So recently I went on pretty much the best trip of my life bar none. I decided to go old school and hand write a journal everyday of my trip. There something nice about pen to paper but seriously, the internet is there for a reason.
So the next few thousand words will describe my trip in great detail for the benefit of nobody except myself and perhaps a few people who get lost in the interwebs and find themselves here.
2nd Sept 2015 - Day 1
Up and at em' early, 4am! Excited, got to the airport (Heathrow Terminal 5) @ 5:10am. Checked in, and to my utter astonishment it wasn't like the movies and we didn't get an upgrade because it was our honeymoon. What's up with that?
The flight was painless, I watched some movies to pass the time which included 'True Story' (New Franco/Hill movie which was actually really good, but I don't know how I feel about them in serious roles.) Pitch Perfect 2 (Resident Chick Flick) & Hot Pursuit. (Predictable, easy watching 'comedy') The time passed quickly and before we knew it we were queuing an hour and fifteen minutes for immigration at JFK. Not only that but a father was letting his kids cause absolute havoc in the queue, two boys hitting each other and one of them being a particular little shit stepping on people toes and being a general nuisance.
Finally got to the hotel at 1pm, we stayed at the Affinia 50 on East 50th/3rd Ave, it was nothing short of incredible. The best hotel I have stayed in!
We stuffed our bags in storage and went to explore as the room wasn't ready til 3pm. Walked around aimlessly for a bit and found rockefeller close by and how to get to Times Square etc. We visited Grand Central, had a little mooch and then walked to Times Square. By this time we needed food so went into Bubba Gump and shared some shrimp and had our first beverage....
Our hotel has a free wine hour between 5 and 6 every day so of course we took full advantage of this. After a few wines we stepped out to go to 'Top of the Rock'. We wanted to go up when it was dark, so we booked a slot for around 8:30. Before we went up I saw Captain Kirk Douglas from The Roots. I was so excited, I watch countless Tonight Show you tube clips on youtube on a daily basis so this was huge! I tried SO hard to get tickets for a show when we were there but they literally sold out within 10 seconds, I had zero chance. Sadface.
There was a huge group of people waiting outside of the rockefeller for some unknown reason and we found out it was due to Justin Bieber being a guest on the tonight show. I think a lost of people were left disappointed when the driver pulled away without anyone coming out of the building, suckers, they fooled you.
Ate at Applebee's just off Times Square, not the best experience. I was absolutely flagging by the time we sat down in there, it would have been about 2am UK time. I needed matchsticks by this point. The service was poor and the food was average.
Got to bed around 11pm, 4am UK time so basically been up for 24 hours. Can't even remember falling asleep. I have no stamina.
3rd Sept 2015 - Day 2
Woke up at 6:30am, better than I was expecting. Past experiences of being in NYC consisted of me waking up at 3-4am being 8-9am in UK. Going to bed 'late' paid off. We went straight to Ellen's Stardust Diner for breakfast. It's the cheesiest place you could imagine, The staff sing, stand on the tables and dance around. It's bloody fantastic. I assume they're all broadway hopefuls, would be interested to know how many of them make it, and if you were required to be able to sing just to work there? If so, I would have no chance...
I had pancakes and bacon with a sunny side up egg! Nobody has ever asked me how I would like an egg cooked before. What even is 'over easy'? Sunny side up was the only one I understood so just went with it and figured it was a runny yolk.
After Ellen's we decided to explore via the subway. Much like the London tubes except cleaner and you feel much less claustrophobic. We got the subway to 'State Ferry' and was greeted but a young what seemed like teenager. At first I was totally put off, when someone comes up to you with a yellow bib on and a wad of leaflets you don't get good vibes. We wanted to do some sort of boat tour and I gotta hand it to the kid, he sold it good. $32 for an hour cruise on the Hudson on a boat named 'hornblower' - no horns were blown, in that respect it was disappointing. In all other respects it was awesome! The kid was on good terms with the NYPD so I figured he was legit.
We got prime seats on the boat being the first people on board. We went pretty close to the statue of liberty and the breeze created by the sailing was THE ONE. Not a single drop of rain the entire time we were there and it was 30+ degree every day. Do they know British people can't handle that without a swimming pool or cool beverage on hand every 2 mins!?
After the cruise we walked over to the stock exchange and saw where some of The Dark Knight Rises was filmed, and a bit of wall street. A small Asian man was playing some sort of stringed instrument i'd never heard of, the poor guy was truly terrible, like nails on a chalk board.
We walked up to the 9/11 memorial, I got told off for leaning on the edge looking over on to the waterfall, oopsy. I wasn't being disrespectful, just trying to take a look! Also trying to relieve weight off of my feet, absolutely killing.
On from there we discovered the new 'One World' Trade Center or Freedom Tower, not really sure what it's preferred name is. I was happy just to look at it from the ground. The building is the tallest in New York and having been up Rockefeller and later going to the Empire State Building I thought the views would be similar and ultimately not worth it. Well, apparently this wasn't acceptable to my husband. At $32 just to go up in a lift to look out of a window I thought it was day light robbery. However, a happy husband is a happy wife, can't be dealing with that grief. So up we went. On the way in a member of staff commented on my hair style saying she loved it, so far so good. We went up in the lift and then watched a short video on a large screen about how the tower was built and how it became the tallest building in New York. Unexpectedly the screen raised up and really we've all seen a view of Manhattan before but this was unreal. It literally took my breath away and then I felt embarrassed for sucking in such a huge breath, haha. I could have shed an actual tear if I wasn't trying so hard not to do so.
We received a 'free' gift card for Centry 21 on the way out of the Freedom Tower could be from $5 - $500. Curiosity got the better of us and we decided to see how much our cards were for. Of course we walked around up and down the wrong way before finding it, and of course our cards were only for $5 and everything in the shop still cost a bomb even though it was labelled as 'sale'. We left that joint and headed back to the hotel on the subway to freshen up before dinner!
We booked ourselves into an indian restaurant called 'Brick Lane'. Adam Richman has been there on a Man Vs Food challenge. They have a 'Phal Challenge' which you have to actually sign a contract for so that you can't sue them for emotional or psychological problems you have after you've eaten the ridiculously hot curry.
We arrived to a pretty much empty restaurant but it seemed nice. I ordered Pakora's for starter and there was limited choice for curry so I ordered a standard Tikka Masala whilst Jay ordered Goan Chicken. The starter came and it was probably the worst starter i've ever seen. The batter on the pakora was soft and dough like, it was grim. It took me back to the curry experience we had in Amsterdam. My first thought was never order a curry in a country that's not England or actual India, it is clearly a bad idea. I was happy to be proved wrong when the curry turned up and it was bloody delicious! Clearly the pakoras were a small blip. Happy days!
Jay got a frozen yogurt on the way home, I was far too full, I do not know where he puts it.
4th Sept 2015 - Day 3
We were out by 9am, got the subway to East 14th & 8th Ave. This lead us to 'The High Line' a place that has been recommended to us by my friend. We stopped at a restaurant called 'Bubbys' for breakfast. It was incredible! Expensive, but incredible.
Bubbys!
I had Salmon Benedict and Jay has Chocolate Chip Pancakes with a side of bacon. I had a proper chocolate milk which we had been searching for instead of the powder variety! Jay tried some sort of fizzy of choc milk, he deffo had choc milk envy.
My meal was HUGE. Americans do not do anything by halves. It was delicious! I could not finish it all, I probably could have if it was just the salmon benedict but they always wanna put potatoes on the side of everything?! Who has potatoes for breakfast? Very odd.The restaurant was right at the bottom of the highline, so we hopped on and walked right to the end. There were some great views along the way and cool little stalls and art work. Also a very strange water fountain which was basically just a head...
The piece of hair in this picture is really irritating.
At the end of the highline we walked to West 34th street to browse a few shops. At this point my hatred for my stupid flat feet was at an all time high. I literally did not know what to do with myself. All it took was Jay to ask 'what's wrong?' and I burst into tears. We walked on from there, and took a trip up the Empire State Building. The views were insane and we took some great pictures, but my feet were distracting me from a good time. To most people it probably seems like a massive over reaction but I can not even begin to describe the pain I was in. I actually think most people would have given up way before I did! I walked 15 blocks like a woman on a mission back to the hotel, cried the whole way like an absolute baby. When I got back just laid face down on the bed into a towel and sobbed like I was never gonna stop. Ugh. I dropped off after a while and after that got ready for the wine hour! Nothing like a bit of wine to cheer me up.
We headed out to Central Park and found a lovely cafe/bar in a very quite area in the park next to a small lake. It was unbelievably relaxing and we could have been anywhere in the world, not in the middle of a bustling city. Two very cool tourists...
By the time we left Central Park it was dark, it was great to see it in two different lights. We went to The Plaza hotel where some of Home Alone was filmed. Jay couldn't get enough of it. Took a few piccies and headed down town to 'The Mighty Quinns' restaurant! The queue was out the door so we knew it must be good! It has been recommended to us by a friend of Jay's and I have to say it was bloody awesome.
It was basically a big BBQ restaurant. I had ribs and Jay has brisket, we also had a portion of burnt end fries! Apart from the fact my clumsy arse spilled a near on whole glass of coke all over the table it was a great meal!
5th Sept 2015 - Day 4 NYC
We woke early and went to a place just across the street called 'The Comfort Diner' for breakfast. I had an omelette which was delicious! Though they asked if I wanted cheddar cheese to which I replied yes. Though 'cheddar' cheese is not like cheese at home it is a bright orange stringy version! Of course the high omelette was served with a side of potatoes. (WHY!)
We went in a sports shop so Jay could buy a pair of swim shorts because his were still in a draw in our bedroom back in England. He also bagged a pair of headphones for $10 because the adaptor snapped in the connector on the place, whoops! Also, just for entering the shop we were given a free 'towel' which was a Serena Williams thing. A towels which once wet stayed cool for up to 6 hours. It was heaven sent in mexico! Cheers Serena!
We got a taxi to the airport at 12pm, I was so sad to say goodbye to the affinia! I would definitely recommend this hotel to friends and family.
We checked in, ate a wendy's and I facetimed Dawn for funsies. Onto the next leg of our trip - VEGAS BABY!
