That Big New York Trip (Part 2 of 5)

Most mornings in New York, I woke up at around 9 to 10am English time which of course meant that it was 4 - 5am New York time.  I'm quite the lark anyway so getting up early didn't really bother me.  In fact I didn't suffer from jet lag at all until I got home.  It took me 11 days to get over it and every morning was absolute agony!  

Sunrise and sunset during my stay

The only real issue for me was that the local shops don't open until 10am so there is nothing to do until then. Whilst walking around Queens one morning, I was told by a local paramedic that I had a random breakfast with that 'Round here we like our late starts'.  For me (on a weekend) 10am is almost afternoon nap time so I found the idea of only starting my day then quite unsettling.

Another unexpected discovery was that in NY the sun (although way warmer than England) doesn't rise until after 6am and sets before 8pm - something to note if you're trying to avoid staying out past dark like I was.

Day 3 - Rockaway Beach, Queens

After my super long exploration of the city the previous day, I was absolutely exhausted and decided to take a time-out-day on another iconic beach, Rockaway in Queens.

Rockaway was a lot closer than Coney Island and was only 2 short train journeys from where I was staying.  The interesting thing about the train journey is that the train goes over the sea on a rail road track - not in a tunnel or a bridge, but just a little railroad track right through the water.  I'm not sure if this is something you see commonly, but it's certainly not something I've experienced before and I made a total unashamed tourist of myself making this video to enable me to fully explain this concept later.

Rockaway was absolutely beautiful and the white sands and blue skies would easily fool you into thinking you were on some Balearic island rather than in one of the world's busiest cities. In fact the more I travel the more I am amused by how completely wrong the stereotypes and preconceived ideas we have spawned about cities and countries end up being.  I don't think I've ever known that New York had beaches - beautiful ones too, let alone that the city of New York is surrounded by sea and rivers and is made up of several islands rather than one land mass.

Rockaway Beach boardwalk.  Look at that perfect blue sky.

It was around this point that I sent this selfie home and said I was never coming back to England!  It seems there is nothing that New York does in half measures.

This sun is definitely as hot as it looks.  Something else I learnt the hard way about the city is that it feels and though it's contending be one of the warmest places on earth! Jeepers it was hot and the humidity was a killer! I don't think the temperature dropped below 30c during any single day I was there.

After a day in the crazy hot sunshine, I had to stop off for some Ben and Jerry's on the way home.  I tried to sample all the flavours that I haven't seen in England, but there were just too many amazing things to eat.

It's so hot in the city that even the local cat where I was staying was taking strain and lay in front of the high powered fan the entire time I was home.

Day 4 - Fifth Avenue, Times Square, more stunning architecture, Madison Square Gardens, the Empire State Building, Macy's and a giant inflatable rat

Another one of those absolutely gorgeous NYC architectural things

A friend of mine (thanks, Zea!) saw this place on television and said to me on Facebook that I should visit there. Not sure why this guy thought that his bum should be in my photo but anyway.

It was a little pricey for a bagel at over $11 but it was 100% amazingly good (and besides it's NYC prices, right!).

A beautiful shop front I just couldn't get over - I liked it so much that I walked past it twice just to get a second look.

Real life police cars just like in the movies! Eek! This excited me greatly.

New York goths - cute.

Another 'just like in the movies' moment - a NY ambulance.

This was a strange find.  While I was searching for places to stay in NY prior to my trip, I came across this place. I wanted to stay there but the website said I'd have to share a bathroom which I wasn't 100% keen on.  It made me sad because I really thought it looked amazing.  Then I realised I didn't have to stay there to see it but I could just go there!  

When I asked the guys at reception if I could take photos they replied 'Sure.  Where do you want me?'.  It only reiterated how much I love the people of NY. I love their openness and friendliness. 

What a quirky but beautiful hotel.  The internet tells me that every room looks completely different. If this is how awesome the lobby is, imagine how the rooms must look!

I couldn't figure out what this building was but isn't it gorgeous? If my memory serves me correctly, it was just across from that massive Sony building outside Madison Square Park. Anybody know what it is? 

A view of the NYC skyscrapers from Madison Square Park where the suits come to enjoy a lunch in the picturesque surroundings of nature.  I got a couple of sideways looks from some of the mums here so moved on swiftly!

This is so NYC for me.  They had these hot dog stands on every other corner of Manhattan.

While walking towards the Empire State Building I came across this giant inflatable rat attacking a building! I have no idea why and he wasn't very successful.  They tied him to this vehicle in order to subdue him, I suppose.

And more 'just like in the movies'! The really abrasive traffic controllers with the white gloves genuinely exist.  They really shout at people and motorists too! I love it.

Madison Square Gardens where they show all the basketball games in the movies.

The iconic Empire State Building.

New York City streets - sometimes I was just so overwhelmed that I had to just stop and stare.

New York City streets - there were many of those overwhelming moments as you can probably tell!

Macy's - calm down, shopohalics! 

Inside Macy's. Very shiny.

I love this photo.  I was surprised to see that steam really does come up from the ground in the streets of NYC! Does that mean it's built on hell? :P  I think it's because they have open sewers across the pavements.  Sometimes it smells a bit funky but makes for a cool photo!

Times Square -this was possibly one of the most breathtaking things I have ever experienced.  I don't know why it's such a sight to behold and when you explain it to someone 'a few blocks of lights and big signs and moving images' it doesn't sound like much, but the atmosphere here is incredible.  It was definitely one of my favourite things about the city and I really want to come back here for New Years Eve one year. 

Back towards Fifth Avenue outside the Rockefeller Centre (more photos of that later)

St Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.  Building took seven years because work had to be halted during the Civil War.  It was eventually completed in 1878. As beautiful as it is, it's another one of those weird New York 'This building looks superimposed against the back drop of modern architecture' moments. New York is full of those!

I've never been a fan of TGI Friday's in England so I thought I'd try the American one instead to see what the fuss is about.

I have to say I was definitely fussed! The food was incredible, the service was second-to-none and the whole experience was wonderful.  I spent almost 2 hours in there.

This was my amazing candy floss cocktail! The waitress came over with the shaker and the glass full of cotton candy.  She then poured the alcohol over the cotton candy and it melted.  It was absolutely fantastic.

This almost killed me. This vanilla cheese cake (selected by Ethan back home who I was having a cyber meal with) contained 980 calories.  I can tell you that (a) it was the biggest slice of cheesecake I'd ever seen (b) it was probably the most delicious cheesecake I've ever had (c) I didn't even die of sugar overload - I sure was buzzing though!  To put the size of that slice into perspective, that is a dessertspoon dwarfed next to it, not a teaspoon.

That Big New York Trip (Part 1 of 5)

So the big New York City trip - where do I even start? Even the thought of trying to explain has put me off writing this post! The city was completely over whelming in the best possible way and it is for this reason I came home with 950 photographs, 25 'war' stories and 3kgs heavier!

I've decided the only way I'm going to get through this is to do it two days at a time.  There is just so much to filter and so much to tell!

Visiting NYC has been a dream of mine since I was about 17 years old (the age my son is now!).  I'm not quite sure why it's taken me so long to get there since I've travelled a fair bit over the past few years, but I can say it was well worth every second of the wait.

I've never been to America before but went all by myself.  This took some guts - and a whole lot of reading up on websites and tour guides about the dos and don't of NYC.  Unlike England, NY is not known for it's safety and as a single woman I have to say that it was something I was worried about before I went.  I'm not entirely sure how much of the crime hype is actually just hype but I can say that I felt completely safe in most areas.

I'm unsure of how one gets an impartial statistic on these things as I've read several websites showing stats that the city of London is just as violent as NYC, while other websites show that NYC is higher in homicide and gun crime but that London is higher in rape and knife crime.  Either way, I felt mostly safe and wasn't worried in the slightest whilst out and about during the day.  Admittedly in the evenings I stayed indoors but this was because as a visitor I wasn't aware of where the 'places not to go' were and so avoided any mishap of walking down the wrong street.  I'm going to assume that like any big city, NYC is a place you need your street smarts and you'll be absolutely fine.

I worked out that I was out for approximately 7 hours a day.  That 70 hours of sight seeing and during that time took almost a thousand photographs with each sight being more impressive than the previous one. So baby steps, small chunks and here I go.  The first two days.

Day 1 - Coney Island

Looking smug! Finally arrived at Coney!

Coney Island is a long-standing bucket list item for me, I first discovered it by accident when watching the dystopian style thriller 'Dark City' in the late 90s. In the film the main character is trying to get to Shell Beach which is a coastal town on the edge of the city that everybody talks about but that nobody seems to visit.  Somehow I got cross wired as a teenager and found this to be a pretty accurate description of Coney Island and have been fascinated with it ever since.

Coney features often in mainstream pop culture such as Men in Black (thanks, dad!), The Great Gatsby, numerous songs, TV series, video games and even in the theatre.  I'm not sure why it's so popular but it is definitely one of my favourite memories of New York City.

Don't buy cotton candy from this stall!  Although it was beautiful and looked just like in the movies, you'd pay $4 per bag.  In the local shops you can grab two pots for 90 cents!  Still the smell of melting sugar and other sweet things was incredible and it was nice to look at.

This the the 150 ft Wonder Wheel.  Built in the 1920s it is one of the world's only two eccentric ferris wheels.  You can read about this interesting attraction here http://www.axs.com/coney-island-s-wonder-wheel-not-your-typical-ferris-wheel-68367

A real-life freak show! I was so upset about missing out on this opportunity.  I walked for hours around Coney Island and this was my finishing point.  Unfortunately by the time I found it, it was time for me to begin my journey home.

This is Nathan's.  The websites tell me that this was the original home of the New York hot dog and that when you visit Coney Island you MUST visit here.

I'm not going to play it down - this was one flipping fantastic hot dog.  The sausage was fried (rather than boiled) and the squeezy processed cheese was surprisingly delicious.


Day 2 - Washington Square, NYU, China Town, SoHo and Nolita.

The most fascinating thing about the city has got to be the neighbourhoods.  Each one of them seems to represent a different culture and walking around the city from street to street is a testament of the diversity of the city.

Walking the neighbourhoods is like going to different countries every few blocks - and it's absolutely fascinating.  It's not just the contents of shops that change, but so do the nationalities, the languages, the signage and even the architecture. One minute you're walking past chic Manhattan boutiques and the next you're thrust into the middle of China!

I started off in SoHo (South of Houston Street), marveling at the yellow cabs, the green trees which seemed to line every pavement and the fascinating architecture.

On my way towards Washington Square Park, I passed a beauty salon offering a mani and pedi for $21 dollars - at this price I couldn't be expected to resist and started my morning by chilling out and being pampered. Of course by the time the beautician had upsold me a foot massage, plus the 20% tip I ended up spending more than double that amount but we won't talk about that little error.  It was well worth it anyway.

Buildings like this were so unexpected.  I've always thought of NYC as skyscrapers and new builds.  The architecture in the city is absolutely breathtaking and definitely one of my favourite things about it.

Did you imagine that New York City would be so green? It's everywhere!  So peaceful in the middle of such a busy city.

My first stop was Washington Square Park which is located right next to New York University.

The park was full of life (and students) and was a peaceful but energetic place to sit and take in the views.  Groups of students stood rehearsing a drama and another group sitting in a study circle.

I definitely thought that if I did my life over I'd have come to NYU to be part of that vibe.

The triumphant arch reminds me of something you'd see in Paris.

British style pub just off Bleecker Street - I just loved the building

My fantastic deli sandwich - pastrami, mustard, red onion and pickles. It was awesome!

Busy, busy, busy!

And then suddenly we're not in New York anymore! 

Even the buildings are different - look how little they are! Notice also the Italian colour scheme of the local businesses.

They even speak Italian!

A short walk down Mulberry Street and suddenly we're thrust into the heart of China Town!

From fresh fish to exotic fruit and vegetables, you can buy it all - on the sidewalk! So vastly different from the boutiques of Fifth Avenue.

Parasols, Chinese speakers and big open markets outside the shops.  You definitely wouldn't think you were in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities.

As if a three hour non-stop walk wasn't enough, I decided to walk all the way down Grand Street to see what it would look like when I got to the edge of the city.  I found myself in the Corlears Hook Park overlooking the East River and Williamsburg Bridge.

FDR Drive which is just under 10 miles long and travels all the way up the east side of the city. It's MASSIVE - especially when you're walking across it.

Eventually my walk took me to the Lower East Side; an area originally populated and shaped by Eastern European migrants and the Jewish community.  It is said to be an up and coming area for artists and was originally a stronghold for hippies and then later for the punk rockers in the 1970s.

I love all the greenery in and around the city.

This looks like it would be such a nice place to live. I'll take it! :)