New York City. The city of cities, the ultimate city. the city that makes all other cities look like a bag of crap... or something like that.
Whats the big deal about this city?
I've just come back from a holiday to this fantastic concrete jungle, and i have to say, its my favorite city in there is.
Whilst I have visited before, this was Emma's first time to the city, and I wanted to do it justice.
So because Emma had never been before, all the touristy stuff was at the top of our to do list, so before going, we purchased two New York passes. These gave us access to a whole bunch of city wide attractions including the empire state building, liberty island, the ground zero museum and one of the hop on/off bus tours. They're not too expensive either, the three day one we got is normally $273 which if you make the most of it will save you a bunch.
We bought ours on 'black Friday' and got them hella cheep #justsaying
Right so we landed at 18:00 (or there about's) so there wasn't much of the day left, and after that flight there wasn't much we wanted to do anyway, but we still had to make it to the hotel, which wasn't difficult in the slightest, as we already had a subway map and I'm fantastic! Hopped onto the airport train, straight to the subway, and then it was only one line to get to our stop on 50th street, which was only half a block away from our hotel, the CitizenM which was brilliantly placed. Now, there was a little confusion on the train, when we thought it might be going to skip our stop (half way though the automated map decided it was going to show the express train stops rather than the actual stops) and in our tired state we couldn't figure this out, but somebody who was paying attention said it happens all the time and not to worry about it. Not the NYAsshole TV had taught us everybody was.
So we got to our hotel, dumped our stuff, and prepared for a night out exploring the town, which resulted in a walk across the street to McDonald, and then a walk back to the hotel. Because we're fierce.
The next day was when we started our sightseeing.
First we went for breakfast. Since booking the holiday i had been ranting to Emma about american breakfasts, and this place didn't disappoint. It was Ellen's Stardust Diner, home to the singing wait staff. We both had pancakes, bacon and fried eggs, and i got the best thing about america... bottomless coffee. And the singing servers? Spectacular. Seemed expensive at the time, but after a few days, when we were used to the pricing, it actually seemed pretty average.
Next, we went with our passes, straight to the bus tour ticket office, to collect our bus tickets... obviously.
The tour was a great way to get to grips with the city, and a great way to see all the attractions as the 5 bus routs were designed to hit them all. We rode the bus, taking in all the information, and listening to our tour guides terrible jokes, all the way to the docks, where we couldn't take the humor any more, and also wanted to see the statue of liberty... but it was mostly the humor.
The ferry (also included in the city pass) takes you to Liberty Island first, where the statue of liberty is if you couldn't figure that one out. It's a nice island, and we got a few nice snaps of the city from across the water. The second stop is Ellis Island, which if it wasn't included in the ticket I wouldn't have bothered going. I guess it would be interesting to anyone who who had a relative pass through the place, but i didn't get much out of it.
In the afternoon we visited the ground zero museum and memorial, however ill refrain from talking about this. It's something you should see rather than just read about.
Ok, so for dinner we went to my favorite restaurant in the whole wide world. A pizzeria called Lombadi's. Apparently, it was the first pizza place in the whole of New York. To be honest, I could write a whole post on this place. I first went on my first trip to NY, with my mom, dad, brother, and american cousins. I went again when me and my brother traveled the east coast, and this marks my third trip to the place. It's fantastic, and not only my favorite restaurant, but my favorite place in NY. If it were up to me, we would have gone every night, but you know... I traveled with the boss, and I have to keep her happy.
They only take cash, and they don't do free refills on drinks, but their pizza is BLOODY FANTASTIC.
The way it works is that you order a pizza, you eat said pizza, and you relive every good moment in your otherwise miserable life.
Our second day out there was a bit of a bust. There was a huge snow storm that rendered our bus tours obliterate. Who wants to sit on an open top bus in a blizzard? not me... well kind of me, but like I've said, the boss was present.
We were supposed to do the empire state, but because of the snow we gave it a miss. Instead we went on a tour of Madison Square Garden, taking this opportunity to purchase tickets for the next basket ball game. The tour was great (although i would have traded the toilet break for a hot dog break). My favorite part was getting to see the fancy shmancy suites. I was trying to figure out how we could talk our way into one of these when we came for the b-ball, but Emma wasn't up for it... Ok, i was scared when i saw a doorman.
That night we saw a musical. Emma’s idea, I’m not too hot for them, but I’m glad I went! We got tickets to Anastasia, and it was fantastic. The entire way though the musical, the actress kept glancing over at me, and my ego inflated by a million percent. It wasn’t until we were leaving that I noticed a tv above my head that showed the conductor, something I leave out of the story whenever I tell it to Emma.
On the third day the weather cleared, and we were back on the tourist train.
We visited the Empire State Building for great panoramic views of the city, we used the tour bus again, and we readied ourselves for the night time bus tour.
The night bus was fantastic. It wasn’t a hop on hop off, but was still the same company we had used during the day.
We travelled through china town, up broadway, and over the Manhattan bridge, for a great view of the city and the Brooklyn bridge at night, all lit up. Maybe it’s because we were a little drunk, but that was my favourite part of the holiday.
So that was the end of the touristy part of our wee city break, and a good place to end off I think. Mainly because I can’t be bothered writing any more on the subject, and want to get back to my WIP.
Alrighty nation, until next time.
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