to for more than a week as it's so busy and 100mph all the time, but it's perfect for a short break. New York is full of breathtaking views, lovely places to eat, a crazy amount of shops to suit all tastes, massive majestic skyscrapers everywhere, and some hugely iconic landmarks.

We stayed in the Staybridge Suites on West 40th Street, just two blocks away from the heart of Times Square. No complaints whatsoever! They offered complimentary breakfast and wifi, and the place was immaculate. Also, being on the 28th floor meant that the views were amazing.

View from the room... yes, that's the Empire State Building

We walked everywhere rather than using the Metro or the Subway so our feet were aching by the end of the trip, to put it mildly. Totally worth it, though. However, if we did visit again we'd make use of the public transport in order to see more of the wider city. We would certainly never rent a car in New York... the roads there are actually mental. Pedestrians just cross the road whenever they want to, regardless of the streams of traffic coming towards them, and the yellow taxi drivers toot their horns very liberally. Definitely better off being a pedestrian than a driver!

Here's a rough summary of what we did each day:

Monday: Arrived at the hotel, unpacked, then went looking for food after a wander around Times Square.

Tuesday: Central Park, American Museum of Natural History, shopping, eating, Empire State Building.

Wednesday: Macy's, more shopping, more eating, Grand Central Station.

Thursday: Rockefeller Center, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise, Times Square, yet more shopping and eating.

Friday: Last day :( Mostly shopping and eating.

So there's a small taster of the trip... I'll be doing a series of posts on New York over the next week or so and going into more detail about the various attractions, as well as the shops and food.  Watch this space!