New York 2019

A holiday and wedding rolled into one

It’s safe to say this is a trip we will never forget. Not only has New York been at the top of my travel bucket list for years but it was also to be the location of our destination wedding. The trip has been in the works for over a year and a half, so it’s been quite the build-up. I pleased to say despite a few hiccups, its been a magical trip. Here’s what we got up to for our 8 night stay in New York.

A separate post will be coming all about our wedding day, this is more of a diary of what we got up to before and after while exploring the city.

Friday

From London to New York

Once all the bags were packed and our pup was dropped off with our family, it was time to fly.

We flew out Friday afternoon, the flight was 8 hours from Gatwick to JFK. As New York is 5 hours behind, we landed the same day in the early evening. It was really late by the time we got through customs, found our bags and took a 40 minute cab ride to the hotel, we were absolutely knackered.

Checking into our hotel wasn’t the smoothest, but we made our way up to the 35^th floor and oohed and ahhed at the incredible city street view from our window. I’m not the best with heights, so was a bit apprehensive about standing too close at first. (As the week went on I was hugging the edge of every rooftop bar with ease!) Desperate to fall asleep, we had to wait for the loud thumping music above us to stop before we could catch some z’s. The Bar closed at 4:30am, so it was a long night and not the most restful introduction to New York.

Saturday

First Morning and hungry

The sun was shining and it was time to hit the streets and explore. Unlike most trips, we didn’t plan much of an itinerary as we just wanted to see what we felt like doing on the day. I think this was a good decision in the end. For breakfast we went to City Kitchen which is an indoor market with a great street view. I picked a giant Dulce de leche doughnut and a flat white to wake up too. I loved the indoor market place style, everyone could pick what they wanted and sit together at the bar facing the window.

Central Park

After a bit of a walk around we found ourselves at Columbus Circle just outside of Central Park. As it was a beautiful sunny day, we decided to rent bikes and cycle around the park. I hadn’t been on a bicycle for a few years so was a little wobbly to start off with but cycling was so much fun. The track was mostly downhill, which meant speeding by with ease, a cool breeze in my hair and stunning natural surrounding around every turn.

We enjoyed it so much we went around for a second loop.  Jumping off at various points to check out Bow Bridge (where we were to get married) the reservoir and a spot of lunch at Le Pain Quotidien, which was an open café situated near Frisbee Hill. There is so much to see in the park that we certainly missed a lot but it was so much fun and a great way to get around the whole park with ease.

The night was young

Before we knew it, the sun was setting. Our friend’s flight had landed and we wanted to meet for dinner. We found a slightly less busy BBQ joint in Times Square and had an okay meal before heading back to our hotel. As we were all staying at the Double Tree in Times Square West we decided to head up to the roof top bar – High Bar and have a cocktail amongst the incredible scenery.

The effects of the skyscraper had not warn off on me yet. I just wanted to stay put and look at the city all night long. New York at night really is a sight to behold. It was time for bed but frustratingly we weren’t able to sleep due to the noise of the bar once again. In the morning we requested to be moved to a lower floor. It was sad to give up our great view but I needed some rest!

Sunday

As our friends and family had now joined us in New York, we wanted to spend the day with them and explore more of the city. We left the hotel in search of breakfast and found Gregory Coffee. This is a chain but not one I was familiar with, I have to say it was one of the best flat whites we had in while away. I also had an amazing thick cut piece of toast with almond butter and strawberries on it. The perfect fuel to start the day.

The largest department store in the USA

Once we started walking around we found Macy’s! With over a million square feet it’s safe to say we didn’t see everything, but took a brief zip around the store to see what it was all about. Before we knew it, it was lunch time and we headed to Shake Shack. I had never been to a Shake Shack before I can safely say it’s one of the best fast food chains I have ever been too. I will always been on the hunt for them whenever I am in the States again.

Empire State Building

There are a few observation decks in New York, including Rockefeller Center and the One World Observatory but we all felt that Empire State was just too iconic to pass up. It was just around the corner from Macys and a beautiful sky blue day, so on a spur of the moment we decided to head to the top then and there. Empire State is such a familiar building to me, I can pick It out of any skyline pic, but when walking on the street it’s more easy then you think to just stroll straight pass it. Without the familiar spire in view, it does look like another skyscraper. Luckily we found it and even better there were no queues, so we hopped in the elevator and rood all the way to the top.

I adore the art deco style, there is just so much grandeur about the building. I’m so glad we picked the day that we did, as the sky was so clear you could see for miles. The view from the top really is breath taking and as the main deck is on the 86^th floor you really feel like you are towering over the whole city.

Monday

Just like a regular Monday we had to get up earlier and head to ‘work’ well not quite but we did have our first face to face meeting with our wedding planner, which included a trip to City Hall to begin the process of getting our marriage license. As City Hall is situated in lower Manhattan, we decided to spend the day in that area and tick a few more key sites off our list.

Wall Street

Monday was the hottest day of our whole trip and as we spent most of it outside, I can remember feeling a bit like I was melting at every moment. We took a walk around Wall Street and spotted the Charging Bull statue, I wasn’t able to get a photo as it was absolutely covered in people. Nothing we saw in New York was as busy as the Bull. I couldn’t believe it, It’s a cool statue but not something personally I would have pegged as a must see. But little did I know we were last to the party!

Brooklyn Bridge

A few minutes away was the familiar brown bridge to Brooklyn, as it was so hot we only walked the first leg across the bridge,to see the sites from bridge and take a few pics. I would have loved to walk the full way across and even see some of trendy Brooklyn but there is always next time.

Boat Trip

Being so close to the Hudson we felt it was the perfect time to take a boat trip past the Statue of Liberty. A hot tin can and hundreds of steps didn’t appeal, so we skipped climbing her and instead saw the famous statue from the boat. Seeing the skyline from the water was such a great vantage point, and our tour guide was so interesting and informative on what New York had to offer. In about an hour and half we had sailed past all the main sites.

I have to say I didn’t enjoy the boat trip much, It’s not the boats fault at all however. I had been having chest pains for most of the day, which I initially put down to city air. As the day progressed, I started to feel worse and worse. The rocking from the boat really set off my sea sickness, combined with what later developed into the flu, left me begging for land. Still I’m glad we did it, as although it wasn’t the best day for me personally, It was great to see so much of New York from the water.

Brookfield Place

The Mini mall of my dreams. Indoor palm trees, couture designers like Gucci and Louis Vuitton and a huge glass wall overlooking the Hudson River. Did I mention marble from top to toe? Brookfield Place was luxurious in all the right ways. We picked dinner from the food court, pizza from Skinny Pizza and fries covered in cheese and guacamole from Bar a Frites followed by Macrons for pudding. As it was so warm, we ate in the luscious seating area outside, looking at the river from between the trees. I loved this spot and wish we could have eaten at the food court again as everything looked so tasty.

Tuesday

We were already half way though our trip, how fast it had been going! As I mentioned my soon to be husband and I had fallen ill with the flu (sadly we passed this on to the entire wedding party as the trip went on!) so we had spent most of the previous evening in bed cough and feeling generally sorry for ourselves. The only day we had actually planned anything was, you guessed it Tuesday! So staying in bed wasn’t an option. Our friend had very kindly got us tickets to the Natural History Museum and despite feeling rough we were excited to go.

The Natural History Museum

A quick cold warrior hot tea from Juice Generation gave me some energy to get through the day and onto the NHM we went! I was shocked at how big and how much there was too see. Despite staying the whole day, I would say we only saw half of the exhibits. I especially loved the live butterfly conservatory, which although humid was amazing to get up close and personal with so many species. Of course who can forget the cuddliest and friendlies of all dinosaurs, the T-Rex. Joking of course! There were one fierce creature and it was amazing to learn more about them. I also loved the planetarium and the 3D film about the ocean. So much to see and do here and so engaging and well presented. I’m so glad we had the chance to go, although sadly I didn’t spot Ben Stiller doing his rounds.

Wednesday

Wednesday was primarily a recovery and try and get better day. My head so badly wanted to go out and explore more of the city but my body didn’t want to move. We spent most of the day in bed and in the late afternoon I went out to get my nails done as the next day was our wedding day!

Johns Pizza

As we hadn’t done much we felt like we needed to make an effort for dinner. Every New Yorker we spoke to told us to go to John’s and I didn’t want to leave without having an authentic New York pizza so off we went. Luckily the restaurant wasn’t too far from our hotel and after a truly delicious margherita pizza we crawled into bed.

Thursday

It’s safe to say this was no ordinary Thursday. It was the whole reason for our trip and the biggest day of our lives to date. The flu was not going to stop me from enjoying every moment of our wedding day, luckily I was starting to feel a little more human. I will be doing a whole separate post on our wedding day and all aspects of it soon.

Wedding Bells and the Robert

Our wedding was a dream and after the ceremony, we spent a few hours relaxing before our celebration dinner at Robert. We had really struggled to decide where to go for our wedding meal, when our planner suggested Robert I was sold. It really was a phenomenal night. The restaurant is situated in Columbus circle (atop the Museum of Arts and Design) which offers amazing views of Central Park, and its neighbouring skyline. Sitting by the window on the 9^th floor, we got to watch the sun set as we ate.

The food sensational, it was the first day I really had an appetite since getting ill so I was so pleased to be craving food again and enjoyed every bite. I don’t actually eat a lot of meat as I eat a flexitarian diet, but I couldn’t resist the filet mignon. It was like butter and so delicious, accompanied with a Mad Manhattan cocktail and an incredible passion fruit cheesecake it was a perfect night. I was so glad we choose this beautiful restaurant to celebrate our big day, It was perfect.

Friday

Friday was our last full day in New York. It had gone so quickly. We were on such a high from our wedding day and I woke up feeling like a new woman. My new husband and I spent most of the day alone, walking around New York and popping into shops that caught out fancy.

Public Library and Time Square

We had stopped by Times Square many times during our trip but took a bit more time to do some shopping in the area, including a must do trip to Sephora, the Disney Store and the M&M Store. Times Square is a pretty hectic place and although I find the billboards and general appearance a visual feast, I always had the feeling that I wanted to leave. I just found it to crowded for the most part but still It’s a must do, even briefly. We also walked by the Public Library but felt a bit too tired to go in. A real shame and it will be on my to do list next time we go.

High Bar

After a bit of shopping and some dinner we wanted to head up stairs to the High Bar one last time. We had been making it our last stop of the evening for quite a few nights, as you can’t get sick of the view and with it being in our hotel it’s so convenient. Low and behold we get upstairs and I bump into a colleague from work… I couldn’t believe it! We were in New York at the same time and without planning it, the same bar. It really is a small world. We said our goodbyes to New York and it was time to head to our room and pack.

Saturday

It was time to go home. I felt like we had just arrived and yet we were saying goodbye. We had one last walk around the city, grabbed some lunch at Chick-Fil-A and said goodbye to everyone, before returning to our hotel one last time to pick up our bags and head to the airport. We had been in New York for 8 nights but it still felt like a whirlwind tour.

The City that Never Sleeps

I can safely say this was a ‘tip of the ice berg’ of what New York has to offer. There is so much we wanted to see and do and just ran out of time. As we got married in New York, we always have an excuse to go back, so I hope in a few years we can do so. It’s a city that is always growing and evolving and I can’t wait to return and see what has changed. I knew I would love New York but I didn’t realise quite how much. Everyone was so friendly, everything is a photo opportunity, and watching the sunset from the 37^th floor is just an experience I want to have again and again.

Have you been to New York? What was your favourite thing about it?

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