There is just something magical in the air in New York isn’t there?
After an uneventful 8hr flight and a very unglamorous train from Newark we checked into our hotel then walked across Bryant Park, past the glittering Christmas Tree and Ice Skating Rink. Our first stop was dinner at STK for their famous date night menu, consisting of Entree, Main, Dessert and a Bottle of Bubbles- the perfect way to toast to our first night in the city.
Our second day in New York was a tale of two mornings, after 4 weeks spending 24/7 with each other I think we both needed some time apart.
A girl from work was coincidentally in the city so I decided to spend the morning with her.
I met her uptown for a true New York diner breakfast of pancakes! We then went to M&Ms World Times Square where we shopped up a storm and sampled all of the new flavours of course!
Doug's morning went a little differently, he went to a bakery in Brooklyn, wanderd to Brooklyn Park then walked across the bridge.
Upon stepping off the bridge he then saw his favourite calling card .... "China Town" where he had to indulge in a few dumplings. He then strided his way across town to a bar which was a favourite of Anthony Bourdain where you are offered a free hot dog with EVERY single purchase no matter what.
The three of us then met up for a very late lunch uptown at Tao, a little gem Doug and I discovered last time we were here. They have an amazing $25 lunch special and a $29 Three Martini flight (three Lychee Martinis for me!).
Doug's only request for New York was one show... a magic show!
I begrudgingly agreed thinking oh this will be lame, but just go along with it. Words cannot explain how blown my mind was, magic is real and nothing will make me believe otherwise again. To get an understanding of what it was like, WATCH THIS LINK it was essentially 2hrs of stuff like this including intense audience participation from both Doug and I.
Why do I think it’s real? Well, I was who he brought on stage in an act, which involved a card clenched in my fist disappearing. I still have the very card that I signed in my bag to show everyone!
Our third day in New York was dedicated to a self guided food and walking tour. Stop 1 was Levain Bakery in Noho for one of their famous Two Chocolate Chip Cookies ... let's just say I was not disappointed - I was in warm, gooey, chocolatey cookie heaven.
Next stop was Doug's dumpling tour of China Town, first stop was Tasty Dumpling where you can get 8 dumplings for $4, then onto Super Taste, which do little fried dumplings that look like tacos! We needed to work off all that food, so we decided to rug up and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to our next stop.
Voted the Best Pizza in New York we arrived at Luigis where we actually met the owner Giovanni, who's family have been making pizza there since the 70s. We ordered two slices and it was insane. Super crispy base but super gooey cheese topping, the perfect pizza. As we stepped out, we realised it had started to snow - it was actually the first snow the city had seen in 700 days. Not wanting to get caught in a snowstorm we sought refuge in a nearby bar, the Skylark. We found their games corner and got stuck into Monopoly Deal (I won 2/3) and Scrabble (Doug won 2/3) only to realise we had been there 5hrs and it was 9pm!
Our final full day saw more snow, we had tickets to Liberty Island so jumped on the ferry early. Doug had organised special tickets which meant we actually got to climb up into the crown of the Statue of Liberty! We climbed all 550 stairs up to the very top, it was very narrow and windy so my anxiety was a little high! Outside was still freezing and snowing so we decided to head to the West Village for the best cacio pepe pasta in New York (Via Carotta which coincidentally is Taylor Swifts favourite restaurant). Warm and fueled up, we jumped on the train to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to watch the Eagles play the Giants. I fell in love with the spectacle of the game, somehow cheering on both teams and loving the music and entertainment during each break (there was a corgi race). Every giants touchdown was met with fireworks and the crowd going wild.
In a further stroke of luck both Doug & I both caught T-shirts from the cannon! I gave mine to a young kid, Doug kept his!
The Giants had an easy win so it was a very lively train ride back to the city. A very early night as we need to get up at 4.30am to catch our 8am flight to Jamaica!!
Distance Travelled: 47,245km
K x
1 comment:
Just booked new york for 3 days in July. !!! Must get some suggestions when I see you!!
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