NEW YORK CITY had always been on my travel wish-list, but with years of being preoccupied with various European cities I'd never really made any firm plans to go there in the foreseeable future. Instead I admired it from afar, watching endless movies set in the city: Breakfast at Tiffany's, Home Alone 2, Rear Window - which doesn't really count since it was filmed on a set, but hey ho - to name but a few (the list is endless*).
It was coming up to my 30th and I was all ready to 'just have a quiet one' but ended up being 'persuaded' into spending it in the Big Apple. From the get go my eyes were sparkling and there was a a New York soundtrack whirring away in my mind**. Everything was big and bold: the skyscrapers, the store fronts, the thick New Ywork accents and the portions of food.
We did all the things on my wish-list - ice skating in Central Park, cocktails at a rooftop bar, top of the Rock and Empire State Building, lazy brunches and seeing the twinkling lights of Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry - and more. While we did so much - most of it outdoors despite temperatures below 0c - we only scraped the surface, and I have this yearning to go back; one that I recognise from my days pining for Paris when I was younger.
I think New York City might just be the best place I've ever been.
I've carved up the guide into three installments: 1) Upper West Side & East (West 59th Street and above, or the bottom of Central Park, 2) Midtown down to 14th and 3) Lower Manhattan.
We walked everywhere - including from our hotel at Lincoln Center right down to Battery Park (an 8 mile round trip) in one day, and it really was the best way to see the city.
THINGS TO EAT & DRINK
Hiking up Broadway in the bitter cold - past the bodegas and piles of snow on the sidewalk - for smokey cheese stack burgers, cheesy fries and shakes (vanilla for him, peanut butter for me) at Shake Shack...
...breakfast at Gray's Papaya watching the world go by - the cream cheese bagels which weren't much to write home about, but the juices - papaya (my favourite), bananai daiquiri, pina colada and coconut champagne - were delicious...
...birthday cocktails at Robert restaurant and cocktail bar at the top of the Museum of Art and Design on Columbus Circle - the most amazing view of the twinkling lights on Broadway, and the sun setting in the candy floss sky over Central Park...
... a hearty lunch at The Meatball Shop where you customise your own dish - I was predictable and chose classic beef meatballs, classic tomato marinara sauce and spaghetti...
... lovely touches at The Mermaid Inn, like the complimentary pot au chocolate in an espresso cup, the fortune fish that came with the check and the little books of matches to take on your way out.
THINGS TO SEE & DO
The magic of a snow-drifted and almost isolated Central Park - it took my breath away...
... enjoying the dioramas and dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History...
... almost breaking my neck walking up the icy stoop at Holly Golightly's Apartment from Breakfast at Tiffany's...
...stocking up on American magazines (The New Yorker, CN Traveler and Bon Appetit) at the Time Warner Center mall at Columbus Circle...
Coming next: Midtown
**In some places I visit, I have 'backing songs' going on in my head (is that a bit weird?) when I walk around a city, and this time the following songs were on loop:
*Here are Vanity Fair's 10 greatest films set in Manhattan
**In some places I visit, I have 'backing songs' going on in my head (is that a bit weird?) when I walk around a city, and this time the following songs were on loop: