New York #7: Food!

I love food. This is not news. Consequently, I was massively excited about sampling the food in New York. The food was amazing when I went to Florida last year, so I was expecting great things. My boyfriend was calling me the paparazzi as I took photos of all my meals (and desserts!), but it just had to be done for blogging purposes. I ate cakes I wouldn't dream of eating at home, and some mahoosive main meals too.  Thankfully we did lots of walking to burn off the excess calories.

So here's a summary in photos of what I ate throughout the week... don't judge me!

First night - Chicken and broccoli pizza slices at The Bread Factory

Breakfast at the hotel on our first morning - the bacon and the 

apple and cinnamon cake thing were especially tasty!

Cheeseburger and onion rings at Juniors - my favourite meal!

Carrot Cake Cheesecake from Juniors. It took me three days in total to finish this!

Hot dog from Frankie's in Grand Central Station. 

Baked beans, bacon bits and barbecue sauce.

Thai Green Curry from a little Thai restaurant in the Hell's Kitchen area

Cupcakes from the Crumbs Bake Shop - mine is the 

Cookie Dough cupcake on the left

American pancakes with strawberries from the Tick Tock Diner

Pepperoni stromboli from the Villa Kitchen in Times Square

Steak burrito from Chipotle Mexican Grill. My first burrito!

Giant chocolate chip cookie from The Bread Factory

Oreo Cake Tower on our last afternoon... Sadly, I couldn't finish it all

Don't panic, I (miraculously) didn't come back 5 stone heavier. My favourite meals were the American pancakes from Tick Tock Diner, the cheeseburger and onion rings from Juniors, and the carrot cake cheesecake from Juniors. Can you recommend any other restaurants in New York?

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 #5: Circle Line Cruise

The Circle Line Cruise was definitely on my list of things to do in New York after hearing that the Liberty and Ellis Island tour was temporarily suspended due to the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. I'd heard positive reviews from other people who had gone on the Circle Line Cruise, and everyone said it was a great way to experience parts of the city you wouldn't necessarily see otherwise.

The boat left at 12pm, and we got there just in time after a mad dash from the Rockefeller Center. The weather was lovely when we set off, but it did cloud over towards the end. The cruise lasted two hours and the guide was very informative, which always helps! We saw the amazing skyline from lots of different perspectives, as well as seeing famous landmarks like the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and the new 'Freedom Tower' in the context of their surroundings. This is a totally different and more picturesque view than seeing them up close, and I would highly recommend the Circle Line Cruise to anyone who visits New York. We saw four of New York's five boroughs during the duration of the cruise (Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island), and also went underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Financial District was one of the more interesting sights on the cruise, especially as we didn't experience that area of the city on foot during our trip. I felt quite overwhelmed when I saw the new 'Freedom Tower' as it brought back poignant memories of what stood in that location before 9/11. The new tower will be exactly the same height as the Twin Towers destroyed on 9/11, and they're also building six other World Trade Center buildings on the site. If we do visit New York again, I'm very keen to visit the Financial District and Ground Zero in particular, as the memorial museum should be completed by the end of this year.

It's impossible to describe everything we saw on the cruise in one blog post, but hopefully this has given you a flavour of what to expect. I've posted some of my favourite photos from the cruise:

Just after setting off. Look at that skyline!

Another great view of the Manhattan skyline

The Financial District - the tall building on the right is the new 'Freedom Tower', 

located on the World Trade Center site

The Statue of Liberty! As you can see on the right, they're busy 

repairing parts of the island after the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy

I forget what this bridge is called, but it's my favourite

Empire State Building on the right!

As you can see from the photos, it did get more cloudy as the cruise went on. And a lot colder! I took about 80 photos altogether as there was so much to see, but you'll be pleased to hear that I refrained from posting them all on here. Has anyone else been on the Circle Line Cruise? What was your favourite part?

New York #4: Rockefeller Center

The Rockefeller Center always reminds me of Home Alone 2, which immediately gives it some brownie points. However, apart from the references made in the film, I didn't know much about the building at all before going to New York. I'd never really looked at photos of it, or looked into its history. I just knew it looked nice during the Christmas period! It was still on my list of things to do in New York as so many people had recommended it, but I had no idea what to expect.

The Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings which spans 22 acres, and the surrounding area is actually just as impressive as the building itself. We visited the area on our third afternoon in New York, after it stopped raining. Here are some photos from the Plaza area outside the main building:

After wandering around the surrounding area for a while and taking in the sights, we decided to go up to the 'Top of the Rock observation deck. Unfortunately, we were told that the visibility at the top of the building was bad on that particular afternoon due to some fog which was hanging around after the morning's rain, so we went back the next morning when the sun was shining. It was a totally different experience to the Empire State Building as it was daylight and showed the city from a different angle and a slightly different height. It also wasn't quite so windy! As it was such a clear day, we could see the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Empire State Building (obviously), the new 'Freedom Tower' being built on the Ground Zero site, and everything else within a few miles' radius. 

A few photos from the Top of the Rock:

The classic Home Alone 2 pose!

So even though I didn't have huge expectations about the Rockefeller Center before going to New York, I was massively impressed. I still can't decide if I preferred 'Top of the Rock' or the Empire State Building observation deck... Does anyone else have a favourite of the two?

New York #3: American Museum of Natural History

I've never been much of a museum fanatic, but the American Museum of Natural History blew me away. The museum is located across the street from Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and it's massive. We were extra excited about visiting it as we love watching Night at the Museum, but the film doesn't give you any idea about the sheer size of the building. We spent three or four hours in there and probably only saw about half of it in great detail. I loved the animal and fossil sections, as well as the meteorite section (even though I don't know anything about meteorites).

The walk to the museum from Midtown Manhattan was beautiful and very picturesque due to its Central Park location. It's hard to believe that there's such a massive park in the middle of such a big city!

Here are some of my favourite photos from the museum:

I don't think any other museum will ever live up to this one!

New York #2: Empire State Building

Everyone talks about how amazing the Empire State Building is, and I've seen lots of great photos of it, but I don't think you can appreciate its true grandeur until you experience it at first hand. It's one of the tallest buildings in the world, and the second tallest in New York at 381m high. It's visible for miles and is truly iconic. I kept staring at it whenever we were anywhere near it, just trying to take it all in and marvelling at  what a majestic building it is.

From the bottom!

From the river

We decided to visit the Empire State Building on our second evening as we wanted to see the view from the top when it was dark. It was all very grand inside the building, and going up in the lift to the 86th floor was quite an experience. We definitely didn't regret our decision to go in the dark as the view of the city at night from such a massive height was truly astounding. It was extremely windy at the top though, which might have been a bit disconcerting for people who aren't comfortable with heights! I could have stayed up there for hours looking down at the city and trying to take it all in, if it wasn't so freezing up there. New York really does look magnificent from that kind of height. 

Here are a few photos from the top:

The photos could never do it justice, but they do give a flavour of what kind of view you can expect. Has anyone else been at the top of the Empire State Building? What did you think?

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!