New York Photo Diary

 It's been over two weeks since I returned from a long awaited trip to New York and I'm still feeling the post-holiday blues. I can't believe I have actually been to the Big Apple and was lucky enough to experience all seasons. I took way over 1000 photos of the trip but I've compiled some of my favourites into this post just for you.. you lucky things.

The weather during our first few days was exactly how you'd imagine a New York winter. Bitterly cold yet sunny and we were lucky enough to have one very snowy Friday. We took a stroll through Central Park to experience it covered in white and couldn't help but be in awe of the winter wonderland that had appeared overnight. TV recordings are the perfect free activity on a cold day and we scored tickets to see The View. I was pretty stoked to see That's So Raven herself on the panel. The 90's kid inside me was uber happy. Throw in a John Stamos interview and surprise Naughty By Nature performance and our Friday morning was made!

Brunch is what New Yorkers are best it so we stayed local to our Upper Eastside hotel and ate at Treadwell Park before making our way to Times Square and finding the perfect position to wish our Mums a Happy Mother's Day via the live webcams. That evening we headed to a Broadway show. There was so much to choose from but we went for Chicago and I'm so glad we did. I hadn't seen the film adaptation so my first perception of this Broadway classic was an authentic one. I signed up to telechargeoffers.com and got our tickets for almost half price! there's a small joining fee of around $4 but for the savings you can make, it's 100% worth it.

Ah Top of The Rock! What an absolutely breathtaking experience and I'd recommend to anybody visiting NYC to put it on the top of their to-do list. The views are incredible and I don't imagine I'd ever tire of seeing them.

9/11 was the first major new story in my lifetime that I fully understood. I was just old enough to comprehend the seriousness of that day and recall watching the news coverage in a state of shock. I don't have the words to describe how it felt visiting Ground Zero and the 9/11 museum but it was a privilege to learn about the lives lost and the heroes of that day. This was one of my most memorable days in New York; it will stay with me forever.

Brooklyn Bridge. I don't know whether it was the bridge itself, the views whilst walking across it or the fact it had suddenly shot up to 24 degrees that day that made me love it so much but BB surpassed all expectations. From here you can get super awesome vies of the Manhattan Bridge, spot the Statue of Liberty in the distance, spend time reading the love locks of tourists from all over the world and of course leave one of your own to mark your visit.

If we're being 100% honest I wasn't that fussed about the Statue of Liberty. Don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous to see and the view of the Manhattan Skyline from Ellis Island is the absolute dream but unlike Top of the Rock, it's not a trip I'd make twice. Actually, maybe I would take the Staten Island Ferry instead. It's totally free and as far as I'm aware you get all the beauty of the views to snap away at. Whilst in the area we made our way to Wall Street. We took a walk through the financial district mainly just to have a nosey but getting a photo with the Wall St Bull was near impossible unless you didn't mind hoards of European students being in the background.

All these photos are from the same day. We walked our socks off to experience the top of the Empire State Building (less impressive if you've already done Top of The Rock), the Flat Iron Building and Madison Square Park, Greenwich Village and the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. building, the High Line and then Madison Square Gardens all in one day! We actually ended up at Times Square that evening after walking almost 30,000 steps according to my walking app. The High Line is such a peaceful contrast to the rest of the city and I imagine in Summer it to be even more so. 

Our final full day in the City will go down as one the favourite days of all time. In a complete contrast to our snowy Central Park adventure, we ate Magnum ice creams whilst searching for the Alice in Wonderland statue. Once again, it was near impossible to get a photo without without children climbing in the background but I guess that's par for the course. We finished our day in a rowing boat on the lake - an day straight out of my bucket list dreams.

Have you ever been to New York? What would be your dream holiday?

ox Lucy

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